Striped Bass: season, lures and limits

We picked these fish for Virginia Beach and the Chesapeake Bay mouth, VA, the region closest to Columbus, Ohio, based on the approximate location of your internet connection (IP geolocation, looked up on our own server). It is about 436 miles away; FishOS covers the coast from Maine to Florida and the Gulf of America, and adds regions as they are checked. Pick another region if that is not where you fish.

Fishing region

Season in Virginia Beach

Peak months: Jan, Dec.

JFMAMJJASOND

VSWFT citations for CBBT, Virginia Beach and Bay-mouth areas: 25 in January and 18 in December, a few in April, none June to November (2024 to 2025); surf citations April and May. FishTalk: trophy fish around the CBBT in January on eels, spawning run starting in March, slot fish in tidal rivers in May and October, big migrants expected late November or early December, summer fish at lighted docks. (Our inference)

Season by region

Long Island	JFMAMJJASOND
Maine	JFMAMJJASOND
New Hampshire	JFMAMJJASOND
North Shore MA	JFMAMJJASOND
Cape Cod	JFMAMJJASOND
Rhode Island	JFMAMJJASOND
Connecticut	JFMAMJJASOND
North Jersey	JFMAMJJASOND
South Jersey	JFMAMJJASOND
Delmarva	JFMAMJJASOND
Virginia Beach	JFMAMJJASOND
Outer Banks	JFMAMJJASOND

Where to find them

Winter trophies around the CBBT and the Eastern Shore channel ledge (boat, live eels); lighted docks and bridges in the Lynnhaven, Rudee, Elizabeth and James rivers at night; Sandbridge and Eastern Shore surf in April and May.

From the wash out past the bar; spring and fall blitzes on bunker, sand eels and small bait.

What to look for

Bunker schools being pushed, birds over sand eels or rainbait, rips and drop-offs where waves make turbulence, inlet current at night.

What to throw

Bucktail or jighead with a 4 to 5 in paddle tail1/2 to 1 oz, 4 to 5 in tail. Slow hops along the bottom: lift, drop, let it touch, repeat.

Soft-plastic eel or stickbait (Slug-Go, GT Eel style)Weightless, or 3/8 to 3/4 oz jighead oz, 9 to 13.5 in. Weightless on top when fish are active or at first light; weighted versions drifted through rips, twitched through boulders or dead-sticked near bottom.

Swimming minnow plug (Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow style)3/4 to 1 oz, 4 to 5 in. Steady medium retrieve with occasional twitches and pauses.

Pencil popper1 to 5 oz, Sized to the bait, from silversides to adult bunker. Slow and deliberate, speeding up when a fish shows interest; or hold the rod tip and bounce it hard while barely advancing the plug so it churns in place.

Bait

Live eels, Live bunker (menhaden), Live mackerel, Bunker or mackerel chunks, Cut squid, herring, crabs, Live spot (summer, North Shore). Fish-finder with a pyramid sinker and a long leader, with a float near the hook to keep the bait off the bottom away from crabs and skates. Use a circle hook with bait..

Leader

NY Sea Grant: light (6 to 12 lb) to medium (20 lb) line on a spinning rod; heavier surf outfits for big fish around rocks.

Common mistakes

Leaving bait on the bottom for crabs and skates (NY Sea Grant floats it up)
Using a J hook with bait instead of a circle hook
Fishing mid-day flat calm when the fish feed after dark and at dawn

Landing

Let a wave carry it up the beach; release fish should stay in the water.

Handling

Sharp dorsal spines
Sharp gill cover edges

Keep released fish in the water, support the belly, and use a circle hook with bait. ASMFC estimates about 9 percent of released stripers die, so handle quickly.

Keep or release

Virginia has separate Bay and ocean striped bass rules and seasons; check VMRC before keeping one.

Recipes for striped bass

Typical: Slot-size fish in the rivers. Large: Trophy fish in winter at the CBBT.

Limits

FishOS has not checked the VA limits yet. Check the size, bag and season rules with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission before you keep a fish.

Sources

VMRC Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament: 2024 Citations Year To Date (every trophy citation with species, catch date, area, technique) (Official source)
VMRC Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament: 2025 Citations Year To Date (printed May 8 2026) (Official source)
FishTalk Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, January 2026 (Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Bay mouth) (Angler knowledge)
FishTalk Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, March 2026 (Angler knowledge)
FishTalk Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, May 2026 (Long Bay Pointe Bait and Tackle, Ocean's East Bait and Tackle) (Angler knowledge)
FishTalk Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 2025 (Angler knowledge)
FishTalk Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, October 2025 (Angler knowledge)
The Fisherman: Too Warm, Or Too Cold? Species' Preferred Temperature Ranges (Aguiar, 2023) (Angler knowledge)
On The Water: Spring Fly Fishing for Striped Bass (Barrett, 2022) (Angler knowledge)
US FWS species profile FWS/OBS-82/11.8: striped bass, Mid-Atlantic (Fay, Neves and Pardue, 1983), mirror copy (Official source)
New York Sea Grant fish profile: Striped Bass (Cornell, 2001) (Official source)
On The Water: Long Island and NYC Fishing Report, March 21, 2024 (Angler knowledge)

All the fish of Virginia Beach

Striped Bass