Virginia · Striped bass (rockfish)
Can you keep a striped bass (rockfish) in Virginia?
Yes, with limits
Virginia Coastal waters (Territorial Sea)
Open todayA slot means the fish must fall between those two numbers. Shorter than 28 inches goes back, and so does longer than 31.
Closes each year Closed April 1 through May 15 — the season runs January 1–March 31 and May 16–December 31
28-to-31-inch slot, one fish a day. Coastal waters run Virginia's Territorial Sea plus the seaside creeks, bays and inlets of Accomack and Northampton counties and Virginia Beach — a different zone from the Chesapeake Bay regions on this page. Non-offset, corrodible circle hooks are required when fishing with bait.
Chesapeake Bay and tributaries, spring season
Closed todayA slot means the fish must fall between those two numbers. Shorter than 19 inches goes back, and so does longer than 24.
Open only May 16 through June 15 in this spring window Reopens after May 15. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
A narrower 19-to-24-inch slot in the Bay, open only May 16 through June 15. A separate fall window reopens later in the year — see the other region on this page. Virginia's own Potomac River tributaries follow the Potomac River Fisheries Commission's rules instead of this one.
Chesapeake Bay and tributaries, fall season
Closed todayA slot means the fish must fall between those two numbers. Shorter than 19 inches goes back, and so does longer than 24.
Open only October 4 through December 31 in this fall window Reopens after October 3. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
Same 19-to-24-inch slot as the spring window, October 4 through December 31. Between June 16 and October 3 the Bay is closed to striped bass entirely — neither this nor the spring window applies.
Atlantic Ocean, beyond 3 miles from shore
Closed to harvestClosed year-round beyond the three-mile limit — federal waters are closed to the taking and possession of striped bass all year. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
Closed outright beyond 3 miles from shore, all year — the same federal-waters rule as New York and New Jersey.
What we left out on purpose
- A full 'Virginia Trophy Season' for striped bass (36 inches, a permit, May dates) appears on this page but sits inside an HTML comment and is immediately followed, in visible bold text, by the Commission's May 28, 2019 action eliminating that season for the Bay, the Potomac tributaries and the coast. It is left out entirely as abolished, not carried as a fourth striped bass region.
- Kingfish, pompano, crevalle jack, dolphin, swordfish, tuna and wahoo are on VMRC's page only as tournament-citation species (an angler awards program) — none of them carries a Regulation, Minimum Size Limit or Possession Limit field. Tuna, swordfish and wahoo are managed federally under NMFS HMS permits; kingfish, pompano and crevalle jack simply carry no state size or bag rule.
- Federal-waters exceptions are noted by VMRC for black sea bass, scup and summer flounder without giving the federal numbers themselves — those numbers are set by NMFS/the Mid-Atlantic Council and are not carried here.
- The Potomac River and its Virginia tributaries follow Potomac River Fisheries Commission rules instead of VMRC's for striped bass and summer flounder — a bi-state body this schema has no field for.
- Blue catfish (36-inch DWR rule) is left out — that agency and its whole freshwater/tidal-freshwater regulatory set is out of scope for a silo that compares coastal species.
Other species in Virginia
- Summer flounder
- Black sea bass
- Bluefish
- Cobia
- Red drum (channel bass, redfish)
- Speckled trout (spotted seatrout)
- Grey trout (weakfish)
- Tautog (blackfish)
- Scup (porgy)
- Spanish mackerel
- King mackerel
- Black drum
- Sheepshead
- Atlantic spadefish
- Croaker
- Spot
- Greater amberjack
- American eel
- Grouper (all species, combined)
- Blueline tilefish
- Golden tilefish
- Sharks (most species — see notes for exceptions)
- River herring (alewife and blueback herring)
- American shad
- Sturgeon