Best Catch - Winter

The best bet for winter fishing is striped bass. They show up in the Ocean in December and may be found as late a March some years. The peak of the Ocean season is usually in January. On February 1, commercial gill netters are allowed to set their nets and that breaks up the schools. The scattered fish are harder to catch and the nets are tough to fish around at times.

Virginia's Ocean striped bass season is open all year. Remember that the minimum size is 28" and you can only keep two fish. Also remember to say INSIDE the 3 mile limit. It is illegal to fish for stripers, even catch and release, in the EEZ (federal waters, 3-200 miles offshore).

Catching the big ones in the Ocean is easy when they are migrating. The hard part is finding where the schools are congregating on any given day. Nothing can beat word of mouth for garnering that information! Check with your buddies, tackle shops, and www.tidalfish.com's Virginia angler section. For trolling, use big Clark, Drone or bunker spoons, parachute lures, deep diving lures like Mann's Stretch 30 series, and wire line rigs with buck tail jigs. People are also having fantastic success with the big weighted lures made by local manufacturers and sold in local shops. You can add planers or down riggers to the mix if the fish are feeding deep. Live bait trophy fishermen prefer using eels, but will use any other available live bait. Most trophy fish are caught on live bait in the spring. The really smart anglers throw a horse ballyhoo 'way back in the spread for the stray bluefin tuna, especially if they are fishing south of Rudee Inlet.

January is also a great time to head to the offshore wrecks for sea bass and tautog. They move out of the Bay onto the offshore structures when the Bay water gets cold. These tasty beauties can be found on every structure from the Chesapeake Light Tower to the Triangle Wreck and beyond. Use Sting Silver type jigs to find the fish, then anchor up and use bottom rigs baited with fresh squid for the main event. Big seas bass eat first, so when you start catching smaller ones, move to another spot. Current restrictions limit anglers to 25 fish each and to a minimum size of 12 inches. Before fishing for them in deep water, you should learn how to puncture their swim bladder to allow the discarded fish to regain the bottom when released.

If you catch a real ugly big fish while wreck fishing, it will probably turn out to be a monkfish. In spite of its horrible appearance, it is good to eat. Cut the head off just behind the pectoral fins and discard it. Fillet and saute, bake, or broil the tail section --- delicious. Several have been caught in recent years, so don't be surprised to see them. They are recovering due to a strict management plan and their range is expanding into shallower waters.