Cherrystone campground mid-july

[Fish Hole]

I am heading down this coming Sunday for the week. We have been going for the last 4 or 5 years now and love it. The kids keep talking about all the crabbing and fishing we do. I usually rent one of the boats at the campground and get a few goods days of fishing in. Last year hooked into a BIG ray that pulled us around for quite some time. We were using light tackle catching tons of croakers and then hooked that moster. I finally had to break it off after it surfaced a few times. Looking forward to next week.

[Mike Hammer]

I am heading down this coming Sunday for the week. We have been going for the last 4 or 5 years now and love it. The kids keep talking about all the crabbing and fishing we do. I usually rent one of the boats at the campground and get a few goods days of fishing in. Last year hooked into a BIG ray that pulled us around for quite some time. We were using light tackle catching tons of croakers and then hooked that moster. I finally had to break it off after it surfaced a few times. Looking forward to next week.

Wade the areas outside of the docks at low tide. They used to be full of conch and with a little practice you can make a great chowder out of it and the kids love the shells. Leave the shells out to dry and even rinse them with some chlorox.

[philjam]

We used to tent camp there in the 70's. Very kid friendly. Can't do tents now, we are too old, pussified and cranky. Never stayed in the cabins. Anyone?

[fishanado]

We used to tent camp there in the 70's. Very kid friendly. Can't do tents now, we are too old, pussified and cranky. Never stayed in the cabins. Anyone?

Yes I have stayed in the luxury deluxe cabins, 5 years ago and they are the way to go. They are air conditioned and have cable television (?) if I remember
correctly. There is a master bedroom, 2 bunks and a sofa that pulls out and
sleeps 2. There is also a working kitchen and a bathroom with shower. Don't
remember the price but the availability is very limited.

[BENT ROD]

Finally got a couple of minutes after getting back from Cherrystone on Saturday; I left a report from earlier in the week above. Thursday morning we took the Mrs. Jennifer out for the 8am-12pm run with all the kids in the group; it is one of the cleanest head boats I have been on. The fishing was not great, a lot of small fish 6" - 12" Croaker, Spot and Kingfish. I did win the pool with a 12" Kingfish good for $72.00. Through out the trip several anglers including myself did catch about 15 3'+ Sandbar Sharks that kept the kids in the game, good time. After eating and drinking all week at night we needed a change of pace, we decided to fish off the piers at night. It did not take long to dial in on some nice Red Drum fishing, mostly small fish, 10"-16" but a couple of 20"+ fish did show. We pounded on them for the last 2 nights there and caught 15 fish per man per night. No big fish all week and for the hero fisherman out there this would not interest you but I enjoyed the hunt for fish. Great Vacation with the family. Thank you for the replies.

[Fluke Fisher]

I love cherrystone went there the last 3 years and it was soo much fun if u go at the right time u can really hook into croaker spades cobia and my favorite fluke

[philjam]

Finally got a couple of minutes after getting back from Cherrystone on Saturday; I left a report from earlier in the week above. Thursday morning we took the Mrs. Jennifer out for the 8am-12pm run with all the kids in the group; it is one of the cleanest head boats I have been on. The fishing was not great, a lot of small fish 6" - 12" Croaker, Spot and Kingfish. I did win the pool with a 12" Kingfish good for $72.00. Through out the trip several anglers including myself did catch about 15 3'+ Sandbar Sharks that kept the kids in the game, good time. After eating and drinking all week at night we needed a change of pace, we decided to fish off the piers at night. It did not take long to dial in on some nice Red Drum fishing, mostly small fish, 10"-16" but a couple of 20"+ fish did show. We pounded on them for the last 2 nights there and caught 15 fish per man per night. No big fish all week and for the hero fisherman out there this would not interest you but I enjoyed the hunt for fish. Great Vacation with the family. Thank you for the replies.

I really want to thank you for the report. Brings back old 1970 memories. Any crabs?

[VOLKANMAN]

OK, here's the report for the week. At the pier, crabbing was great as usual. 9 out of every 10 crabs caught was a female. Loaded with eggs and back they went. This was the first year I rented a boat slip at the new Kings Creek Marina. That place is a top of the line operation and super clean. When you rent a slip there, you're able to use the pool and all of the other amenities. That was a win for me. The fishing was not so good. This was the first time in a lot of years that I didn't catch a flatty. However, on a positive note, if you use clam, you can catch all the Weakfish you want. No size but very plentiful. A whole bunch of croakers, but no size. I was boarded by the Coast Guard about mid week and asked for a few fishing tips. I ran to the Bay bridge but it got a little too rough for the kids so I couldn't put in the time I wanted and no luck. I wound up back at Plantation Light and started to fish for some Spade. Constant action with a small hook and clam. We had a blast. So I found my niche' for the rest of the week. Pulled the boat last night and was ready to roll this morning. Yesterday at low tide, my son and I went out and got some oysters for the trip home. About 3/4s of a bushel in about an hour. It took us longer to clean them than to pick them. I cooked about 70 last night and saved the rest for home. It was a nice trip with the family as always. I'll be back next year..........Hope that report helps.....V

[BENT ROD]

Philjam, we only crabbed one day because we had several small kids and crabbing with 3-5 year old kids is hard; but we did put 42 Crabs all well over 5" both Jimies and immature females in the bucket for three hours crabbing. By the way the egg carrying females are huge we released about 20+ that are 7"+. The bait shop did say we can keep 10 egg carrying females per bushel according to Virgina Regs. but I could not find it in writing to back it up and it does not seam right for me anyway.

[Fish Hole]

We have been here all week and once again having a great time. The fishing and crabbing good too w/ tons of small puppy drum, croakers, kingfish and many others.

[BENT ROD]

Anyone planning to go? The family and I will be back at Cherrystone again in 2013, July 4th week for 7 days. I will be in site 604 water front.

[Built_in_USA]

Maybe we'll see, I would really like to do that again.

[BENT ROD]

Built, I will be there hopefuly beating on the small Reds with the kids. I know the crabs will be there.