Rockfish season is in full swing and I was really looking forward to getting to Virginia Beach for some serious Striper fishing. This was the first time I have had a chance to experience the fall Striper run so it was especially exciting. We left the dock around 9:00 o'clock aboard The Termite, a 24' Wellcraft center console. We heard that big Rockfish were being caught at Cape Henry so we started there first. We marked a lot of fish but after about an hour we were only able to land two small Trout and a small Sea Bass. The Bluefish were tearing up our jigs too so we decided to move. We headed to the Second Island of the CBBT and threw some jigs around the rocks. We didn't get so much as one hit and everyone on the radio said that Thimble Shoals was the place to be so we headed out.


Thimble Shoals was loaded with boats but we managed to nudge ourselves in and make a few drifts. After about 30 minutes I had finally hooked up. After a short fight I had landed a nice little Rockfish. Everyone threw back in the water, but unfortunately we were unable put another Rockfish in the boat at Thimble Shoals. We had a little boat meeting and everyone decided that we were in for the long haul so we decided to make the short run into Lynn Haven inlet to put some more fuel in the boat and grab a bite to eat. When we returned to the CBBT near the small boat channel we could see fish feeding at the surface and birds were everywhere. It wasn't long and the fish were so active it looked like the seawater was boiling. We were catching schooly stripers with just about every cast. To the right you can see some typical Rockfish tackle. We were throwing jig heads with a Fin-S body most of the time.


The amazing thing was that after about an hour of this the fish just turned off. I had heard from the professionals in Virginia Beach that Striper were on and off like a light switch. I didn't realize until this trip just how accurate they were. If there is a moral to this story I guess it is perseverance pay off. We had spent almost 10 hours on the water with almost no action. In the end though everyone was happy. We had spent a day on the water which is always nice and then experienced some of the best Striper fishing the Bay has to offer. The fish shown to the left were taken the next night aboard Capt. Chris Ludford's boat, The Calusa Gal. Two of the fish were caught jigging and one was caught trolling with a Mann's stretch 30. This is the FlukeMaster signing off and wishing you the best of luck on your next fishing trip.

We would like to thank Garland Smith for the use of The Termite and Captain Chris Ludford for taking us out and putting us on the big ones.


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