Hurricane Bubba Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 Hi All, I will be making an annual trek over to Chincoteague this week. I'll be there for about a month and when my work schedule allaows I'd like to get out and do a little light tackle/inshore fishing. Last year I was able to get over to Crisfield and did rather well with the stripers, small trout, flounder, and bluefish. I definitely want to make my way over there again this year (and hopefully put a couple of reds in the boat) but would also like to try the water a little closer to the Wallops Flight Facility. I was wondering if anyone has any tips, tricks, suggestions? I know the bars and shoals there can move seemingly overnight and the mosquitos make the East Bay Tampa Bay breed look timid. I was thinking the flounder should be around the points and bars on the backside of Chincoteague. I figured I would bounce a jig or throw a mirrodine around the moving water to see what I come up with? Any help from thos familiar with the area is greatly appreciated! Thanks, Bubba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 Sorry Bubba - I'm too far South. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dave Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 My son runs over to Cape Charles from Virginia Beach. They anchor up in 20' of water or so and catch big reds on split blue crabs. I imagine there are flounder around, especially near the bridge islands, and probably smaller stripers. Weather might get a little sporty over the next week or so. Have fun and tight lines! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurricane Bubba Posted August 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 Thanks for the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dave Posted September 1, 2016 Report Share Posted September 1, 2016 Be sure to let us know how you do! Tight lines! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurricane Bubba Posted September 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 Definitely. I gotta hope Hermine doesn't mess things up too terribly bad. I should be here for about a month and hoping for plenty of time on the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rckeat Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 I live about 90 miles south of Chincoteague so I have some familiarity with the area. While I haven't fished around Chincoteague I have fished a few times around Cedar Island which is just south of Wallops. Let me just say that the channel markers in that area are only a suggestion and there are some spots around Oyster (further south still) where the channel markers sits on dry ground at low tide. Your tax dollars hard at work. Be careful as if you get stuck somewhere on a falling tide you better hope you have plenty of bug spray or there may only be bones left in your boat before you float off. As for the map shown by an earlier poster, I caught a very respectable striper somewhere on that map although I won't say exactly where. But once the water cools a little, there is good puppy drum fishing around Fisherman's Island. That's another place you have to be careful that you don't crash into an oyster bar. We used to duck hunt around Chincoteague and I seem to remember the channel was well marked there. But if you launch farther south on the seaside, you need to be very careful as only the locals know the routes through the marsh. There are channels, they just aren't well marked. Good luck and enjoy the area. It is very unique and special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief5130 Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 1 hour ago, rckeat said: I live about 90 miles south of Chincoteague so I have some familiarity with the area. While I haven't fished around Chincoteague I have fished a few times around Cedar Island which is just south of Wallops. Let me just say that the channel markers in that area are only a suggestion and there are some spots around Oyster (further south still) where the channel markers sits on dry ground at low tide. Your tax dollars hard at work. Be careful as if you get stuck somewhere on a falling tide you better hope you have plenty of bug spray or there may only be bones left in your boat before you float off. As for the map shown by an earlier poster, I caught a very respectable striper somewhere on that map although I won't say exactly where. But once the water cools a little, there is good puppy drum fishing around Fisherman's Island. That's another place you have to be careful that you don't crash into an oyster bar. We used to duck hunt around Chincoteague and I seem to remember the channel was well marked there. But if you launch farther south on the seaside, you need to be very careful as only the locals know the routes through the marsh. There are channels, they just aren't well marked. Good luck and enjoy the area. It is very unique and special. Listen to this man, he knows this area well, I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurricane Bubba Posted September 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2016 Many thanks. Right now is just a waiting game. I may end up in the Pocomoke if the rains let up but the wind continues to persist but then want to get out to the bay or seaside on the hunt for stripers (rock), reds, flounder, or trout. Thank you all for your warnings and suggestions. Looks like I'll be taking it slow in the back bay areas but that's not always a bad thing. Thanks, Bubba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rckeat Posted September 3, 2016 Report Share Posted September 3, 2016 Good luck and try to go on a sunny day. I'm sure you have dealt with surprising skinny water before so you probably know the drill. I haven't heard of any stripers being caught in the bay yet but hopefully we will have some down my way before the end of the month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurricane Bubba Posted September 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2016 Well today I was able to get out and launched from Crisfield (bayside). The wind was blowing pretty good and there were plenty of white caps camouflaging the crab trap buoys. As I made my way north I was dodging the buoys the entire way (I noticed the water temp was 73 degrees and the tide was outgoing with a north wind). I made my way into some back bay areas around Jane's island and began by throwing a bone colored spook jr. The stripers didn't fail to impress. I was able to pull quite a few out of the back bays, 3 of which were between 23 and 25". I also had something crush a c-eye mirrodine that I couldn't even begin to slow down. Reminded me of a big snook. It took a couple of hard runs, stripping plenty of drag and finally ended up pulling me around a piling and breaking off. I never had a chance to see what it was but it hit and ran like a much bigger striper than what I was catching. The tide was outgoing and the back bay area began slowing down and getting pretty skinny. I decided to move south and fish the isalnds south of Crisfield. I switched to a gold and black DOA cal shad and began catching right away. I was able to pull 3 over 28" off of the islands, along with a bunch of little trout. I did get a chance to switch to the long rod using a nice, sparkly pine island iced tea and caught a few shorts. The coolest thing though was during the battle with one of the dinks, on the fly, a huge striper (way larger than anything that I caught) took 3 swipes at the little one that I was fighting. It was a cool sight but I was kind of glad that he didn't get ahold of the little guy. I was only using my 5wt bass rod (I had two 8wts under the gunnels but wanted to have a little fun with the lighter rod). All in all it was a great day. I was off the water by noon and cleaned up by 1pm. Great day for a new area. P.S. I tried to snap a couple of pics but between the fact that I can't do selfie to save my life and the stripers fight til the death I will spare everyone the enbarassing pics. I can't wait to go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted September 8, 2016 Report Share Posted September 8, 2016 Man, that's a great report right there! Those Striper are insanely fun on the fly rod. Can't wait till fall to get after them again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dave Posted September 9, 2016 Report Share Posted September 9, 2016 Thanks for the report! Sounds like a lot of fun. Keep us posted how your other trips go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurricane Bubba Posted September 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 Just finished the Chincoteague/ESVA slam. I was able to get out into the sweetwater this morning and caught specks (crappie), white perch, bluegill, catfish, and pickerel. Water wasn't moving much but the fish didn't care. https://goo.gl/photos/v2s3jzddq4rf7zt9A https://goo.gl/photos/DGqqnVT5EVCpFHer9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 love those things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dave Posted September 15, 2016 Report Share Posted September 15, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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