Full moon tides mark early stages of the fall push on Chincoteague

What's biting

What's next

A full moon is driving bigger tidal swings this week, with low tide near 1:47 AM and high around 8:00 AM local at the Wachapreague station, worth planning around that morning high for structure and inlet current. If the gap between the cooler ocean-side reading and the warmer bay-mouth reading narrows as northerly winds move in, that is usually the trigger the Northeast reports are waiting on to kick their striped bass run into gear. When that push develops, expect the same pattern to work south toward the Eastern Shore in the weeks after. This weekend falls right behind the full moon, typically the better window for current-driven action around the inlets.

Context

Late September marks the front edge of the fall transition on Virginia's Eastern Shore, as baitfish start pulling out of the marshes and channels ahead of the striper and false albacore runs that typically build through October. A slow start to the migration farther north, as this week's reports suggest, is common in a year running a touch warm, and the fuller push south usually follows once Northeast water temps drop further. Conditions around Chincoteague right now read as on-schedule for the season, not early and not late.