Good Morning From Sea Hawk Sportsfishing! The boys kept us up late… beating on the drums!
August is flying by faster than an ebb tide during full moon. The days are getting shorter, the waters getting a touch cooler, and the fishing is getting better. From the seaside to the bay there are plenty of opportunities just waiting for you to set the hook.
The Chesapeake has taken the main stage of our August Eastern Shore show. The shallows are heating up, metaphorically, thanks to the slightly cooler water. Rock and perch, eagerly hone in on small jigs and rigs tipped with peeler. Small tributaries of the Wicomico and Manokin have been the most productive with the best action coming on the last of the flood and first of the ebb. It doesn’t take long to fill the fryer with fillets.
The shallows of the sound have also been a bit more productive as anglers target specs, spots, and stripes, with an array of topwater and suspended baits like Mirrodeans and Lonely Anglers. First and last light have been the most productive with a incoming tide stacking the deck for success. And yes, a few long awaited pups have started to show up. While we have not seen the numbers that we grew accustomed to last fall…It’s a good sign!
In regards to other spot-tail sightings, the late summer spawn has started in the lower Chesapeake. The hills and sloughs from just south of Onancock to Cape Charles have been the scene for bullish bronze battles. The secret to sizzling drag is setting up with 8/0 circle fishfinder rigs with cut baits like spot, in about 20-30 feet of water. There has been plenty of blues and sharks to steal bait as fast as you can put it on, so put out a small hooked t&b rig with fishbites to supplement your bait supply. If you happen to be close to some structure, put a piece of peeler on a tog jig and drop it to the bottom in hopes of a nice sheepshead. There have been some magnums boated lately!
The angry Atlantic has calmed a bit this week and allowed anglers to get back to being acquainted with success. The flounder bite has been pretty good on the nearshore wrecks and reefs. Jigging 2-4 oz pink, white, and chartreuse bucktails tipped with curltailed gulp is what is needed to seal the deal for a fine tasting flounder dinner.
Further into the deeper depths of blue, yellowfin have been burning some drags as anglers tow skirted ballyhoo and sidewinder bars. In addition to these golden torpedo like tuna, false albacore and mahi have also been cooperating and adding a lot of fun to an already great outing. For those of us more concerned with the culinary opportunities forwarded to us, the tile bite has been great all the way from the sea floor to your dinner plate. Just one more delicious reason to point your bow east!
Before long school will start and summer will end. So take some time and get your family and friends out on the water. From BULL reds to big tuna there is some awesome memories to be made in this wonderful place we call home…. And that’s no BULL
The Chesapeake has taken the main stage of our August Eastern Shore show. The shallows are heating up, metaphorically, thanks to the slightly cooler water. Rock and perch, eagerly hone in on small jigs and rigs tipped with peeler. Small tributaries of the Wicomico and Manokin have been the most productive with the best action coming on the last of the flood and first of the ebb. It doesn’t take long to fill the fryer with fillets.
The shallows of the sound have also been a bit more productive as anglers target specs, spots, and stripes, with an array of topwater and suspended baits like Mirrodeans and Lonely Anglers. First and last light have been the most productive with a incoming tide stacking the deck for success. And yes, a few long awaited pups have started to show up. While we have not seen the numbers that we grew accustomed to last fall…It’s a good sign!
In regards to other spot-tail sightings, the late summer spawn has started in the lower Chesapeake. The hills and sloughs from just south of Onancock to Cape Charles have been the scene for bullish bronze battles. The secret to sizzling drag is setting up with 8/0 circle fishfinder rigs with cut baits like spot, in about 20-30 feet of water. There has been plenty of blues and sharks to steal bait as fast as you can put it on, so put out a small hooked t&b rig with fishbites to supplement your bait supply. If you happen to be close to some structure, put a piece of peeler on a tog jig and drop it to the bottom in hopes of a nice sheepshead. There have been some magnums boated lately!
The angry Atlantic has calmed a bit this week and allowed anglers to get back to being acquainted with success. The flounder bite has been pretty good on the nearshore wrecks and reefs. Jigging 2-4 oz pink, white, and chartreuse bucktails tipped with curltailed gulp is what is needed to seal the deal for a fine tasting flounder dinner.
Further into the deeper depths of blue, yellowfin have been burning some drags as anglers tow skirted ballyhoo and sidewinder bars. In addition to these golden torpedo like tuna, false albacore and mahi have also been cooperating and adding a lot of fun to an already great outing. For those of us more concerned with the culinary opportunities forwarded to us, the tile bite has been great all the way from the sea floor to your dinner plate. Just one more delicious reason to point your bow east!
Before long school will start and summer will end. So take some time and get your family and friends out on the water. From BULL reds to big tuna there is some awesome memories to be made in this wonderful place we call home…. And that’s no BULL
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Well, I guess the Lord has heard our prayers in regards to the hot and humid weather, and has blessed us with some divine A/C straight from the Atlantic. While the temperature is refreshing, we could stand to have the fan turned down a bit. Either way, there is still plenty of fish to fry on the southern Eastern Shore.
While the big boats get to play in the angry Atlantic as they participate in the famed WMO, the rest of us get to organize our tackle, perform maintenance, and dream of light westerly winds. The stiff NE winds have really cut down on opportunities both near and offshore. Even inside the inlets of the Va Barrier Islands, sheltered waters still offered immense challenges that were influenced by turbid water, high tides, and lots of grass to foul up your rigs. The steadfast and stubborn anglers who refused to surrender to the elements, were able to boat a few flounder and some hardheads which were hard earned. Hopefully, next week will bring lighter breezes and clearer water for targeting flounder inside the inlets and on near shore structures as well as mahi under the floating oasis of the deep.
The central Chesapeake has been the main stay for positive pullage. The water has dropped into the upper 70 degree range and this hospitable decline has improved the casting/ shallow water bite exponentially. Surface plugs and rap-10’s have tempted rock from around bay born structures to the dinner plate. Specs have also made a fashionable appearance while chasing popping corks and paddletails slowly worked over the grassy flats.
The southern bay has continued to have some Cobia action from both sight fishermen as well as anglers soaking cut baits on fishfinder
rigs. There has even been a couple bull reds clumping on cut spot and hardhead in the same areas which include the channel edges from Pungoteague Creek down to Cape Charles. This late summer red bite should continue to improve as these big bronze bruits school up the spawn. Some cut spot, 8/0 circle rig, running tide and an Eastern Shore sunset is all you need to do battle with the fish of a lifetime.
This weeks weather didn’t allow for a lot of opportunity to take customers fishing. However, with Wednesday’s trip canceled, I was approached by two young boys who asked to help me fish minnow pots. I was delighted to take them and show them why school is so important ( so they aren’t selling bait forever) . We had a great time pulling pots, dumping minnows, baiting up, and looking / identifying the many crabs and fish that were incidentally caught and released in our little pots. We even had some of the smallest speckled trout you have ever seen, all while driving down shallow ditches like crazy people that know how to have fun! The fact is, even when the deck it stacked against you, there is always something fun to do in the wounderful place that we call home!
While the big boats get to play in the angry Atlantic as they participate in the famed WMO, the rest of us get to organize our tackle, perform maintenance, and dream of light westerly winds. The stiff NE winds have really cut down on opportunities both near and offshore. Even inside the inlets of the Va Barrier Islands, sheltered waters still offered immense challenges that were influenced by turbid water, high tides, and lots of grass to foul up your rigs. The steadfast and stubborn anglers who refused to surrender to the elements, were able to boat a few flounder and some hardheads which were hard earned. Hopefully, next week will bring lighter breezes and clearer water for targeting flounder inside the inlets and on near shore structures as well as mahi under the floating oasis of the deep.
The central Chesapeake has been the main stay for positive pullage. The water has dropped into the upper 70 degree range and this hospitable decline has improved the casting/ shallow water bite exponentially. Surface plugs and rap-10’s have tempted rock from around bay born structures to the dinner plate. Specs have also made a fashionable appearance while chasing popping corks and paddletails slowly worked over the grassy flats.
The southern bay has continued to have some Cobia action from both sight fishermen as well as anglers soaking cut baits on fishfinder
rigs. There has even been a couple bull reds clumping on cut spot and hardhead in the same areas which include the channel edges from Pungoteague Creek down to Cape Charles. This late summer red bite should continue to improve as these big bronze bruits school up the spawn. Some cut spot, 8/0 circle rig, running tide and an Eastern Shore sunset is all you need to do battle with the fish of a lifetime.
This weeks weather didn’t allow for a lot of opportunity to take customers fishing. However, with Wednesday’s trip canceled, I was approached by two young boys who asked to help me fish minnow pots. I was delighted to take them and show them why school is so important ( so they aren’t selling bait forever) . We had a great time pulling pots, dumping minnows, baiting up, and looking / identifying the many crabs and fish that were incidentally caught and released in our little pots. We even had some of the smallest speckled trout you have ever seen, all while driving down shallow ditches like crazy people that know how to have fun! The fact is, even when the deck it stacked against you, there is always something fun to do in the wounderful place that we call home!
