Waterlands

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WeakfishShoulder season

Bar · Virginia

Point Shoals

37.08°N · 76.64°W · Bar · James River from Jamestown to the James River Bridge

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Best score today · 9 AM · Weakfish

74/100Great
Now
449 PM EDT
Best window
9 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.7 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 9 PM · now

Time9PNOW
Score44Fair
Tide2.7 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentFlood0.6 kn · toward NNW
Wind12 kn NEgusts 23 · steady
Air temp69°Warm
WeatherOvercast97% chance of rain
Water79°FObserved

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.

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Weakfish is best here

Shoulder season for Weakfish · 1 more week at shoulder

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

Weakfish in Virginia

Spot profile

Point Shoals

Depth
7-15 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Shoal · Inner · Semi-exposedShoal · 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 Point Shoals

Point Shoals is a bar in James River from Jamestown to the James River Bridge, Virginia. Depth is 7-15 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads shoal, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are spot, Spanish mackerel and scup. It is peak season now for spot, Spanish mackerel, scup and little tunny, and shoulder season for Atlantic croaker, bluefish, spotted seatrout and black sea bass. Spot peak from August through October. Spanish mackerel peak from July through September. Scup peak from June through October.

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.
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.
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

  • 73
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 73
    • Atlantic croaker 64
    • Scup 62

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

  • Burwell Bay

    Bay · 1.1 mi

    72
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 72
    • Scup 62
    • Atlantic croaker 60

    12 kt NEL 2:55 AM · 0.9 ftH 8:40 AM · 2.6 ft

  • Marshy Point

    Cape · 2.9 mi

    46
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 46
    • Striped bass 45
    • Black sea bass 37

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

  • Swash Hole

    Bay · 2.9 mi

    45
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 45
    • Striped bass 41
    • Black sea bass 37

    16 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.