OCTOBER 2008 

The Rivah
Fall Edition
By: Capt. Billy Pipkin

It’s ‘Rocktober’... The concert of fish continues

The Northern Neck was blessed with exceptional weather over the summer. Calm seas and sunshine abounded throughout. Now that we have officially entered into the fall season, the weather has shown its other side. Here on the Chesapeake Bay, the equinoxes historically offer weather more to the liking of sailors than fishermen.  

The fall season is a celebrated time here in the Northern Neck of Virginia. Although several species will bend the poles during October, the cooler weather enhances the migration of our bread and butter – Rockfish. 

We call it “Rocktober” for a reason. Excitement fills the air as the trump card of the charter fleet arrives in full force. Nothing stirs the soul of a riverneck like the arrival of rockfish season.  

October fourth marks the official start of Virginia’s Striped bass (rockfish) season. It is now that 3-8 pound schooling fish take over and are available for light tackle enthusiasts in the form of chumming or casting. There are several artificial reefs in the region that are very productive. Chumming is the preferred method of landing fish over the reefs. Ground menhaden is the enticement as it is tossed overboard methodically. Traditionally cut bait has been used on the hooks, yet the latest method is drifting live spot. Both are effective and will surely produce limits of fish.

The Virginia striped bass regulations allow for two fish /person 18-28 inches in length. Anglers may substitute one of the smaller specimens with one over 34 inches long. 

The chumming season usually lingers well into November. At that time the larger migratory rockfish begin to make their trek into the bay from ocean waters. At that time emphasis shifts to the trolling scene. This fishery only gets better as it builds to a crescendo in late December with the monster forty pound specimens.  

Trolling is performed mainly along the edges of the shipping channel. These edges are where menhaden, the rockfish’s primary staple, head southbound out of the bay to winter off the Carolina coast.

Anglers use lures that resemble the menhaden mainly in the form of spoons and parachutes and present them with other ghastly contraptions. Considering the vast number of lures, colors, styles and rigging available, it is clear proof that man has an endless need to spend an absorbent amount of time and money to make the kill and drag his fish back to the cave. It’s all about the chase. Testosterone, you must have it to understand what I’m talking about.

My abundance of testosterone carries me further south to Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach during the winter months. It is there that my 46 foot “Liquid Assets II” calls home while many snowbirds fly south to the palm trees of Florida. Anglers willing to pass on the sunburn and key limes are treated to a fishing experience second to none. If you have a similar desire to further your fishing pleasure, join me in catching some of the largest rockfish on the east coast.  

One of the nice things about the winter fishery in the ocean is that they are schooled up heavily and lend themselves well to jigging and casting with light tackle. Some folks like to live line eels, others prefer to jig with live bunkers or even with a simple bucktail donned with a large grub tail. For the most part, ocean trolling is the most productive means of landing the monster fish with stripes the size of zebras. That may be a slight exaggeration, yet there is nothing like catching a big ole rockfish in January and February.  

This is an exciting time.  Enjoy it!