Waterlands

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Black drumOff season

Cape · Virginia

Drewry Point

37.16°N · 76.71°W · Cape · James River from Jamestown to the James River Bridge

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Best score today · 11 PM · Black drum

70/100Great
Now
358 AM EDT
Best window
7 PM-12 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding1.6 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 8 AM · now

Time8ANOW
Score35Fair
Tide1.6 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.4 kn · toward W
Wind11 kn NNEgusts 22 · steady
Air temp64°Mild
WeatherOvercast63% chance of rain
Water79°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.

Source: VMRC · synced yesterday

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

Drewry Point

Depth
1-10 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
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 Drewry Point

Drewry Point is a cape in James River from Jamestown to the James River Bridge, Virginia. Depth is 1-10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Goose Hill Channel

    Channel · 2.1 mi

    75
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 75
    • Red drum 69
    • Summer flounder 67

    11 kt NNEH 10:03 AM · 2.1 ftL 4:34 PM · 0.6 ft

  • Cobham Bay

    Bay · 1.4 mi

    74
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 74
    • Red drum 68
    • Spanish mackerel 68

    11 kt NNEH 10:03 AM · 2.1 ftL 4:34 PM · 0.6 ft

  • Lower Point

    Cape · 2.9 mi

    69
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 69
    • Spot 68
    • Red drum 64

    11 kt NNEH 10:03 AM · 2.1 ftL 4:34 PM · 0.6 ft

  • Walnut Point

    Cape · 2.4 mi

    68
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 68
    • Little tunny 61
    • Scup 61

    11 kt NNEH 8:55 AM · 2.3 ftL 3:09 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.