Waterlands

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Little tunnyPeak season

Cape · Virginia

Cedar Point

36.89°N · 76.49°W · Cape · James River from JRB to HRBT, Including the Elizabeth River

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Best score today · 6 PM · Little tunny

70/100Great
Now
3512 AM EDT
Best window
5-8 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.2 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 12 AM · now

Time12ANOW
Score35Fair
Tide1.2 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.7 kn · toward ENE
Wind16 kn NEgusts 29 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.7 ft · 4 s
Air temp69°Warm
WeatherOvercast98% chance of rain
Water79°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Little tunny 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 Little tunny is best here

Peak season for Little tunny · 5 more weeks at peak

Little tunny season by week of the year. Peak season for Little tunny · 5 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Little tunny in Virginia

Spot profile

Cedar Point

Depth
2-3 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Peak seasonLittle tunny

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 Cedar Point

Cedar Point is a cape in James River from JRB to HRBT, Including the Elizabeth River, Virginia. Depth in the nearest water is 2-3 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are bluefish, striped bass and black sea bass. It is peak season now for little tunny, red drum, scup and sheepshead, and shoulder season for bluefish, striped bass, black sea bass and king mackerel. Bluefish peak in May and from October through November. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Black sea bass peak from May through June and from October through November.

Tackle & technique

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.
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.
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

  • Noggins Shoal

    Bar · 0.2 mi

    58
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 58
    • Black sea bass 50
    • King mackerel 48

    16 kt NEL 2:00 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:00 AM · 3.2 ft

  • Great Shoal

    Bar · 0.6 mi

    58
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 58
    • Black sea bass 49
    • King mackerel 47

    16 kt NEL 2:00 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:00 AM · 3.2 ft

  • Halfpone Shoal

    Bar · 0.9 mi

    58
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 58
    • Black sea bass 50
    • King mackerel 48

    16 kt NEL 2:00 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:00 AM · 3.2 ft

  • Willis John Shoal

    Bar · 1.4 mi

    58
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 58
    • Black sea bass 50
    • King mackerel 47

    16 kt NEL 1:56 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:05 AM · 2.7 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.