hot ditch va beach

The season ended so abruptly I'm still chompin at the bit to fish. I may try to get down to the 'hot ditch' at the end of February. I've never fished it before, but they apparently catch good reds, trout, and small bass all winter. Its a small area that appears very kayak friendly. By mid Feb the average temps are 52 high/34 low (air). The water temps run in the mid to high 50's at the hot water discharge. I'll likely drive down with a buddy, stay over one night and come back. Hopefully get on the water twice. Anyone interested? The more that go the better the chances that we'll find fish.

I'll consider going down in February during the time you go!

I grew up(32 Years) 5 minutes from that Hot-Spot and NEVER fished it!

Wasn't into Yakin' then....didn't start till '08.

I do know Kayak "Access" to that Spot is "Limited"........if it's as I believe it is....where access to Yak to this Spot is from a Marina that a "High School" buddy of mine owns.

I'll look into it.....depends on "Finances" around that time!!!

PS.....There is some "OTHER" Spots in the backwaters of the Elizabeth River that AREN'T Fished and have never had Yak's on them that I know of......that are "stacked" WITH "BIG" fish


Here's a Video Parking $10.00....Boat Launch $10.00

And...PS...Hot-Ditch is in Chesapeake ;)

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I'd like to go as well. As we get closer to the dates I'll know more about my chances. I already have a killer case of cabin fever and I just unpacked my gear from the truck on Friday.

After more thought.....I'm gonna' hold my patience.....and seek to do a Spring Susquehanna-Flats trip this coming Year

wurk2fish, I was glad to see that someone with local knowledge may be going down. Keep it on the back burner. It will be a requirement for me to keep this trip on the quick and cheap. I may even sleep in my car. Probably alot of driving for the amount of fishing time, but if I dont go I'll be jigging in my aquarium. Might be a good way to jump out in front in Kayak Wars 2011!

I'll keep in on the "Burner".........it would DEF be on the "Cheap" here as well!

Don't believe I'm gonna mess with Kayak Wars this coming Year!

I wasn't real happy with how a Team Effort Contest unfolded throughout the Year! For ME.....it turned into more of a "burden" than an "enjoyable" thing!

Don't get me wrong....it makes Yak-Fishing fun.......just kinda' turned it into a JOB ;)

Its still a bit early, but the weekend of Washington's B day might work for me, weather permitting of course. The monday is 2-21-11 I think. Possibly leave sunday morning, be home monday dinnertime. I'm not limited to a weekend thing, but figure thats likely better for others. Ideas?

I made the trip down there last weekend. I caught a bunch of specks, but nothing big enough for KW.

The amount of speckled trout down in the radius of the ditch is insane . . . . . not just around the hot water discharge . . . but in the backwaters as well. . . . . you will mark schools of specks in the channels . . . . . you will run over gator-sized trout with your kayak over shallow, isolated flats and edges too.

Only problem is . . . . the place is being pounded like no place else that I have ever seen . . . . and I was told that the number of people there had gone way down since the fishing dropped off substantially since the middle of January. . . . . but the fishermen were more thick than the fish and the weather seems to always be gusty there. . . . the fishery is very similar to the Housatonic or Thames winter striper fishery in CT. . . . . the fish become tough to catch since they have seen every type of lure imaginable . . . . . and you can keep the fish.

The specks aren't feeding overly aggressively, and I got tons, and tons, of short strikes. . . . they hit almost exactly like weakfish, but hold up higher in the water column.

Worth the trip though - some hardcore speck fishing.

Great report Captiva! I haven't been down there yet and you painted a good picture for me. It makes sense that the fish become educated to our tactics.

I stayed in a campground in Va with monster red fish living right in a cove, but I couldn't fool them. I wanted to jump in and wrestle one! It gets frustrating.

You hit the nail on the head with that Chris. I think you would be better off going down there after the specks move into the ditch area at the beginning of January - tons of fish have been taken out between the cold spell in late-December and the remaining fish have PhDs in lure recognition - LOL! I see this with stripers on the Housatonic and Thames rivers where they winter - the fishing is hot and heavy for a few weeks after they move in, but . . . . they subsequently see every lure imaginable and become very wary after being there for a while.

Not for nothing, but those fish are stacked up in there and fishing should be catch and release only in my opinion. . . . . hard to throw one of those fish back - they are a beautiful fish and good eating.

I did see some really nice fish caught though - a guy from TKAA had a 21.5" and a 25.5" my second day on bass assassins (the only lure that worked for me there too) other guys were catching good fish using minnows . . . . but it was a pick . . . . plenty of fish from 12" - 14" like our summer-run weakfish.

There is a backwater cove off the main channel about a 1/2 mile from the launch - looks like some dredge hole that drops to about 17" and is about 1 acre wide - I was marking specks moving around the cove constantly and it was lined with fish - I ran over some big gator trout when I went into the shallow edges - they were sunning themselves during a 75 degree day - big splashes that scared me next to the kayak.

I agree with you about the drum - I was talking to Taurus from KFA-NY about this - those fish are crafty, spooky, and really difficult to catch - VA had a terrible run last year. I catch them down in Florida, but they are really hard to get on artificials - I've caught a few nice ones on gold spoons and gulps - they fight about 3x harder than a striper but are difficult to catch - I see and hear them on the flats in Florida, but they won't take anything.

Great info on the ditch Captiva, thanks. My plans kinda fell through because a couple doctors needed to poke and prod me the last couple weeks. I'm ready for opening day striper on tuesday however. The water temp in Oyster Creek was 49 F earlier this week, over 10 F warmer than the adjacent bay-it should be rollin on the opener. I'll post results here. When do you guys start picking them up?

I picked up a couple of schoolies last weekend in CT - small - one 20" and one 20.5", so I guess that my striper season has started, but I doubt that March will be that great except maybe at the end.