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This week’s Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report is a spring transition episode with a little bit of everything, from a long-distance Florida Keys boat-trailering adventure to fresh Virginia Beach inshore and bay fishing reports. Host Luke Barton talks first with Captain Mike Manning and Captain Owen Knollenberg about hauling a boat roughly 1,100 miles from Virginia to Marathon, Florida, chasing blackfin tuna, snowy grouper, tarpon, mangrove snapper, and more. Later in the show, Luke checks in with Captain Eric Meyers with Heads N’ Tails Charters and Preston Hukill with Puttin’n Sportsfishing for a Lower Chesapeake update covering tog, big bluefish, rockfish, redfish, sheepshead, and the first signs of the coming cobia season.
Conditions Recap
Spring is moving along in the Lower Chesapeake, but the weather has not made it easy. The captains described a stretch of wind and rain that kept a lot of boats waiting for better windows, though a brief calm day finally opened things up. In the rivers, fishing is still recovering from earlier cold weather, and the Lynnhaven has been very clear. That clear water, combined with small bunker and fish still transitioning, has made the inshore bite a little uneven.
In the bay and around the bridge-tunnel, the action has been more encouraging. Tog, big bluefish, and rockfish have all been active, while redfish are beginning to push into the creeks and rivers. Sheepshead are showing up in ocean-side and nearshore movements, but many of those fish appear to be migrating rather than feeding aggressively. Looking ahead, the captains expect the next couple of weeks to bring stronger redfish activity and the first serious signs of cobia season around Virginia Beach.
Florida Keys Lessons With Captain Mike Manning And Captain Owen Knollenberg
Captain Mike Manning and Captain Owen Knollenberg opened the episode with a detailed recap of a Florida Keys trip that will hit home for any Chesapeake angler who has ever thought about towing a boat south for a dream fishing vacation. The pair hauled Mike’s 23-foot Sea Swirl Striper from Virginia to Marathon, Florida, a one-way trip of roughly 1,100 miles. They compared that experience with a previous fly-down-and-rent-a-boat trip and said that, while trailering was a massive undertaking, having their own boat, tackle, electronics, layout, and freedom made the trip significantly better.
The biggest lesson was preparation. Before leaving, they added a trolling motor, worked through mounting issues, modified the bow rail, adjusted the folding cobia tower setup, and then turned their attention to the trailer. Owen went through bearings, hubs, tires, spares, grease, and eventually helped replace an axle that was too far gone to trust on a long highway run. The takeaway was simple: for a trip like this, the trailer is just as important as the boat. They also emphasized carrying tools, spare tires, spare rims, a jack, grease, and enough mechanical know-how to avoid being stranded on the shoulder.
Gear came up often in this section. Mike added a Minn Kota trolling motor to help hold position in heavy current, bought the motor through West Marine, and discussed sorting through mounting options, including a Sea Swivel mount and quick-release hardware. They also talked about electric reels, deep-drop rigs, heavy lead, kite rods, and the kind of tackle that is hard to fly with but easy to bring when the whole boat is coming with you.
Blackfin Tuna, Snowy Grouper, Tarpon And Canal Fishing In Marathon
The offshore goal in Marathon was to fish the famous humps for tuna, mahi, and deep-drop opportunities. The weather cooperated after their arrival, giving them several days of less-than-one-foot seas. At the humps, they found blackfin tuna and skipjack, including Mike’s first jig-caught fish. They also trolled through tuna schools before switching gears to deep dropping with help from a local captain who had the right numbers and local knowledge.
The highlight was snowy grouper. Fishing in 700 to 1,000 feet of water, Mike learned how important it was to maintain bottom contact as the boat rose and fell. The bite looked subtle, almost like a bluegill tap on the rod tip, but once the reel came tight, the rod doubled over and the fish came up with the telltale bulging eyes and stomach of a deep-water grouper. Owen explained that the Keys deep-drop game is very different from fishing soft bottom back home. Around Marathon, the rocky bottom means snags are common and heavy lead is part of the cost of doing business. They were dropping as much as 10 pounds of weight to stay vertical in current.
Back at the rental house, the canal fishing may have been the most fun part of the trip. The house sat on a canal near 86th Street in Marathon, close enough to the Seven Mile Bridge to make quick runs by boat. Behind the house, they caught big mullet, mangrove snapper, grunts, pinfish, and even a small Goliath grouper. At night, tarpon rolled through the canal and ate large live mullet fished under a striper-style bobber. Mike said the bites were explosive in the dark, with the bobber disappearing with an audible pop before line started peeling down the canal.
For cooking, Owen kept the snowy grouper simple with lemon pepper, butter, lemon, foil, and a hot oven. The result was exactly what anglers hope for when they finally put a deep-water grouper in the box: clean, rich, and worth the work.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Inshore Report With Captain Eric Meyers And Preston Hukill
Back in Virginia Beach, Captain Eric Meyers and Preston Hukill reported a spring fishery that is waking up but still dealing with wind, rain, and lingering effects from cold weather. Eric said the rivers are still recovering, with some fish around but not a wide-open bite yet. The bay, however, has been more active, with tog, big blues, and rockfish providing better action over the last several days.
Preston has been running afternoon trips and finding oversized slot redfish in the creeks. He also ran a long exploratory trip down toward the Carolina line and ended up hooking something few anglers ever expect to catch on purpose: a Mola mola, or ocean sunfish. Thinking it was a shark at first, he threw a jig at it, watched it eat, and then fought it for roughly an hour and a half before bringing it boat-side.
On the ride back, Preston also saw large groups of sheepshead moving on the surface. The fish would not eat Voodoo Shrimp or other offerings, and both captains agreed they were likely in a migratory or spawning movement rather than feeding mode. Eric said those sheepshead may be moving from warmer, shallower structure off Hatteras back into the bay as the season builds.
Redfish Outlook For The Lynnhaven And Nearby Creeks
The redfish conversation centered on the first real push of fish coming up the coast and entering the rivers. Eric said many of the early fish are in the 29- to 33-inch range, which puts them above Virginia’s 18- to 26-inch slot. He does not expect this year to match some of the best recent years, partly because winter cold hurt parts of the local redfish population, but he still expects the bite to improve as bait grows and more fish move into the system.
For the next couple of weeks, Eric recommended looking for deeper water close to the inlet, especially around areas where fish naturally funnel through. Shore anglers may also have opportunities around bridge and dock access points when the tide is right. Both captains stressed that redfish often move as a group, so the same dock or stretch of creek may look dead for days and then suddenly turn on when the fish slide through.
Preston’s go-to redfish rig right now is a drop-shot style setup with a weight on the bottom and a hook several inches above it, often baited with finger mullet or cut crab. He also described using a rubber band connection near the weight so the sinker can break free if it wedges into rocks or structure, saving the rest of the rig and reducing re-tying time.
Rockfish, Big Bluefish And Spring Topwater Action
Eric found big bluefish and rockfish around the bridge-tunnel while throwing oversized topwater plugs. The blues were aggressive enough to jump completely out of the water on the plug, and once the stripers started biting, the pattern became hard to leave. The conversation also included a reminder that striped bass regulations change throughout the year, so anglers should check the current Virginia rules before keeping any fish.
The lure discussed in this section was a large walk-the-dog style topwater plug, similar to an oversized Heddon Spook profile. In this case, the point was not subtlety. It was a big surface bait designed to push water, dart back and forth, imitate a large menhaden-style meal, and trigger explosive strikes from bluefish and rockfish feeding around the bay.
Cobia Season, Strange Catches And What Comes Next
Looking ahead, the captains expect cobia season to begin showing signs soon. There was already talk of a small cobia reportedly caught around Rudee Inlet, though the details were still unclear. Luke also brought up the bizarre yellowfin tuna that was reportedly caught in Rudee Inlet, a story that had been making the rounds locally and left everyone wanting the full details on how it happened.
For Captain Eric Meyers and Heads N’ Tails Charters, the coming season will include a versatile fleet ranging from bay boats and skiffs to a 31-foot Contender. He also mentioned a repower on the Contender after discovering the existing motors had far more hours than previously thought. That led to a broader point for boat owners: outboards that are run often and serviced consistently can last a long time, while motors that sit unused can create their own problems.
Preston Hukill with Puttin’n Sportsfishing is also expanding opportunities with access to a larger 31-foot boat in addition to the 21-foot Carolina Skiff he has been running for inshore and fair-weather bay trips. His approach remains simple: if conditions allow and the fish have gills, he is willing to try to catch them.
