Waterlands

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Black drumOff season

Cape · Virginia

Rogue Point

37.85°N · 76.33°W · Cape · Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA

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Best score today · 9 AM · Black drum

74/100Great
Now
356 PM EDT
Best window
6 PM-12 AMHigh slack
Tide now
Flooding1.0 ft ▲

Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 6 PM · now

Time6PNOW
Score35Fair
Tide1.0 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.2 kn · toward NW
Wind6 kn Egusts 13 · building
Sea stateLight chop1.0 ft · 2 s
Air temp78°Warm
WeatherMostly cloudy61% cloud
Water80°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Black drum is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with VMRC before you keep a fish.

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Black drum is best here

Out of season for Black drum · it leaves in 6 weeks

Black drum season by week of the year. Out of season for Black drum · it leaves in 6 weeks.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Black drum in Virginia

Spot profile

Rogue Point

Depth
3-20 ftSlope
Structure
Point · Inner · ProtectedPoint · slope
Season
Off seasonBlack drum

NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 13 on a 3.4 m grid. Depths are feet below NAVD 88, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.

About this spot

Fishing Rogue Point

Rogue Point is a cape in Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA, Virginia. Depth is 3-20 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads point, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are spot, little tunny and Spanish mackerel. It is peak season now for spot, little tunny, Spanish mackerel and red drum, and shoulder season for Atlantic croaker, black sea bass, bluefish and king mackerel. Spot peak from August through October. Little tunny peak from September through October. Spanish mackerel peak from July through September.

Tackle & technique

Black drum
Black drum root along the bottom around oyster reefs, bridge and pier pilings, channel edges and shallow mud flats. TPWD notes they rarely take artificials, so fish peeled shrimp, crab, clams or sand fleas on a bottom rig and let the fish load the rod before setting the hook. Big spawning schools gather near passes and bay mouths in late winter and spring, and in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay the large fish show up on the shoals from April into June.
Spot
Spot school over mud and sand in bays, tidal creeks and channels and around piers and bridges, generally in less than 25 feet of water. Fish a two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and bits of bloodworm or shrimp, and move until you find a school. In fall the biggest fish run out of the sounds past piers and inlets, and the bite can go all day.
Little tunny
Little tunny travel fast in schools that pin bait against inlets, points, jetties and tide rips, usually within a few miles of shore and often in less than 60 feet. Stay off the school's path, wait for it to surface within range, and cast small metal or epoxy jigs with a fast retrieve. When fish stay down, troll small feathers along bait edges and color changes to find them.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Horn Harbor

    Bay · 0.8 mi

    81
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 81
    • Spanish mackerel 74
    • Sheepshead 73

    6 kt EH 9:32 PM · 1.4 ftL 4:14 AM · 0.8 ft

  • Haynie Point

    Cape · 1.6 mi

    75
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 75
    • Little tunny 73
    • Spanish mackerel 70

    6 kt EH 9:15 PM · 1.1 ftL 3:51 AM · 0.4 ft

  • Ferry Point

    Cape · 0.8 mi

    72
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 72
    • Little tunny 69
    • Spanish mackerel 68

    6 kt EH 9:32 PM · 1.4 ftL 4:14 AM · 0.8 ft

  • Collins Point

    Cape · 0.8 mi

    72
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 72
    • Little tunny 70
    • Spanish mackerel 68

    6 kt EH 9:32 PM · 1.4 ftL 4:14 AM · 0.8 ft

Scores and forecasts are for planning only and can be wrong. Conditions on the water change fast; check the marine forecast before you go. Regulations change during the season, so confirm limits and closures with VMRC before you keep a fish.