York, Mattaponi & Pamunkey Rivers & Mobjack Bay Fishing Spots: Wrecks, Rocks, Reefs, Ruins & Obstructions (Chesapeake Bay Fishing Reefs) Paperback – October 24, 2025

This volume in the Chesapeake Bay Fishing Reef series is for both freshwater and saltwater recreational fishermen. It scouts the microtidal York River subestuary from its Chesapeake Bay approaches through the entrance and up the tidal tributaries until reaching non-tidal freshwater plus Mobjack Bay for features that provide marine, brackish, and tidal freshwater aquatic habitat and recreational fishing structure. Recent hydrographic surveys and satellite imagery were scoured for charted and uncharted rocks, trenches, and holes; ballast piles; ledges and edges; shoals; ruins; charted and uncharted wrecks from colonial times onward; obstructions; ancient riverbed rapids; sediment waves; oyster reef remnants and restoration sites; "buoy holes;" bridge piers, and artificial reefs. Findings are characterized by composition, configuration, orientation, least or maximum depth, and vertical rise off the bottom. Locations are shown on maps and geographic coordinates are given.York River waters explored for survey "technological burns" include Bluefish Rock, York River Entrance, York River Spit, York River main stem, Mattaponi River, and Pamunkey River. Mobjack Bay waters explored include its approaches, New Point Comfort, lower and upper Mobjack Bay, Browns Bay, Severn River, Ware River, and North and East Rivers. Also covered are structural fishing conditions found at many oyster restoration sites, lighthouse ruins and rocks, Revolutionary and Civil War wrecks, barge wrecks, shipwrecks, obstructions and ruins which provide cover for baitfish and foraging spots for finfish. Detailed examinations of Bluefish Rock Reef, Poquoson Reef, Back River Reef, York Spit Reef, and Mobjack Bay Reef reveal recorded and unrecorded artificial reef deposits. This book concludes with what to do and not to do when anchoring at wrecks and avoiding damage to historical wreck sites.If you're looking where to begin recreationally fishing the York River system or Mobjack Bay, an occasional fisherman seeking to optimize available fishing time, or a veteran fisher expanding your range and take advantage of previously uncharted features, this book is your handy reference. As do the other volumes in the series, it will help you rapidly ramp up local area knowledge, find clusters of hotspots to plan fishing trips around, and fish safely. Read more