"Chesapeake Bay fishing heats up with tautog, sheepshead, and early-season offshore action"

Artificial Lure here with your Chesapeake Bay fishing report for Wednesday, May 14, 2025.

Sunrise hit the water at 5:55 AM this morning, with sunset expected around 8:06 PM. We’re seeing partly cloudy skies with temps in the low 70s at dawn, warming into the mid-70s by afternoon. Winds are running light out of the southwest, ramping up a bit as the day goes on but staying manageable for most boats. High tide rolls in around 8:45 AM, with the outgoing tide peaking late afternoon, ideal for setting up on those drop-offs and marsh edges.

The bite’s been hot across the lower bay. Around the CBBT and the piers, tautog are still chewing strong, especially near pilings and rockpiles, but heads up—Virginia’s tog season closes tomorrow, so today’s the day if you want one for the cooler. Sheepshead are showing up in solid numbers around the bridge, biting on fiddler crabs and clam. Puppy drum and black drum are coming in from the piers with some steady action, especially in the early morning and late evening hours. Speckled trout are firing along the surf from Virginia Beach all the way down to the Carolina line, with soft plastics, MirrOlures, and live shrimp doing the work. Schoolie stripers are thick in the rivers and creeks, plenty in the 18 to 25 inch range, eager to smack a jig or Clouser minnow, but remember, striper season opens May 16th, so practice catch and release for now[3][5].

On the offshore side, ambitious anglers heading out past the Cape are finding early-season mahi and yellowfin tuna, especially where warm water breaks push in. Flounder action’s picking up in the bays, with strip baits and Gulp minnows in white or chartreuse working best near channel edges.

Top baits right now: For drum and sheepshead, go with cut mullet, peeler crab, or fresh clam. Specks and stripers are hitting white and chartreuse soft plastics, jerkbaits, and live minnows. Bluefish are chasing metal spoons and cut bunker. If you’re after flounder, try live minnow or squid on a basic flounder rig[5].

For hot spots, check the CBBT islands for tautog, sheepshead, and drum, and hit the mouth of the Rappahannock and York rivers for a mixed bag of schoolie stripers, puppy drum, and speckled trout[3][5]. The Virginia Beach surf is also holding nice numbers of specks and small blues.

All in all, the bay’s fishing is firing up with warming weather and active tides. Get out before the spring crowds slam the ramps, and good luck on the water!