Reviews: Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Richard on Sep 4, 2023
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 45'
Draft: 5.0'

Nice peaceful anchorage except for the occasional motor boat wake either skiing, tubing or running into the marina.

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Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Scott A Westwood, Aphrodisiac, on Apr 24, 2023
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 32'
Draft: 4.3'

Osprey snagged fish 20ft off stern while enjoying wine sundowner at anchor. Doesn't get much better. Marina open 7 days a week. Deep 17-19ft all around but plenty of room.

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Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Cam & Jennifer Canup, Viatori, on Aug 15, 2022
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 47'
Draft: 4.0'

Pulled into the fishing bay on a calm day. Took two attempts to set our scoop anchor. Once set, it held well. The bay and achorage depths seen were between 15 and 19 feet. We began to get sporadic shallow depth readings of between 1.5' to 5' at these coordinates: 37 degrees 032.483N 76 degrees 020.268W. Using our sonar, we could see a solid object under our boat. We used a telescoping pole to manually check the depths.
We never made contact with the object, but pulled in a foot of chain to ensure we were no longer over whatever it was. The afternoon and night were calm and peaceful. There were very few other boaters and all were very respectful. Minimal wakes were felt. We shared the anchorage with about 6 other boats with plenty of swing room. There is room for many other boats in this anchorage. Highly recommend this location.

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Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Janice Czerwinski on Jun 4, 2022
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 42'
Draft: 5.0'

A wonderful quiet anchorage in 20 feet of water. 5 boats with lots of room!

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Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Rick Mcnulty, Maximus, on Aug 5, 2021
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 36'
Draft: 5.5'

Anchored here for 2 nights. Several boats around but plenty of room. Kiley, Jim and Joe at Fishing Bay Marina were very nice. We took advantage of their full-facility access for $20 per day. The marina wifi reaches into the bay. Very pet friendly. There were several other dogs at the marina.

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Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Drew Goddin, Jenelle, on Jun 15, 2021
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 45'
Draft: 5.8'

Very good anchorage with plenty of room. For $20 you can dinghy into Fishing Bay Marina and use their courtesy car to run to the local grocery store or West Marine.

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Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Pete ScubaPete, A Pretty Penny, on May 24, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 42'
Draft: 3.5'

Very protected from all directions except S/SW. Even with howling northerly winds, all is calm on the water in Fishing Bay. Holding was excellent, but the mud I drug up with the anchor was a mucky mess.

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Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Scott A Westwood on Apr 21, 2021
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 32'
Draft: 4.2'

Great anchorage. Pulled in to sit out NW winds on our way north. Well protected mud bottom. Lots of room. Dinghied into Fishing Bay Marina. Very nice stop. Normally $5 dinghy dock fee. They offered full use of their facilities for $20 (Courtesy car, pool, bath house) but not sure if that is just off-season or all year?
NOTE: The depth is about 18ft almost everywhere in the bay.

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Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Heath Phillips, Philyria , on Apr 15, 2021
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 35'
Draft: 6.0'

Great anchorage. Stayed for 4 nights. Holding was great. There were only a couple boats there, and had plenty of room for sufficient scope. I cannot comment on shore access because I never left the boat.

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Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Alex Euler on Apr 5, 2021
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 37'
Draft: 4.5'

Love anchoring here! Large anchorage field with great holding (mud) in a reasonably well protected spot. There are usually a number of other boats here, but plenty of room for everyone. Just as an FYI, Fishing Bay is deeper than most other anchorages on the Chesapeake @ 18-20'.

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Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Paul Smyers, SV Nova, on May 14, 2020
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 43'
Draft: 4.0'

We were here for two weeks with excellent holding through several big blows. Wind out of the south to southwest is a bumpy ride. The Fishing Bay Marina provides dinghy access but we were there during Covid lockdown and the county had suspended transient access.

This was the first area in the Chesapeake I've been able to run our watermaker for significant time without dirtying up the pre-filter. The water is cleaner and clearer here than anywhere we've been so far (which is admittedly limited so far).

Cell coverage for AT&T was good. Verizon was very good. T-Mobile was weak/none. Sprint was mediocre.

I could see the marina wifi from my devices while at anchor but didn't ask for access since they were not allowed to accept transients.

There was a fair amount of fishing and pleasure boats coming and going, especially on the weekends, causing a fair amount of wake in the bay.

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Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Robert on Oct 7, 2019
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 50'
Draft: 5.0'

Spent 2 night here, 9-28, 9-29-2019. Checked wind forecast before dropping hook. Wind from N-NE, that’s good. Had 14 boats anchored there, plenty of swing room and room for many more. Good mud and excellent holding. We would return.

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Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Aqua Bob, Aqua Bob, on Jul 23, 2017
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 58'
Draft: 6.0'

Great holding anchorage.

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Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Lucy Wilcox on Dec 13, 2016
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 38'
Draft: 3.9'

Protected from all but south winds. Dinghy dockage available at Fishing Bay marina for $5 a day, or access to their facilities including a courtesy car, laundry, and pool for $10 a person a day. The marina is within walking distance to West Marine and a gas station. AT&T and T-Mobile had no service, but Verizon works.

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Review for Piankatank River - Fishing Bay

Reviewed by: Skipper Bob on Jun 1, 2016
Draft: 0.0'

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