Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report: Late Fall Bounty, from Stripers to Tautog

Artificial Lure here, bringing you the Chesapeake Bay fishing report for Monday, November 24, 2025, straight from the water’s edge in Virginia. Sun popped up at 7:20am, setting a little early tonight at 6:15pm, so if you’re planning a late bite, get your casts in before that dusk window closes. Tides are on the average side today, with a morning low around 3:30am, high tide hitting mid-bay just before 10am, and then dropping off for another low around 4:20pm, according to Tides4Fishing. That falling water most of the morning means moving bait in the shallows, and fish will be active in current breaks and drop-offs. Weather’s about textbook late November: northwest winds kicking between 10-20 knots early, shifting north and calming a tad come afternoon, with gusts up to 25 knots. Seas offshore running steady 3-5 feet—occasionally higher—so the Bay’s protected spots are the ticket. It's crisp and cool; make sure to layer up, but at least there’s no major rain in the immediate forecast for daylight hours. Fish activity is high this week. Striped bass—locals call ’em rockfish—are in classic fall feeding mode. Reports from up and down the lower bay and Choptank say big schools are blitzing on bunker and shad, especially at sunrise and sunset. There’s a strong bite on metal jigs: anglers using 1-1.5 oz flutter jigs and bucktails are limiting out quick, with keepers between 22-32 inches showing up regularly. According to The Water’s Edge, light tackle jigging is producing not just quantity but serious quality, with plenty of boat action between the islands and structure. Down near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, tautog are holding steady around rock piles and bridge pilings. Recent catches have been solid, with fish up to 5 pounds for those dropping green crab or fiddler crab right to the pylons. YouTube anglers last week reported steady bites—when the rain held off—with tautog and the occasional sheepshead mixed in. Speckled trout and red drum are still around, especially in warmer pockets up the rivers and moving on flats near Lynnhaven and Rudee Inlet. MirrOlure 52Ms, Gulp shrimp, and Z-Man paddletails in pink and white have been hot, especially when fished slow with the cooling water. Live mud minnows and mullet cut bait are drawing some bigger trout from creek mouths on outgoing tides. Best bets for today: - **Hotspot:** Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel—fish the first and second islands for both striped bass and tautog. - **Hotspot:** Lynnhaven Inlet—early morning outgoing tide for specks and schoolie drum, especially near the oyster bars. - **Hotspot:** Choptank River mouth (if you’re venturing north), where big rockfish blitzes have been reported near bunker pods. For bait, cut bunker, live eels, and crab dominate for stripers and tautog. For artificials, flutter jigs (FishLab Carnada or similar) and bucktails tipped with Fat Cow strips are working wonders on the bass. Soft plastics like Gulp and Z-Man have been consistent for specks and dru This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.