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Virginia Beach Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Where the Chesapeake meets the Atlantic: the CBBT's 17 miles of structure and a genuine shot at a 50-inch striper.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 10:14 PM
Air / High
90 / 96 F
Wind
NNE 7 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 8638610, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 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.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Virginia Beach sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 7 mph, rising pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 96. Tides: high 2:42 AM and 3:18 PM, low 8:51 AM and 10:14 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 72 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

BluefishExcellent

Follow the bunker and mullet schools: blitzes can erupt anywhere on the beach. Wire or heavy leader always.

Redfish (red drum)Excellent

Prime sight-fishing: tailing fish on shallow flats, schools pushing water. Weedless spoons, shrimp under a popping cork, cut mullet in the guts.

Striped bassGood

Surface action windows at dawn; otherwise free-lines and planer boards over long points and humps.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 88 F with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 8638610 (Sewells Point). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
HIGH2:42 AM2.4 ft
LOW8:51 AM0.5 ft
HIGH3:18 PM3.0 ft
LOW10:14 PM0.7 ft
Sat
HIGH3:47 AM2.3 ft
LOW9:59 AM0.5 ft
HIGH4:29 PM3.0 ft
LOW11:25 PM0.7 ft

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp90 F
High / Low96 / 77 F
WindNNE 7-9 mph
Pressure1012.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 13%
Sunrise / Sunset06:37 / 19:28
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~72 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Overcast, 96/77 F, wind 16 mph, rain 13%

Fair or better. A 16 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

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

The reservoir heavyweight. Follows shad and herring schools in open water year-round. Surface action windows at dawn; otherwise free-lines and planer boards over long points and humps.

Bluefish illustration

Bluefish

Best: Sep-Oct blitzes

The ocean's most honest fish: when blues blitz bait on the beach, everything with hooks gets bit. Follow the bunker and mullet schools: blitzes can erupt anywhere on the beach. Wire or heavy leader always.

Redfish (red drum) illustration

Redfish (red drum)

Best: Sep-Nov bull run

The copper-flanked king of the flats and surf: tailing in inches of water, schooling by the hundred in fall. Prime sight-fishing: tailing fish on shallow flats, schools pushing water. Weedless spoons, shrimp under a popping cork, cut mullet in the guts.

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
Bluefish
Redfish (red drum)
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 72 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~72 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, Sep 3

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 89 F, wind to 9 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 88 F, wind to 15 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

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 90 F, wind to 10 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

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. Striper seasons in the bay are tightly windowed: review current VMRC dates before targeting them.

Access

Virginia Beach and Sandbridge piers, Rudee and Lynnhaven inlet shorelines, and charter/head boats for the CBBT proper.

About this water

Virginia Beach and the Chesapeake Bay mouth, VA. Home of the CBBT and gateway between estuary and ocean.

Fishing Virginia Beach: the full guide

The bridge that changed everything

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is 17 miles of pilings, tubes and rock islands planted across the bay mouth: the greatest man-made fishing structure on the East Coast. Big red drum in spring, cobia all summer, sheepshead on the pilings, and the winter striper fishery that made Virginia Beach famous among trophy hunters.

Inside and outside

Inside: Lynnhaven and Rudee inlets hold puppy drum, speckled trout and flounder in their creeks and drops. Outside: the surf at Sandbridge produces classic mid-Atlantic mixed bags. The offshore fleet runs to the Norfolk Canyon for tuna and billfish. But the CBBT is the star: every season writes a different story on the same 17 miles.

The bridge-tunnel bounty

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is Virginia Beach's 17-mile reef: its pilings and tubes hold sheepshead (a rebuilt trophy fishery), tautog in winter, and the light lines stack speckled trout and stripers after dark. Boats drift fiddler crabs against the structure; the rock islands' rips run bluefish and Spanish mackerel all summer. One structure, a dozen fisheries, year-round.

Common questions

Can I fish the CBBT from shore?

The old fishing pier on the first island closed, so the structure itself is boat water now: local charters specialize in it. Shore anglers work Lynnhaven, Rudee and the oceanfront piers instead.

When do flounder stack at Virginia Beach?

June-September inside the inlets and along the CBBT: bucktails tipped with Gulp drifted on the current seams. Fall pushes doormats to the ocean wrecks before the offshore slide.

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: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

York River36 miChickahominy Lake71 miOuter Banks76 miRoanoke River95 miJames River100 miPamlico Sound103 mi
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