| Inshore fishing on Virginia Beach charter boats | | | | bottom becomes steeper and rockier. Fish |
| may include trips for striped bass, sea bass, and | | | | congregate along the drop offs to catch food |
| both red and black drum while offshore fishing | | | | that is caught in the hard running current. Along |
| charters target tuna, sharks, dolphin, billfish and | | | | the edges are lobster traps which are marked by |
| other species. The area is world famous for its | | | | orange buoys or "lobster balls". The buoys attract |
| saltwater fishing. | | | | dolphin fish which in turn attract the larger marlin, |
| One well known fisherman is Captain Keith Harlan | | | | swordfish and sharks which feed on them heavily. |
| who fishes the Mega Bite out of Virginia Beach. | | | | A trip by a buoy can be uneventful, or one or |
| He has fished local waters from the Eastern | | | | more lines might be attacked by mahi mahi, tuna, |
| Shore, Chesapeake Bay, and Virginia Beach to | | | | marlin or other fish. |
| Cape Hatteras for over 30 years. Captain Keith's | | | | Late August and September often feature the |
| vast fishing experience also includes the waters of | | | | best fishing with anglers seeing larger numbers of |
| Barbados, Turks and Caicos, Bahamas, Bermuda, | | | | tuna as well as an influx of wahoo and bull dolphin. |
| Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Key West. | | | | Offshore fishing continues into October, when |
| In the summer months, offshore fishing from | | | | windy weather and falling water temperatures |
| Virginia Beach is excellent. Captain Keith described | | | | make fishing less productive. |
| Virginia offshore fishing saying, "Nothing is etched | | | | After the offshore season winds down, Virginia |
| in stone with fishing around here but chasing | | | | anglers enjoy excellent striped bass fishing. Known |
| yellowfin tuna thru much of the summer is our | | | | locally as rockfish, these delicious fish migrate |
| main activity". These tuna like deeper water for | | | | down the East Coast and congregate in the lower |
| the most part, often being caught in water from | | | | Chesapeake Bay and coastal waters from |
| 30 to 100 fathoms. "We watch the satellite shots | | | | November thru March. Anglers sometimes catch |
| to get a general idea of how far north or south | | | | monster rockfish, exceeding 50 lbs. The Virginia |
| the tuna are" explained the Captain. | | | | state record rockfish has been broken many |
| Fishing spots include the Norfolk Canyon, Cigar, | | | | times recently, with some of the biggest fish |
| Weather Buoy, Wayne's World and others. These | | | | being caught out of Virginia Beach Virginia. |
| hotspots range up to 75 miles out of Rudee Inlet. | | | | These beautiful gamefish love cold and windy |
| In addition to yellowfin tuna, anglers catch bluefin, | | | | weather and feed in immense schools along the |
| bigeye, skipjack and longfin albacore tuna, dolphin | | | | coast. Local charter boat captains such as Captain |
| fish, wahoo, billfish and sharks. | | | | Keith of the Mega Bite keep watch on local fishing |
| Of interest to many anglers are the trips that | | | | and are usually able to find the fish reliably when a |
| reach the Norfolk Canyon. Just before reaching | | | | winter weather window of opportunity becomes |
| the canyon walls are slopes that are often very | | | | available. |
| productive areas. Near the canyon walls, the | | | | |