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Charted WatersCoastal Virginia

Species field guide

Seventy-nine plates.

The fish of coastal Virginia, organised by the water they live in — surf and pier, the Bay, the tidal rivers, freshwater, and offshore — each with field marks, the pairs anglers confuse, seasons, tackle, rigs, and where it is documented.

Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)
Red Drum Sciaenops ocellatus

Illustration: Duane Raver / USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — Public domain

Season

23 species

Matching species

Groups are derived from each species' own habitat and water records — freshwater, offshore, surf & pier, inshore & chesapeake bay, tidal rivers & creeks — so a fish that spans several waters lands in the most specific one. No size limits, seasons, or creel limits are published here; those come from VMRC and DWR.