24 August 2025
Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report 08/24/2025 - Stripers, Flounder, Speckled Trout Biting Strong
Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Fishing Report - Daily
About
Good morning anglers, this is Artificial Lure bringing you the Chesapeake Bay fishing report for Sunday, August 24th, 2025.
Sunrise rolled in at 6:29AM, and we’ll have daylight until 7:43PM, giving you plenty of time on the water. Tides today around the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel see a low at 3:35AM, high tide cresting at 9:48AM, another low at 3:48PM, with a late high at 10:02PM—prime incoming water through midmorning and again late evening, perfect windows for that topwater bite.
Weather-wise, we’re looking at classic late-summer bay conditions. Winds will be out of the south at 5 to 10 knots all day, keeping the main stem relatively flat with a light chop. The National Weather Service doesn’t forecast anything beyond a gentle 1-foot wave. Keep an eye out this evening for a slight uptick in breeze and the chance for a stray shower or thunderstorm rolling through just after sundown.
Now, the fish have been active with the swing in tides and comfortable water temps. Striped bass are showing strong in the early morning at deeper channel edges and around structure, particularly near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and along the piles. Local boats report solid numbers of schoolies with the occasional slot keeper landed at sunrise on white bucktails and 5” soft plastic jerkbaits in chartreuse or pearl. If the current’s rolling, don’t shy away from vertical jigging metal spoons—bluefish and Spanish mackerel are mixed in, willing to slash through anything moving fast or ripped erratically through the water column.
Live-lining spot and peanut bunker, when you can get them, produces the biggest linesides. Fresh bunker chunks also pull in some hefty blues from the same haunts. As for the croaker, spot, and whiting—these are stacking up around the mouth of the rivers and grassy flats between Kiptopeke and Cape Charles. Bloodworms and pieces of squid are your go-tos, and a two-drop bottom rig will keep you in constant action.
Some anglers are chasing flounder with success on the reef edges—like at the Northern Neck Reef and off Cape Henry. Drift strip baits or Gulp! swimming mullets on a bucktail, bouncing slow off structure. Reports from the reefs mention keeper flounder up to 22 inches these past few days, especially during slack tide or just as the water starts to move back in.
Speckled trout and red drum action is building at the inshore grass beds and flats, especially at dawn and dusk close to Lynnhaven Inlet and Cherrystone—look for popping cork rigs with Gulp! shrimp or topwater plugs for explosive surface takes. Sheepshead are holding at bridge pilings and over rock piles, biting best on fiddler crabs or sand fleas if you can round them up.
For bait, this time of year, live spot, peeler crab, and menhaden shine—though menhaden are getting harder to source. Conservation is a hot topic right now, with regulators considering tighter restrictions on menhaden harvest to help sustain gamefish populations throughout the Bay and neighboring rivers. Bringing your own bait supply is a smart move.
Hot spots today:
- The pilings and islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel—stripers, blues, and sheepshead.
- The edges of the Northern Neck Reef—flounder and the ever-present summer bluefish.
- Grassy flats at Kiptopeke State Park and Lynnhaven for specks and puppy drum.
- Shallow points along Cape Henry—early activity for red drum and keeper trout.
If you’re after a mixed bag or just out to fill the cooler, anchor up on the river mouths during incoming tide, drop a bottom rig, and let the bites come to you.
Thanks for tuning in to this Chesapeake Bay fishing report with Artificial Lure. Don’t forget to subscribe for your daily updates and tips. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
Sunrise rolled in at 6:29AM, and we’ll have daylight until 7:43PM, giving you plenty of time on the water. Tides today around the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel see a low at 3:35AM, high tide cresting at 9:48AM, another low at 3:48PM, with a late high at 10:02PM—prime incoming water through midmorning and again late evening, perfect windows for that topwater bite.
Weather-wise, we’re looking at classic late-summer bay conditions. Winds will be out of the south at 5 to 10 knots all day, keeping the main stem relatively flat with a light chop. The National Weather Service doesn’t forecast anything beyond a gentle 1-foot wave. Keep an eye out this evening for a slight uptick in breeze and the chance for a stray shower or thunderstorm rolling through just after sundown.
Now, the fish have been active with the swing in tides and comfortable water temps. Striped bass are showing strong in the early morning at deeper channel edges and around structure, particularly near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and along the piles. Local boats report solid numbers of schoolies with the occasional slot keeper landed at sunrise on white bucktails and 5” soft plastic jerkbaits in chartreuse or pearl. If the current’s rolling, don’t shy away from vertical jigging metal spoons—bluefish and Spanish mackerel are mixed in, willing to slash through anything moving fast or ripped erratically through the water column.
Live-lining spot and peanut bunker, when you can get them, produces the biggest linesides. Fresh bunker chunks also pull in some hefty blues from the same haunts. As for the croaker, spot, and whiting—these are stacking up around the mouth of the rivers and grassy flats between Kiptopeke and Cape Charles. Bloodworms and pieces of squid are your go-tos, and a two-drop bottom rig will keep you in constant action.
Some anglers are chasing flounder with success on the reef edges—like at the Northern Neck Reef and off Cape Henry. Drift strip baits or Gulp! swimming mullets on a bucktail, bouncing slow off structure. Reports from the reefs mention keeper flounder up to 22 inches these past few days, especially during slack tide or just as the water starts to move back in.
Speckled trout and red drum action is building at the inshore grass beds and flats, especially at dawn and dusk close to Lynnhaven Inlet and Cherrystone—look for popping cork rigs with Gulp! shrimp or topwater plugs for explosive surface takes. Sheepshead are holding at bridge pilings and over rock piles, biting best on fiddler crabs or sand fleas if you can round them up.
For bait, this time of year, live spot, peeler crab, and menhaden shine—though menhaden are getting harder to source. Conservation is a hot topic right now, with regulators considering tighter restrictions on menhaden harvest to help sustain gamefish populations throughout the Bay and neighboring rivers. Bringing your own bait supply is a smart move.
Hot spots today:
- The pilings and islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel—stripers, blues, and sheepshead.
- The edges of the Northern Neck Reef—flounder and the ever-present summer bluefish.
- Grassy flats at Kiptopeke State Park and Lynnhaven for specks and puppy drum.
- Shallow points along Cape Henry—early activity for red drum and keeper trout.
If you’re after a mixed bag or just out to fill the cooler, anchor up on the river mouths during incoming tide, drop a bottom rig, and let the bites come to you.
Thanks for tuning in to this Chesapeake Bay fishing report with Artificial Lure. Don’t forget to subscribe for your daily updates and tips. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn