Waterlands

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Red drumShoulder season

Cape · Virginia

Stinking Point

38.13°N · 76.60°W · Cape · Tidal Potomac from Cobb Island MD to Smith Point VA

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Best score today · 5 PM · Red drum

82/100Great
Now
596 PM EST
Best window
9 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding1.4 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 6 PM · now

Time6PNOW
Score59Good
Tide1.4 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.5 kn · toward W
Wind3 kn NNEgusts 8 · steady
Air temp54°Cool
WeatherMostly cloudy54% cloud
Water63°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Red drum 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 Red drum is best here

Last week of shoulder season for Red drum · the off season next

Red drum season by week of the year. Last week of shoulder season for Red drum · the off season next.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Red drum in Virginia →

Spot profile

Stinking Point

Depth
4-6 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonRed 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 Stinking Point

Stinking Point is a cape in Tidal Potomac from Cobb Island MD to Smith Point VA, Virginia. Depth is 4-6 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

Red drum
Redfish feed on shallow grass flats, oyster bars and marsh edges, often in 1 to 4 feet of water, and drop into channels, deep holes and tidal creeks when the water turns very hot or cold. Work a live shrimp under a popping cork or a soft plastic along the grass line on a rising tide, then fish creek mouths and drains as the tide falls. Bull reds over 30 inches school in the surf, passes and jetties in late summer and fall, where cut mullet or a live crab on the bottom is the standard approach.
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.
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

  • Coles Point

    Cape · 2.2 mi

    81
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 81
    • Bluefish 76
    • Little tunny 75

    4 kt ENEH 7:33 PM · 1.6 ftL 1:40 AM · 0.3 ft

  • Ragged Point

    Cape · 1.4 mi

    80
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 80
    • Bluefish 75
    • Spotted seatrout 75

    3 kt NNEH 7:33 PM · 1.6 ftL 1:40 AM · 0.3 ft

  • Sandy Point

    Cape · 5.3 mi

    78
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 78
    • Spotted seatrout 72
    • Bluefish 71

    4 kt NEH 7:22 PM · 1.3 ftL 1:50 AM · 0.3 ft

  • Thorns Point

    Cape · 15 mi

    78
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 78
    • Bluefish 73
    • Little tunny 72

    3 kt NNEH 7:39 PM · 1.5 ftL 2:05 AM · 0.5 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.