Waterlands

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CobiaShoulder season

Bar · Virginia

Penniman Spit

37.28°N · 76.58°W · Bar · York River

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Best score today · 5 PM · Cobia

75/100Great
Now
5211 PM EDT
Best window
11 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.3 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 11 PM · now

Time11PNOW
Score52Good
Tide1.3 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.6 kn · toward SE
Wind9 kn Egusts 18 · steady
Air temp75°Warm
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water81°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Cobia 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 Cobia is best here

Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder

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

Cobia in Virginia

Spot profile

Penniman Spit

Depth
2-4 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonCobia

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 Penniman Spit

Penniman Spit is a bar in York River, Virginia. Depth is 2-4 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bar, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

Cobia
Cobia cruise inlets, beaches, buoys, wrecks and the backs of rays in 5 to 100 feet of water. On calm, sunny days sight-cast bucktails or live eels to fish near the surface. Otherwise anchor up-current of structure, chum, and fish live eels, crabs or menhaden near the bottom.
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

  • Poley Point

    Cape · 0.3 mi

    70
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 70
    • Red drum 66
    • Little tunny 65

    9 kt EL 1:15 AM · 0.7 ftH 7:26 AM · 2.5 ft

  • Green Point

    Cape · 1.8 mi

    70
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 70
    • Red drum 66
    • Little tunny 65

    9 kt EL 1:15 AM · 0.7 ftH 7:26 AM · 2.5 ft

  • Blundering Point

    Cape · 2.4 mi

    70
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 70
    • Red drum 66
    • Little tunny 65

    9 kt EL 1:15 AM · 0.7 ftH 7:26 AM · 2.5 ft

  • Powhatan Point

    Cape · 2.5 mi

    70
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 70
    • Red drum 66
    • Little tunny 65

    9 kt EL 1:15 AM · 0.7 ftH 7:26 AM · 2.5 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.