Memorial Day Weekend Fishing Forecast for the Chesapeake Bay

Good morning anglers, this is Artificial Lure with your Chesapeake Bay fishing report for Saturday, May 24, 2025.

We are heading into the Memorial Day weekend with fine weather across the region. Expect light breezes through the morning, highs pushing into the low 80s by afternoon, and partly cloudy skies. Sunrise today was at 5:49 AM and sunset will be at 8:14 PM, giving you a long window to get out on the water.

Tides are running strong today, with an early morning high incoming around 8:15 AM and a low tide just past 2:40 PM. Fish should be more active around the moving water, especially around sunrise and again at dusk.

In the lower bay, the first wave of big red drum has arrived off Virginia’s Eastern Shore and inside the mouth of the bay. Reports out of Lynnhaven Inlet and around Cape Charles are showing solid catches by boats chunking fresh peeler crab or menhaden, as well as anglers trolling big soft plastics and heavy bucktails along the channel edges. Drums are being caught in good numbers, with a few pushing over 40 inches making for memorable battles[5].

Sea bass season is now open, and boats running to the wrecks and reefs just offshore are coming back with full coolers. Closer to shore, the flounder bite has picked up in the coastal bays and around the mouth of the Bay Bridge Tunnel, with Gulp swimming mullet on jig heads and live minnows producing steady action[5].

Spot and small croaker have moved into their summer haunts, particularly around the Bay Bridge piers, the mouth of the Elizabeth River, and the deeper holes at Hampton Roads. Using bloodworms or Fishbites on bottom rigs is the ticket. Most spot are running three to six inches, perfect for live-lining if you are trying for bigger stripers or blues[3].

The striped bass season in Virginia is open, and early risers drifting around the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, the James River Bridge, and the western shore rocks are getting into decent numbers, especially on ebbing tides. Top choices are six to eight-inch paddle tail swimbaits, bucktails tipped with plastic shads, and live spot if you can catch them. The outgoing tide right before sunset is also producing some nice fish on topwater plugs along the rip rap and marsh edges[2][3].

Speckled trout and bluefish are also being caught in good numbers back in the creeks and grass flats of the southern bay. Popping corks with Gulp shrimp or MirrOlures in natural colors have been hot, especially at dawn and dusk[2].

For the best shot at a mixed bag, hit two hotspots: try the pilings of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel for stripers, flounder, and the odd big drum, and check out the inside bars of Lynnhaven or the grassy flats in Poquoson for specks and blues. Don’t forget to bring a few live spot, and some peeler crab or fresh menhaden for bait.

That’s the scoop for today. Stay safe on the water, respect your fellow anglers, and tight lines!