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This week on the Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, host Luke Barton checks in with Captain Preston Hukill with Puttin’n Sportsfishing for a full breakdown of the Miles of Love Foundation Speckled Trout Tournament and a strong inshore update for late-fall speckled trout and redfish. The episode also features a detailed tog-tog (blackfish) segment with Captain Robbie Bryan aboard Reel Release Sportfishing and Captain Andy Kim of Sashimi Sportfishing, who share techniques, rigs, and what anglers should expect as winter patterns take hold.
Conditions Recap
Spring-like warming trends early in the week quickly gave way to sharp fronts and rapid temperature swings, producing extremely clear water across much of the lower bay and its tributaries. Calm, sunny mornings pushed trout higher in the water column, while cold snaps pulled fish deeper by afternoon. The outgoing tide played heavily into tournament results, concentrating fish in drains and creek mouths. In the Elizabeth River, higher salinity and deeper, more stable water continue to produce heavier speckled trout compared to the thinner, more transient fish in the Lynnhaven system.
Tide phases were especially important for tog anglers. The strong currents around the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel made holding bottom difficult during peak flow, but slack water brought out heavy numbers of oyster toads, requiring anglers to wait for moving water again before re-engaging serious tog fishing.
Inshore Report with Captain Preston Huckle
Miles of Love Speckled Trout Tournament Recap
Captain Preston Huckle shared a full recap of the inaugural Miles of Love Speckled Trout Tournament, hosted out of The Back Deck in Virginia Beach. The event brought in approximately 22 boats—a strong showing for a first-year benefit event. Weigh-ins were run by Drew of The Back Deck under the Coastal Supply awning using his commercial-grade scales.
First place went to Rudy, who weighed an impressive 24-plus-pound bag. Captain Trip C of Bay Roamer Charters took second, and Captain Travis Kemp of Foolproof Sportfishing finished third with roughly 13 pounds. Sponsors included Anchor Boat Works, Greenbrier Country Club, YakAttack, Heads & Tails Charters, Ocean’s East, and Outer Banks Lure Company.
Where Preston Found Tournament Fish
Preston reported a tough start, but the outgoing tide around 10 a.m. triggered a major push of trout out of a cove and into the creek channel. His guest Paul—founder of the Miles of Love Foundation—landed a 24-inch speckled trout on his first-ever fish, followed by a 22-incher just minutes later. The group then followed a moving biomass of trout and caught fish steadily into the afternoon.
What They’re Biting
Early in the day, trout were holding high in the water column and feeding aggressively on popping cork rigs. Preston’s preferred setup includes a Four Horsemen Popping Cork paired with a weightless shrimp profile. He works the rig with two sharp pops, followed by a full 10-second pause. When fish become finicky, scent additives such as Pro-Cure Shrimp help seal the deal.
As the sun rose and fish dropped deeper, they transitioned to paddle tails and chatterbait-style lures. Preston emphasized keeping a natural profile in clear water and using long fluorocarbon leaders with unobtrusive braided line colors like white or blue.
Redfish Sight-Fishing Update
Later in the week, Captain Preston switched gears to shallow-water redfish, reporting excellent sight-fishing conditions due to the extremely clear water in both Lynnhaven and Little Creek. Redfish are pushing high onto flats, making visual identification the key factor.
These fish are wary, so Preston recommends:
- Light leaders (8 lb test or lighter)
- 3-inch subtle baits or even rooster tails for ultra-finesse presentations
- Long casts past the fish, retrieving across their face—not directly onto their heads
- High-quality polarized sunglasses (green mirror with an amber interior) for maximum contrast
Hot fish will show vibrant colors and active tail movement. Redfish that are still, suspended, or disinterested rarely eat.
Tog (Blackfish) Report with Captains Robbie Pappas & Andy Kim
The tog bite is peaking, and Captains Robbie and Andy have been teaming up to run collaborative winter trips on the Real Release boat. Tog are concentrated on every piling of the CBBT and on nearby rubble piles, although heavy current can make fishing difficult until tide slack or the first of the moving water.
Bait & Tackle
Robbie’s traditional bottom rig:
- 7–7’6″ conventional rod
- 50–65 lb braid with 50 lb leader
- 4/0 octopus J-hooks
- 8–10 oz sinkers for vertical presentation
Andy’s finesse jig approach:
- 3000-class spinning reel
- 15 lb braid, 30 lb leader
- Bottom Sweeper / Tog Jigs in natural colors (browns, oranges, crab tones)
- 1–2 oz depending on depth and current
Both captains stress the importance of staying vertical, maintaining bottom contact, and reading the fish’s sequence of taps before setting the hook. On slack tide, oyster toads may overrun the structure, requiring anglers to simply wait until current returns.
Keeping Only Upper-Class Fish
With a bag limit of four tog per angler, Robbie and Andy release all smaller fish and work through numbers until they find the heavier 20–22-inch class togs common around the bridge this time of year.
