Waterlands

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WeakfishShoulder season

Bay · Virginia

Cobham Bay

37.16°N · 76.73°W · Bay · James River from Jamestown to the James River Bridge

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Best score today · 4 PM · Weakfish

84/100Great
Now
5712 PM EST
Best window
3-6 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Low0.4 ft

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

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24-hour conditions

Saturday, Nov 7 · 9 AM

Time9A
Score71Great
Tide2.3 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood1.6 kn · toward W
Wind3 kn NWgusts 17 · steady
Air temp64°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water65°FModel

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Weakfish 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 Weakfish is best here

Shoulder season for Weakfish · 4 more weeks at shoulder

Weakfish season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Weakfish · 4 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Weakfish in Virginia →

Spot profile

Cobham Bay

Depth
About 7 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonWeakfish

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 Cobham Bay

Cobham Bay is a bay in James River from Jamestown to the James River Bridge, Virginia. Depth is about 7 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 14 species here; the best right now are spotted seatrout, striped bass and tautog. It is peak season now for spotted seatrout, striped bass, tautog and bluefish, and shoulder season for scup, weakfish, little tunny and red drum. Spotted seatrout peak from October through November. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Tautog peak in April and from October through December.

Tackle & technique

Weakfish
Weakfish hold along channel edges, grass beds, oyster bars and bridge shadows in bays and sounds, usually in 5 to 40 feet of water, and feed hardest at dawn, dusk and after dark. Swim soft plastics or bucktails slowly near the bottom, or drift peeler crab and bloodworms. They have soft mouths, so keep the drag light and the pressure steady.
Spotted seatrout
Trout hold over grass beds and sandy potholes in 2 to 8 feet of water most of the year and slide into channels, deep creek bends and canals during cold snaps. A live shrimp under a slip or popping cork, a paddle tail on a light jighead, or a topwater walked at first light covers most situations. Keep the drag light because their mouths tear easily.
Striped bass
Striped bass feed where moving tide pushes bait past structure: inlets, points, jetties, bridge pilings and rips in the surf, usually in 2 to 40 feet of water. Fish dawn, dusk and night hardest, casting plugs, bucktails and soft plastics or drifting live bunker and eels, and chunk bait on the bottom in current. In midsummer the larger fish drop deeper or feed mostly after dark.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Drewry Point

    Cape · 1.4 mi

    69
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 69
    • Spotted seatrout 62
    • Bluefish 59

    2 kt NEH 5:45 PM · 2.2 ftL 12:36 AM · 0.3 ft

  • Goose Hill Channel

    Channel · 2.2 mi

    69
    Top: Spotted seatroutPeak season
    • Spotted seatrout 69
    • Striped bass 67
    • Weakfish 61

    2 kt NEH 5:45 PM · 2.2 ftL 12:36 AM · 0.3 ft

  • Lower Point

    Cape · 2.6 mi

    69
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 69
    • Spotted seatrout 62
    • Bluefish 59

    2 kt NEH 5:45 PM · 2.2 ftL 12:36 AM · 0.3 ft

  • Black Point

    Cape · 3.3 mi

    69
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 69
    • Spotted seatrout 62
    • Bluefish 59

    2 kt NEH 5:45 PM · 2.2 ftL 12:36 AM · 0.3 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.