In the Mid Atlantic region, gray trout, also known as
weakfish or seatrout, were once one of the most sought after
saltwater fish. Gray trout populations have fluctuated
historically in areas such as the Chesapeake Bay,
Delaware Bay, and coastal
estuaries.
Although saltwater trout populations have been down
in recent years, fishing for the species in the Mid Atlantic
states could rebound eventually.
Gray
trout are caught using a variety of methods including
fishing with live bait, cut bait, casting
artificial lures, trolling, and fly fishing. Probably the most widely utilized technique for catching gray trout
in the Chesapeake Bay is to anchor along a channel edge and bottom fish with
cut baits. The traditional bait for catching gray trout and
speckled trout in the Chesapeake Bay is fresh cut peeler crab or
soft crab. Other popular baits include
squid, cut spot, live spot, and even chicken breast soaked in peeler crab oil.
In some locations, anglers favor channel edges, anchoring
their boats so that the boat lies in roughly 42 feet of water. This depth is only a starting point and can vary greatly.
Often the best fishing occurs during the last 2 hours of the incoming current and the first 2 hours of the outgoing. If this coincides with dusk, the fishing
has an ever better chance of being
good.
In the Chesapeake Bay anglers sometimes gray trout in the spring and fall in very shallow water.
Gray trout are sometimes caught near Smith, Tangier, Watts, South Marsh and Fox Islands.
Shallow water fishing for trout can be very exciting as the fish
are usually caught together with speckled trout,
croaker,
rockfish, bluefish, flounder, and drum. In many of these same
areas, saltwater fly fishermen also catch trout. Shallow water fishing
in the Chesapeake Bay is often best from sunset to midnight.
Anglers also fish for gray trout by casting bucktails or
other jigs near rockpiles, jetties,
boat wrecks, and other structure. Some anglers prefer a white bucktail with a plastic worm and a piece of peeler crab. Anglers
also catch gray trout while trolling with wire line. Catches of
trout are sometimes incidental although gray trout are targeted specifically with wire line at times.
This is especially true along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT)
where anglers catch gray trout by trolling bucktails very slowly along the pilings and
along the bridge tunnels.
Another trout fishery in Virginia occurs along the high rise bridge area of the CBBT.
In May Thru July, small trout are sometimes common in the high
rise area. They are easily caught by drifting strips of squid.
The fish often prefer to sit in depths of 70 feet of more. This
requires the use of braided line in order to feel the fish.
Flounder and other fish are caught here as well.
