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CobiaShoulder seasonBar · Virginia
Rappahannock Spit
37.61°N · 76.25°W · Bar · Chesapeake Bay from Windmill Point to New Point Comfort VA
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 9 AM · Cobia
- Now
- 3911 PM EDT
- Best window
- 11 PM-12 AMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing1.0 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Rappahannock Spit scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions · rolling from now
Conditions · 11 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
69Tide: EbbingCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
63Wind: 11 kt NEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
46Water temp: 78°F, primeLight: NightSolunar: Near a majorSeas: 3.0 ftSeason & habitat · Cobia
Species seasonality
41Season: ShoulderHabitat: Poor fitDepth: In rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Cobia is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with VMRC before you keep a fish.
Source: VMRC · synced today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Cobia is best here
Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Rappahannock Spit
- Depth
- 8-15 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonCobia
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 Rappahannock Spit
Rappahannock Spit is a bar in Chesapeake Bay from Windmill Point to New Point Comfort VA, Virginia. Depth is 8-15 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bar, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are spot, bluefish and little tunny. It is peak season now for spot, little tunny, Spanish mackerel and summer flounder, and shoulder season for bluefish, striped bass, black sea bass and Atlantic croaker. Spot peak from August through October. Bluefish peak in May and from October through November. Little tunny peak from September through October.
Tackle & technique
- Cobia
- Cobia cruise inlets, beaches, buoys, wrecks and the backs of rays in 5 to 100 feet of water. On calm, sunny days sight-cast bucktails or live eels to fish near the surface. Otherwise anchor up-current of structure, chum, and fish live eels, crabs or menhaden near the bottom.
- 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.
- Bluefish
- Bluefish travel in size-sorted schools and feed where tide pushes bait past structure: inlet mouths, rips, shoal edges and the surf line, mostly in water shallower than 60 feet. Look for birds and breaking bait and cast metal or poppers into it, or soak cut bunker or mullet on the bottom from the beach. Use a short wire or heavy leader because their teeth cut light line.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Rappahanncock Spit59
Bar · 1.0 mi
Top: BluefishShoulder season- Bluefish 59
- Spot 59
- Little tunny 58
11 kt NEL 3:23 AM · 0.6 ftH 9:17 AM · 1.5 ft
- Stingray Point59
Cape · 4.3 mi
Top: SpotPeak season- Spot 59
- Little tunny 57
- Bluefish 56
11 kt NEL 3:20 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:59 AM · 1.3 ft
- Antepoison Point57
Cape · 3.1 mi
Top: SpotPeak season- Spot 57
- Little tunny 56
- Bluefish 55
13 kt NEL 3:23 AM · 0.6 ftH 9:17 AM · 1.5 ft
- North Point57
Cape · 3.9 mi
Top: SpotPeak season- Spot 57
- Little tunny 56
- Bluefish 55
13 kt NEL 3:23 AM · 0.6 ftH 9:17 AM · 1.5 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.