Rockin’ on the Rappahannock River

Rockfish and the Rappahannock River: Now there’s a winning combination. Last weekend, that’s exactly what our party of three was able to experience. Fishing with Tim Tigner of Orange and Courtney Craft of Charlottesville, I had previously made on-line contact with Capt. Bobby Jenkins out of Urbanna. Since we were to be in Urbanna attending the Oyster Festival, it was an easy decision to book Capt. Jenkins and his “MrJ’s Pleasure” for a full-day trip.
Every fishing party wants to catch fish, of course, but Courtney and I had an ulterior motive. We wanted Capt. Jenkins to show us the ropes, so to speak, so that when we went alone in Courtney’s 19-foot Alumicraft V-hull, we would know a little more about where and how to fish the Rappahannock River.
Capt. Bobby said he’d be delighted to help us. Last Friday, we went to rockfish school with Professor Jenkins.
Beautiful blue skies and a warm November sun made the day most pleasant, and the water had scarcely a ripple. We broke out the suntan lotion at noon. But like duck hunting, nice weather does not always translate into good results when fishing for rocks. Rockfish, or stripers as they are often called, are very light sensitive and prefer water that’s stirred up. They also like cloudy weather and a strong current. It helps them trap and feed on schools of menhaden, or any other baitfish that gets in their way.
Listening to radio chatter from other boats, all the other fishermen in the area were getting skunked. But not our party. We caught fish consistently throughout the day, including a beast of a rockfish, a 39-incher that went for an “umbrella rig.”
“That’s one of the largest fish reported this season,” Capt. Jenkins remarked,
As a rule, the smaller fish (18- to 24-inches) bite throughout September, October and November, then the big rockfish move in from the ocean in December and clean up scraps at the menhaden table. Also as a rule, the larger fish are typically caught in the bay, not up in the tidal rivers.
That rule of thumb no longer applies. For the past several seasons, huge rockfish have been coming out of the Rappahannock, and Capt. Bobby credits good water quality.
Jenkins explained that about 5 years ago, the state planted a number of oyster beds in the Rappahannock. Almost immediately, he noticed more fish.
“Oysters filter the water and help keep it clean,” Jenkins said. “Baitfish tend to gravitate to cleaner water and the rockfish follow the baitfish wherever they go.”
If anything, there were too many baitfish. We marked school after school of menhaden in almost every direction, but the bait was spread out, and so were the fish.
Capt. Jenkins, by the way, is one of the best skippers I’ve ever fished with. He certainly knows his stuff. He was most pleasant, almost eager to share information, and he cleaned our fish for us when we returned to the dock. When he finished filleting our catch, there was scarcely a sliver of meat left on the carcasses. We had a heckuva fish fry that evening. Talk about good eating!
Fall rockfish season is a little confusing, but here’s the scoop. From Sept. 1 until a week before New Years, an angler can keep two fish daily, with a minimum size of 18-inches. However, you can only keep one fish over 34-inches and no fish whatsoever between 28- and 34-inches. We caught a 33-inch striper and had to thrown him back. That hurt. To me, the aggravating thing is that commercial fishermen can keep that size and if that same fish enters ocean waters, he’s legal to creel. As recreational anglers are well aware, the rules are always loaded on behalf of commercial fishermen. That’s because they call the shots at VMRC.
By the way, during the last week of the season, the same size restrictions apply, but anglers may only keep one fish per day.
Capt. Jenkins has a few openings on his schedule through the end of December, and the fishing should only get better.
Mild weather has water temperatures in the Rappahannock around 60 degrees. When it hits 55, baitfish begin to gang up and that’s when it really starts to happen.
For more information on rockin’ on the Rappahannock, call Capt. Bobby Jenkins at 804-314-4799 or e-mail at .

Contact Jim Brewer at 434-295-5100 or