Alright, let’s go ahead and get this straight. Yes, it’s February. With seventy-degree days, and coastal water temperatures still hovering around 48-degrees, it may be easy to forget sometimes. This has certainly been an epic winter season, with huge striped bass staging for the winter off the beach, and big bluefin tuna meandering along the shorelines in no hurry to leave. And why should they? The bait is thick, and they have plenty of company. Even whales are making news with colossal shows for the whale watcher’s delight.

Striped bass: Virginia’s favorite game fish. The last season that the weather stayed warm enough to host a rockfish population into the winter off Virginia Beach was 2009, so we were overdue for our turn. Now charter boats are booked out and local businesses are bustling. Although the ocean rockfish bite is not on fire as it was a week ago, nice fish are still around. It is suspect that some of the schools are wondering past the 3-mile line and just off limits within the Bay. But for those who hit it on the right , anglers are still lucking into big fish, with some sitting around forty and fifty-pounds. The latest reports indicate the rockfish are preferring deeper trolled lures such as Mojo style rigs on the bottom, and parachute or shad style trailers. Boats are encountering rockfish from the Eastern Shore down to Corolla. Remember, if you decide to travel to Carolina waters to target striped bass, you need a Carolina fishing license. Big fish are available in the Bay, where more anglers are opting for catch and release action lately.

The bluefin tuna craze is still exciting anglers just as much as it is perplexing marine biologists. These highly migratory fish seem content to stay put, and this week there are even rumors of tuna caught within Bay waters. No one can recall this type of phenomenon ever occurring to this degree in the past, and the speculation behind the rationale for this trend is all over the place. The Senior Fisheries Manager at VMRC, Joe Grist, surmises that “the tuna are clearly here following the masses of bait.” He recalls a similar event occurring back in 2004, but it was very brief. “We experienced a mild winter in 2004, but the tuna showing was nothing like this year’s. In 2004, the bluefin were holding at around 5-miles out instead of right up on the beach, and people didn’t talk about it much.” We may not know why, but the bluefin tuna are here now, and Virginia is more than happy to host their winter visit. On some days the tuna fishing is better than the striped bass fishing, with up to a dozen or so bluefin caught each day this week. Most tuna are ranging around 150-pounds, but a few are pushing to nearly 200-pounds. The top tuna lures are still rockfish rigs pulled on offshore combos, with white the best color. A few fish are also hitting trolled ballyhoo on Islanders.

Speckled trout and school sized striped bass are still available in the popular spots along the Elizabeth River in Chesapeake. Although the action is off and on, nice specks are most active near the hot ditch and cove areas. Some of these fish are super-sized, with a few specks tipping the scales to over 11-pounds this week. The trout are mostly hitting lures, with the proven Mirrolure working well. Live baiters are struggling, while trollers are engaging a few strikes and hook ups. School sized striped bass are also plentiful all over the River, offering a good fight on light tackle.

When anglers can pull themselves away from the oceanfront fishing scene, tautog are a good option. The Bay water temperatures are still well within range for tog activity. The folks at Ocean’s East 2 report that some fish to over 13-pounds came from lower Bay structures this week. Blue crabs work well, but they are very difficult to find right now. Some anglers are using alternative baits such as frozen crabs, clams, and mussels.

Boats venturing out to scour the deeper ocean floors will find limits of nice blueline tilefish up to around 17-pounds. Black seabass will also hit your bait, but they are out of season. Although spiny dogfish are also in the same vicinities, persistent anglers are also finding barrel fish and blackbellied rosefish mixed in with the tilefish. Other species such as grouper and wreckfish can also provide some variety along the Canyon walls. Other than deep dropping trips, there is not much interest expressed by anglers to run offshore right now with the nearby bluefin tuna bite going on.