Waterlands

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CobiaShoulder season

Bar · Virginia

Wolf Trap

37.40°N · 76.19°W · Bar · Chesapeake Bay from Windmill Point to New Point Comfort VA

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Best score today · 4 PM · Cobia

66/100Great
Now
302 AM EDT
Best window
3-7 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Low0.6 ft

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

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24-hour conditions

Saturday, Sep 26 · 6 PM

Time6P
Score49Good
Tide0.7 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentEbb1.1 kn · toward S
Wind8 kn NNWgusts 23 · steady
Sea stateModerate2.8 ft · 4 s
Air temp71°Warm
WeatherPartly cloudy30% cloud
Water73°FBias corrected

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

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 yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Cobia is best here

Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder

Cobia season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Cobia in Virginia

Spot profile

Wolf Trap

Depth
20-25 ftSlope
Structure
Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · slope
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 Wolf Trap

Wolf Trap is a bar in Chesapeake Bay from Windmill Point to New Point Comfort VA, Virginia. Depth is 20-25 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bar, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are bluefish, Spanish mackerel and little tunny. It is peak season now for Spanish mackerel, little tunny, summer flounder and spot, and shoulder season for bluefish, black sea bass, king mackerel and striped bass. Bluefish peak in May and from October through November. Spanish mackerel peak from July through September. 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.
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.
Spanish mackerel
Spanish mackerel school along beaches and around inlets, jetties, piers and bridge-tunnel structures, and along tide rips in 5 to 40 feet of water once the water climbs above about 68 degrees F. Troll small spoons or cast metal jigs and retrieve fast, or look for birds diving on bait and cast into the school. FWC calls for a 30 to 60 pound monofilament leader because their teeth cut light line.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Horn Harbor

    Bay · 5.3 mi

    56
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 56
    • Spanish mackerel 52
    • Scup 50

    15 kt NEH 7:06 AM · 2.5 ftL 1:28 PM · 0.6 ft

  • Winter Harbor

    Bay · 3.6 mi

    55
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 55
    • Red drum 51
    • Scup 49

    12 kt NEH 7:21 AM · 1.7 ftL 1:58 PM · 0.6 ft

  • Sage Point

    Cape · 6.3 mi

    55
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 55
    • Bluefish 54
    • Spot 53

    12 kt NEL 3:20 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:59 AM · 1.3 ft

  • Mill Point

    Cape · 5.3 mi

    49
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 49
    • Bluefish 48
    • Red drum 47

    15 kt NEH 7:06 AM · 2.5 ftL 1:28 PM · 0.6 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.