I’ve never fished for puppy drum and would love to catch few. I will be fishing inside the Lynnhaven inlet and have a few question for anyone who would like to share their knowledge . 1St is best to fish the outgoing or incoming tide? 2nd are these fish caught just at night or are they active during the day also? Also what months are they in the inlet how much longer will they be in the inlet? Lastly what the best bait or rigs to use? As you see I need as much help as possible. Thanks in advance . One last question, where inside the inlet might be a good area?

Incoming is the best. We kayak out to the sandbars or oyster bars in the back. Cast out towards the deeper water. As the tide starts coming in, so do the fish into the shallower water. We use whole and cut mullet on a fish finder rig. Last time i was using whole mullet with 1oz of weight with 60lb 18" wire leader going to a 4/0 Circle hook and 30lb powerpro braid. Had many bites, but only hooked into 1 fish, got a 27 1/2" Red. Some other guys caught some reds, an eel.... and a oyster toad. If your in a bigger boat, then anchor near the channel, and throw your line out near the channel, and im sure you'll catch some fish. Good luck!!

Thanks for the reply robrcer I appreciate your help. Hopefully I can catch a few.

hwy shadow are you heading out tonight? if so i will be out depending on the tide. incoming tide i will be on the inside of the bridge. outgoing i will be on the bay side. i will have a hound dog with me so come by and say hi if you do.

Here's what I look for: A slough or gut that feeds a flat, it'll have oyster shell or sand bars near by. It may also be the point of a marsh tump... if it's shelly bottom, even better. I like an incoming tide better than outgoing... but you can catch on both. The fish will be on the inside of the gut on the incoming, and the outside on the outgoing... waiting for the bait to enter/exit the flat. Take some time at dead low tide (on a SW wind in Lynnhaven is even better), and scout out some places. It's a lot more rewarding than having someone tell you "Go here". HINT: Across from or beyond the tennis courts is a good place to start looking.

Tackle: I use braid, and find fireline to be more resistant to the oyster shells than power pro. I use a 1 - 2 oz. egg sinker above a barrel swivel, then 40 lb. mono leader to a 4/0 Octopus style J-Hook. Circle hooks work, but for me they take a lot of the fun out of fishing (setting the hook). Keep in mind that the first thing a pup wants to do is get the bait/food in his crushers... so, be quick on the hookset, or you'll deep-hook'em. If deep-hooked, just cut the leader as close as possible, they'll be fine.

Bait: I use cut mullet chunks (not fillets) 95% of the time... the other 5% is either crab knuckles or cut bunker/spot. If you're an "artificial type guy", try a 1/8 - 3/8 oz leadhead with a 4" grub. The GULP swimming mullets seem to work really well, as to the gulp peeler crab and pogie. I like a darker colored grub for pups (dark green, brown, red, etc. versus the white or chartreusse).

Go get'em... there's a good class of fish in Lynnhaven this year. Not uncommon to land several fish in the 26-30" range.

That's alot of great information Honey Hole. Now I just need to find some time to get out there and give it a try. Thanks again!!

Robert hope you had a good night, wasn't able to make it out.

we didnt catch a thing. not even a bite

Kayak is the way to go. Take a right out of Crab Creek and go ALL they way back. If you don't get any pups, then they all died!

Go past the tennis courts and when you pass the last oyster bar/islands on your left, go in and start fishing towards the shore. Work all along the shore going to your right. I have an enormous amount of pups caught there.

For specks, go past the tennis courts. When you get to the first big cut on your left look across to your right. There are a number of cuts on that side that will produce on an outgoing tide. I prefer T-18 Mirror lures. I remove 1 of the trble hooks and make them double hooks. It makes it MUCH easier unhooking the fish and my net