Artificial Lure here with your fresh October 15 Chesapeake Bay fishing report, and folks, the fall bite is firing up! Sunrise was at 7:14 this morning and we’ll have daylight until sunset at 6:29 pm, giving us over eleven hours to work the water. Weather’s mild with overnight lows floating above 50°F, and daytime highs expected in the mid-60s—perfect hoodie weather to chase that fall run.

Today’s tides are moderate with the first high swing peaking early, and a nice moving tide in the afternoon. Use those shifts to your advantage: early light and late-day moving water are prime for stripers and other gamefish according to the latest reports from FishingReminder and tide-forecast.com.

October’s cooling water is the big trigger—Chesapeake Bay’s temps are dropping and that’s got bass and blues pushing bait along channel edges at dawn and dusk. Local anglers are scoring schoolie striped bass on topwater plugs right at first light around classic structure like the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and the mouths of the Lynnhaven and Elizabeth Rivers. Once the sun’s up, switch to soft swimbaits or bucktails, especially working points and rips during that moving tide window.

Red drum reports are still hot on the shallow grass flats south of Cape Charles and at creek mouths feeding into the Bay. Try suspending twitchbaits or toss a shrimp imitation if you’re targeting trout—those big specks are hammering smaller paddle tails and MirrOlure MirrOdines. Bluefish are blitzing roaming schools of shad and mullet; a flashy metal lure like a Kastmaster or Hopkins jig worked fast through surface activity will get your rod bending.

Don’t overlook the inshore and nearshore wrecks—false albacore are running strong, especially along the rips off Cape Henry. Look for birds and surface feeds, get on ‘em quick, and throw small epoxy jigs as fast as you can burn ‘em back.

After recent windy spells the bay’s waters may be a little stained, so lean toward brighter chartreuse or white lures to help fish key in. If things clear up, natural silvers and olive-back baits have been producing steady action.

In the freshwater flows up the James and Chickahominy, anglers are loading up on smallmouth with finesse jigs, while reservoir guys at Lake Anna are hauling in largemouth on spinnerbaits and shallow squarebills. As for crappie, they’re stacked deep on brush piles hitting pearl and chartreuse jigs.

For live bait purists: cut shad is dynamite for blue catfish on the deeper ledges, and bloodworms or Fishbites will pick up croaker and spot near the Hampton Roads tunnels.

Top hotspots: The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) is the king this week for a mixed bag—stripers, flounder, sheepshead. Lynnhaven Inlet stays loaded with speckled trout and slot reds. For surfcasters and kayak anglers, the Eastern Shore grass flats south of Cape Charles are holding strong numbers of drum and specks.

Notable catch news: While bay scallops are making a historic comeback on Virginia’s Eastern Shore according to VIMS, there’s still a moratorium on harvest—so just enjoy seeing them thrive while you hunt reds, flounder, and trout in the eelgrass meadows.

No matter your target, remember—keep an eye on those tide swings, match the hatch on your lures, and chase low-light periods for the most action. That fall run only comes once a year.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI