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Shipps Bay (Virginia) — one of the area's fishing spots. About 6.5 km² in area. Nearest town — Virginia Beach. Salt water, not fresh — so this page carries its own marine bite forecast. This page shows an hourly bite forecast for today and the week ahead; the algorithm factors in the weather, atmospheric pressure, and the moon phase.
Clear: 73–91 °F
The bite is moderate — fish feed in short bursts. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite.
Best time — 00:00–05:00 and 23:00–23:00 (nighttime activity).
Look for structure — reefs, flats, channel edges; work them slowly near the bottom.
In clear water, natural colors work best: soft-plastic jig or live bait.
It's a hot day — a hat, sunglasses, and plenty of water are a must.
An average day — best chances during peak windows.
The computed water temperature is around 74 °F — inside the 61–79 °F comfort range for Black drum, so baseline activity is high.
Black drum feeds at night: the peak falls in the dark hours, between sunset and sunrise.
Pressure is flat: it moves no more than 0.00 inHg over the day, so the weather isn't shifting today's bite.
One more input — the moon's feeding windows: within their hours the score sits higher than across the rest of the day. The window times are in the “Solunar feeding periods” card below.
September is an active season for Black drum here.
These are the same values the bite curve above was computed from. How the forecast works
| 00:00 | 01:00 | 02:00 | 03:00 | 04:00 | 05:00 | 06:00 | 07:00 | 08:00 | 09:00 | 10:00 | 11:00 | 12:00 | 13:00 | 14:00 | 15:00 | 16:00 | 17:00 | 18:00 | 19:00 | 20:00 | 21:00 | 22:00 | 23:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -0.5 ft | -0.9 ft | -1.6 ft | -2.4 ft | -2.9 ft | -3.0 ft | -2.9 ft | -2.5 ft | -1.8 ft | -0.9 ft | -0.1 ft | 0.3 ft | 0.3 ft | 0.1 ft | -0.4 ft | -1.2 ft | -1.9 ft | -2.2 ft | -2.3 ft | -2.2 ft | -1.8 ft | -1.1 ft | -0.4 ft | 0.0 ft |
Open-Meteo tide model, grid point 4.8 mi away
Open-Meteo Marine model, grid cell 4.8 mi from the waterbody. Values are daily means.
Clear · feels like +94°
The day is 2 min shorter than yesterday.
Sunshine hours count direct sun only — cloud cover cuts it, so it is shorter than daylight.
The windows are set by the moon's transit and rise, and the forecast above already accounts for them: within these hours the bite score sits higher than across the rest of the day, while the day's overall level still comes from the catch-calibrated model.
What are solunar periods?