Waterlands

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Striped bassShoulder season

Cape · Virginia

Marshy Point

37.11°N · 76.61°W · Cape · James River from Jamestown to the James River Bridge

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Best score today · 9 AM · Striped bass

74/100Great
Now
4910 PM EDT
Best window
10 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.2 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 10 PM · now

Time10PNOW
Score49Good
Tide2.2 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentFlood0.3 kn · toward NNW
Wind15 kn NEgusts 28 · steady
Air temp71°Warm
WeatherOvercast100% chance of rain
Water79°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Striped bass 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 Striped bass is best here

Shoulder season for Striped bass · 1 more week at shoulder

Striped bass season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Striped bass · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Striped bass in Virginia

Spot profile

Marshy Point

Depth
2-5 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonStriped bass

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 Marshy Point

Marshy Point is a cape in James River from Jamestown to the James River Bridge, Virginia. Depth is 2-5 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are spot, little tunny and red drum. It is peak season now for spot, little tunny, red drum and scup, and shoulder season for bluefish, Atlantic croaker, striped bass and spotted seatrout. Spot peak from August through October. Little tunny peak from September through October. Red drum peak in May and from September through October.

Tackle & technique

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.
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

  • 74
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 74
    • Atlantic croaker 65
    • Red drum 65

    12 kt NEL 2:58 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:55 AM · 2.3 ft

  • Mulberry Point

    Cape · 1.3 mi

    69
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 69
    • Little tunny 61
    • Red drum 61

    11 kt NEL 2:58 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:55 AM · 2.3 ft

  • Thorofare

    Channel · 2.5 mi

    69
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 69
    • Red drum 61
    • Atlantic croaker 60

    15 kt NEL 2:35 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:26 AM · 2.8 ft

  • Swash Hole

    Bay · 0.6 mi

    68
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 68
    • Red drum 58
    • Atlantic croaker 56

    15 kt NEL 2:58 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:55 AM · 2.3 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.