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Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay has few equals. When Captain John
Smith arrived here in 1607, he found a maritime wonderland: Among
other splendors, Smith noted oyster beds so large that they actually
posed a threat to shipping. These massive structures were hidden
below the waterline and could easily break through a ship’s
wooden hull if unwary mariners were to strike them. Smith also
noted enormous schools of fish so thick that he boasted to his
friends back in England that his crew had caught all they could
eat by merely lowering baskets into the water.
Today, anglers won’t see the fish in the Bay in the numbers
that Captain Smith experienced. Nevertheless, good fishing can
still be had in much of the Bay. Most popular of all among anglers
are the Bay’s renowned and resilient rockfish. Indeed, its
hard-fighting striped bass are one of the Bay’s few success
stories: Their numbers plunged in the mid ‘80s, but good
conservation management has brought them back from the brink of
destruction.
Stripers aren’t the only fish in the Bay—not by a long
shot. Many anglers also land bluefish, red and black drum, croakers,
the occasional weakfish—and one of my personal favorites,
the humble flounder. Essentially, something’s always biting
in the Bay. The trick is figuring out what it is, where it is,
and what it wants to eat.
I have fished the Bay countless times with guides like Captain
Tommy Mattioli, and its sheer size and variety continue to amaze
me. Rookie anglers may simply choose to look for the working birds—but
remember that the Bay is massive. What do you do when you can’t
see any birds? My advice is to spare yourself the angst and hire
a guide.
“People come out here and they are sort of overwhelmed by
the size of the area” according to Captain Tommy, owner of
Matty-J Charter Service (www.Matt-J.com) (804)-314-2672 . “The
islands are a logical place to start, but you should also keep
points, the lighthouse, and the bridges like the Hampton Bridge
and Merrimac-Monitor Bridge in mind. With stripers you need to
always keep current and structure in mind”.
If ever the structure of a place played a role in finding fish,
that place is the Chesapeake Bay. The Bay has got structure in
spades: Start your search around the many bridges that cross the
Bay. The four massive rock islands that support the 17-mile-long
Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel are superb fish habitats. Here anglers
can improve their odds by casting close to the rocks with various
streamers, capturing predator fish that patrol these waters nearly
all year long.
Fishing is generally best on an incoming tide, and don’t
be afraid to change patterns until you find what they like. Half
and Half’s are always good as are Clouser Minnows and the
occasional Crease Fly if the fish are hitting on top.
The wind presents a challenge to Bay novices and requires anglers
to adjust their casting styles when using sinking lines. Years
of casting a trout line into a mountain stream will probably not
have prepared you for fishing the Chesapeake Bay. Anglers would
do well to cast their sinking lines with about half the line’s
head still in the tip of the rod and by watching their back casts.
There’s also no shame in making small roll casts or in feeding
line off the end of the boat into the current until you get the
knack of saltwater fishing.
If you really want to get the skinny on saltwater fly fishing,
you might want to join the Virginia Coastal Fly Anglers Club (www.vcfa.org),
a group of anglers that are really dedicated to saltwater fly
fishing. I’ll be speaking for the club on Thursday June 16th
at 6:30 at 1400 Ewell Rd, Bayside Presbyterian Church,Virginia
Beach, Virginia. I hope to see you there!
Beau Beasley (www.beaubeasley.com) is the fly fishing columnist
for The Angler Magazine. His latest book Fly Fishing the Mid-Atlantic:
A No Nonsense Guide to Top Waters was just released.
Beau Beasley (www.beaubeasley.com)
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