Share your catch
US

Virginia Beach Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Where the Chesapeake meets the Atlantic: the Bridge-Tunnel's islands, two inlets and a pier at Sandbridge.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 6:51 PM
Air / High
65 / 65 F
Wind
NE 14 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 8638863, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Virginia Beach rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 14 mph, steady pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 65. Tides: high 6:32 AM and 6:51 PM, low 12:09 AM and 12:45 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 64 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:38 AM-11:38 AM and 10:06 PM-12:06 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassExcellent

Spring and fall are the shoreline seasons: ODWC points to windblown points, riprap and dams during the May shad spawn and the pre-winter feed.

Tomorrow: Similar at 63 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Virginia requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $23.00 for residents, and salt water needs its own licence here. What a Virginia licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing striped bass here? Check the size and bag limits with DWR before you keep anything. The season dates for Virginia, read off the agency, are on the Virginia seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 8638863 (Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
LOW12:09 AM0.5 ft
HIGH6:32 AM3.0 ft
LOW12:45 PM0.5 ft
HIGH6:51 PM2.8 ft
Sat
LOW12:51 AM0.3 ft
HIGH7:16 AM3.3 ft
LOW1:33 PM0.4 ft
HIGH7:36 PM2.9 ft

Norfolk tide chart: the week and the month β†’

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp65 F
High / Low65 / 54 F
WindNE 14-18 mph
Pressure1023.0 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:19 / 18:16
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~64 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Virginia Beach this week

The best day on Virginia Beach this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:38 AM-11:38 AM and 10:06 PM-12:06 AM
Minor period
3:59 AM-4:59 AM
Sun
07:19 to 18:16
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 18 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Virginia Beach: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall inland; on the coast, during the seasonal migrations

The largest of the temperate basses, a sea-run fish of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts that now also lives in reservoirs across much of the country after hatchery stocking. Inland, it follows schools of shad and herring through open water. Spring and fall are the shoreline seasons: ODWC points to windblown points, riprap and dams during the May shad spawn and the pre-winter feed.

When to come: the Virginia Beach calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Striped bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 64 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~64 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Virginia Beach today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 65 F, wind to 15 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 63 F, wind to 19 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 23 mph gusts make boat control the real battle. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 68 F, wind to 23 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

Before you go

License

Virginia requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Virginia saltwater license, or Fisherman Identification Program registration where exempt. VMRC limits checked October 5, 2026: striped bass seasons and slots differ for bay and ocean waters; cobia and sheepshead have their own limits.

Access

Lynnhaven Boat Ramp & Beach Facility, Owl Creek Boat Ramp and the Little Island Park pier in Sandbridge (City of Virginia Beach). The CBBT's Sea Gull pier is closed until about 2028.

About this water

Virginia Beach and the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, crossed by the 17.6-mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

Fishing Virginia Beach: the full guide

The Bridge-Tunnel

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel spans 17.6 miles shore to shore across the bay mouth on trestles and four man-made islands, and its operator notes that the islands act as a natural reef that fish feed from. The Sea Gull fishing pier on the first island closed in 2017 for the parallel Thimble Shoal tunnel project; the CBBT plans to renovate and reopen it around 2028.

Ramps and piers

Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation runs the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp & Beach Facility, with four launch lanes and a kayak launch on the bay, the Owl Creek Boat Ramp, and Little Island Park in Sandbridge, whose 400-foot fishing pier charges a daily fishing fee.

Bay rules versus ocean rules

Striped bass rules change at the bay mouth: VMRC sets separate seasons and slots for Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries and for Virginia's coastal waters, where the slot is 28 to 31 inches. Cobia and sheepshead also carry VMRC limits, so read the current sheet before keeping anything.

Common questions

Can I fish the CBBT from shore?

Not at present: the Sea Gull pier closed in 2017 and the CBBT plans to reopen it after the parallel tunnel is finished, around 2028.

Can I keep a trophy striper in the ocean?

Only inside VMRC's coastal slot of 28 to 31 inches, one fish per person; larger stripers go back.

Is fishing good at Virginia Beach right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

York River36 miChickahominy Lake71 miOuter Banks76 miTangier Sound83 miRoanoke River95 miJames River100 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 8638863 β€” Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 12 high and low events returned for today and the next two days. A prediction, not a measured water level: wind and surge move the real thing.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 36.8450, -75.9770 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.