As water temperatures drop during late August and early September, cobia will begin to stage at the mouth of the bay in preparation for their exodus to the ocean. This is a time eagerly awaited by veteran cobia anglers each fall. While still susceptible to cut and live baits, cobia can now be seen swimming near the surface, providing some of the year's most exhilarating sight-casting opportunities. Large fish can usually be found crowding around the CBBT's bridge pilings and lower-bay buoys, where they will readily attack a bucktail adorned with a soft-plastic grub. Spoons can also be effective.

Many anglers practice the drill of "buoy hopping" -- running along a line of buoys and casting to visible fish. The Chesapeake Bay Buoy Line at the mouth of the bay can be especially productive for this style of fishing. Anglers usually get one or two casts to each buoy before spooking the fish, then move on to the next one. Strikes can often be enticed at previously fished buoys on the return run. Some of the best fishing will be along the oceanfront beaches, where anglers can score on artificials or live bait.

By late September, action will slow as cobia begin moving out to winter homes, but die-hard anglers will continue to intercept singles and small pods of fish as they move south.

Anglers are limited to one cobia per day measuring at least 37 inches.

FLOUNDER
Virginia's saltwater anglers have enjoyed a strong resurgence in their flounder fishery over the last decade, with the past two years having been especially good for trophy hunters. In 2005, 937 citations were awarded for flounder weighing at least 7 pounds or measuring a minimum of 26 inches. While the number of trophy fish dropped to 895 in 2006, flounder fishing in general was even better than it was the year before.

Fishing was so good, in fact, that anglers greatly exceeded the state's targeted allotment, and are facing the strictest flounder regulations in the state's history this year in order to meet a federally mandated cap of 867,000 flounder -- less than half the number caught in 2006. After being allowed to keep six fish measuring a minimum of 16 1/2 inches in 2006, anglers are now limited to five fish measuring at least 18 1/2 inches.

That's a big flounder in many parts of the bay, but Commonwealth anglers will undoubtedly rise to the challenge. While most trophy-sized flounder are caught during the summer, there are plenty of prizes left for the fall months, especially in the lower bay. Reliable fall hotspots on the western side of the bay include Back River Reef, Hampton Bar and the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT). Across the bay, trophies are found around buoy 36A off Cape Charles and farther south at the Cabbage Patch and the Concrete Ships off Kiptopeke. The pier at Kiptopeke State Park offers boatless anglers a chance to join the party.

As at other times of the year, the CBBT complex can be counted on to give up its share of trophy flounder, along with other species. Last September, a surprising number of flounder fishermen found that large migrating red drum took a liking to their live and cut baits.

The deep waters of the Baltimore Channel, on both the bay and ocean sides of the CBBT, will harbor large fish throughout the fall as they migrate south. Some remain available at the Cape Henry Wreck through the end of the year.

Battling large flounder in the deep and often turbulent waters of the bay requires sturdy tackle, heavy sinkers and 20- to 30-pound-test line. A baitcasting or level-wind reel provides better line control than spinning gear, and allows the angler to "drop back" on the fish, giving it time to work its way up to the hook. Live spot or croaker are effective baits around the structure of the CBBT, but strip baits of squid or cut fish, often in combination with minnows, are more commonly used when drifting the channels.

STRIPED BASS
Although Virginia's striped bass season is closed from June 16 through Oct. 3, many striper aficionados will find a way to get their fix earlier. By mid-September, school-sized stripers will be swarming around lower-bay structure, presenting catch-and-release opportunities for anglers casting lures on light tackle. Any of the area's bridge-tunnels are a good bet. Other productive locations include the Little Creek jetties and Lynnhaven Inlet. Night-fishing around shadow lines is especially effective.

Anglers fishing out of Virginia's upper-bay ports can take advantage of the state's reciprocal license agreement with Maryland, allowing anyone with a license from either state to fish anywhere in the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland's striper season is open through Dec. 15, with anglers allowed to keep two fish between 18 and 28 inches, one of which can be over 28 inches. As luck would have it, the state line is a short run from some of the bay's best striper fishing during September and October.

In fact, anglers fishing out of Smith Point and other Northern Neck ports can find themselves in fertile waters as soon as they cross the state line. The "Triangle," an area just off the mouth of the Potomac River, is covered with structure and feeding grounds that are usually generous to both chummers and trollers this time of year. The Southwest Middle Grounds and the entire channel edge between buoys 68 and 72 will give up 18- to 25-inch stripers, along with feisty bluefish in the 2- to 5-pound range. Last year, anglers trolling spoons in this area were pleasantly surprised by the opportunity to hook and release large red drum staging to migrate down the bay.

Many anglers find breaking schools of feeding stripers and bluefish hard to resist, despite the fact that these are usually smaller fish. Casting topwater lures to the edges of the schools will produce plenty of action, but jigging deeper with spoons down under the surface fracas will generally yield bigger fish awaiting an easy meal of scraps.