Fishing Forecast Aug. 3-9

Virginia has some of the best sheepshead fishing in the country.

And to think that the fishery has developed just in the last couple of years.

Were sheepshead swimming in Virginia waters prior to the newfound interest? Probably. Anglers caught them by accident while fishing for red drum and cobia around the inner middle grounds.

But in the last few years, more anglers have discovered that sheepshead make the islands and pilings of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel their summer home.

Considered the most popular member of the porgy family, sheepshead are especially fond of barnacle-encrusted structure. They eat crabs and clams, and really like fiddler crab dangled around the bridge-tunnel pilings.

The world record is a 21-pound, 4-ouncer caught near New Orleans in 1982. But don't be surprised if Virginia soon grabs the record. The state mark of 20-12 -- just a half-pound shy of the world record -- was caught last year at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel's Sea Gull Fishing Pier.

This year's state leader is a 16-pounder.

Sheepshead are popular both for their fight and for their delicious taste.

THE FORECAST

Hampton Roads

Anglers willing to venture out in the heat continue to enjoy plenty of success.

Flounder, sheepshead and spadefish garner most of the inshore attention. Billfishing has been decent offshore, where anglers also can find good numbers of large dolphin and some tuna.

Large flounder are available in good numbers along most of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Live spot has been the hottest bait for big flatties. Danny McCoy of Chesapeake had a 12-pound, 12-ounce flatfish recently. Ronald Larkin of Portsmouth scored at 9-5 and 7-13, while Glen Smith Jr. of Chesapeake had an 8-1.

Sheepshead, which can be found around bridge pilings, will bite on fiddler crab. Spadefish are available at the bridge-tunnel and near buoys.

Rudee Inlet is holding good numbers of flounder, as well as some spot and croaker. Lynnhaven Inlet has plenty of small spot and croaker.

Spadefish can be found at the Chesapeake Light Tower, where Chris Mustard of Virginia Beach caught a 51-inch amberjack. Mustard said the light tower also is holding a few big barracuda.

Amberjack numbers are better at the south tower and at some offshore wrecks.

Billfish numbers have been decent. Large dolphin and some tuna and wahoo have been in the mix.

Blue marlin were caught recently by Brian Stillman, Scott Miller and Bill McKinnon, all of Virginia Beach. White marlin were caught by Chris Ives and Sarah Atkinson, 10, both of Virginia Beach.

Sailfish numbers are up. Virginia Beach residents Joe McCutcheon, Chris McCutcheon and George Powell each caught sailfish.

Big dolphin have increased in number. Richard Koch took the lead in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament with a 56-6 bullhead dolphin. Charles Barker had a 32-2, Joella Ireland had a 29-6, and Robert Bosley had a 25-pounder.

Cherie Gibson had a 51-6 wahoo, and Rob Mudgett scored at 38-4. Chris Carver had a 92-9 yellowfin. All three anglers are from Virginia Beach.

Eastern Shore

The big news around Oyster is that tarpon numbers are on the rise and that anglers have started to have better luck enticing them.

Fishing the backwater areas, Randy Carlson of Cape Charles scored with an 82-inch silver king. Dennis Cline of Townsend had tarpon of 75 and 66 inches. Robert Savage Jr. of Machipongo had a 75-incher, Dave Griffith of Cape Charles had a 70-incher, and George Gregory of Cape Charles had a 60-incher.

Capt. Neil Lessard of Eastville put a crew on nice flounder at the high rise of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

His charter scored with five citation winners from 7-8 to 8-12.

Flounder are also available along the buoy line west of Cape Charles. Ryland Edwards of Franklin had a 7-3 at Buoy 36-A.

Red drum continue to show along barrier islands and at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

The Cell continues to hold good numbers of spadefish, as do several other navigational towers.

Outer banks

Billfish numbers continue to be impressive. Fleets out of Oregon and Hatteras inlets are finding lots of white marlin, with some blue marlin and sailfish in the mix. Capt. Jeff Ross on the Obsession had eight white marlin on Tuesday.

Dolphin, wahoo and tuna also are being caught in good numbers. Mark Weirich of Virginia Beach had a 35-pound dolphin.

Red drum, speckled trout, Spanish mackerel and bluefish make up most of the inshore catches.

Piers and surf

King mackerel made a long-awaited return to the Little Island Pier this week. An unidentified angler had a 44-inch king on Tuesday. Several cobia also have been caught at Little Island, where bluefish and some small croaker have made up most of the catch. Along the Bay, croaker, small spot, flounder and bluefish have provided most of the action. Crabbing is decent.

Along the Outer Banks, red drum, puppy drum, cobia, bluefish, trout, spot, croaker, sea mullet and pompano have made up a mixed bag of available species. Virginia Luizer of Buxton had a 2-7 sea mullet.

Freshwater

Bob Bullen of Bass-Jon's reports that the early morning topwater bass bite has lasted surprisingly longer than typical for this time of year on water-supply lakes.

The bite continues to be best real early in the morning, when the water is its coolest.

Woody Gordon had a 4.06-pound largemouth on a neighborhood lake. Stan Stockton had a nice 8.04 bass on Virginia Beach's Little Creek Reservoir. Both anglers are from Virginia Beach.

Bluegill and shellcracker make up the only other real possibility as bream favor hot summer shorelines.

Catfish anglers can find some success from deep holes in rivers while fishing at night. Nothing sheepish about these tasty battlers