Virginia Beach Fishing: Little Island Pier, Rudee Inlet and the Surf

Rules: VMRC (saltwater)

Virginia Beach is the only part of Virginia’s Atlantic shore where a visitor can fish from a public pier without a boat, and most of the useful, checkable information is about one place: the Little Island Fishing Pier at Sandbridge. This guide covers what the City of Virginia Beach publishes about that pier, how the license rules read for the pier versus the beach, which rules apply to the fish you are likely to keep, and what we could not confirm for Rudee Inlet and the oceanfront pier at 15th Street. For the bridge-tunnel and the lower Bay, see fishing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

Little Island Park and its pier

Little Island Park is a 122-acre beach park at 3820 Sandpiper Road in Sandbridge, just north of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. According to the city, the 400-foot fishing pier is open seven days a week, with a newly improved walkway and railing and a 200-foot connection between the pier and the shoreline. The park has a 775-foot beach north of the pier set aside for surfing and a 2,000-foot beach south of the pier for swimming and fishing. On the park’s western edge, Back Bay, a brackish lake, offers fishing and crabbing of its own.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission, which helped fund the pier’s improvement through its fishing development fund, lists the pier as completed in 2006 and says most common saltwater species may be caught in the area. It does not name species or give a season, and neither does the city, so we are not publishing a month-by-month list of what bites here.

Hours, fees and the rules of the pier

The city’s page is the operating authority and it is the source used in the rules snapshot above. It gives summer hours of 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. from May 1 to October 31, winter hours that start at 7 a.m. and end at a posted closing time from November 1 to April 15, and a maintenance closure from April 16 to 30. Pier fees are charged from May to October, are cash only, and are paid at the pier. Children 9 and under fish free with a paying adult. Each angler may use up to four rods, and only service dogs are allowed on the pier.

Two official pages disagree. VMRC’s listing of the same pier shows different hours and parking prices, including an earlier summer opening. Hours and fees at a city-run pier change, so treat the snapshot as the city’s current published schedule and call the park office at (757) 385-7324 if your plans depend on it.

Which license do I need?

The city says a Virginia saltwater fishing license is not required on the fishing pier but is required to fish from the beach. That is a city statement about its own pier, not the whole rule. VMRC’s separate Fisherman Identification Program asks saltwater anglers 16 and older who do not hold a license to register for a free number every year, and the state’s freshwater agency repeats that requirement. Registration is online through VMRC or at (757) 247-2200. The Virginia license and rules guide walks through the two agencies, and until VMRC’s current license fees are read and confirmed, we do not publish them.

Where you fish	What you need	Agency
Little Island pier	City says no saltwater license is required on the pierFree FIP registration still applies to unlicensed anglers 16 and older.	VMRC
Virginia Beach surf and beaches	Virginia saltwater license, or a free FIP number if you qualify to be unlicensed	VMRC
Back Bay and freshwater ponds	Check DWR; Back Bay has its own creel limits	DWR

Rules for the fish you may keep

Striped bass in Virginia’s coastal area are open from January 1 through March 31 and from May 16 through December 31, one fish a day between 28 and 31 inches, according to the state’s administrative code. That text was last amended in April 2024 and the coast-wide striped bass reduction planned for 2026 may have changed how VMRC applies it, so confirm before you keep one. Red drum must measure 18 to 26 inches. Summer flounder and black sea bass limits are set each year by VMRC notice, and we have not read the 2026 notice, so those two entries in the snapshot send you to the agency rather than quoting numbers.

Rudee Inlet and the surf

Rudee Inlet is Virginia Beach’s direct route from the oceanfront to the Atlantic, and anglers often mention its jetties and the boat traffic around them. We did not find an official or agency source that describes where the public can fish from shore at the inlet, which species hold there or what rules apply, and a thin tourism mention is not enough to send someone to a spot. We are leaving the inlet out until the city or VMRC publishes access details.

For the open beach, the 2,000-foot stretch south of the Little Island pier is the part of the park the city lists for fishing, and a saltwater license is required there. A long surf rod suits the beach better than a pier rod, because it clears the break and lets you set a heavier sinker.

The 15th Street pier

The Virginia Beach Fishing Pier stands between 14th and 15th Streets on the boardwalk and is privately owned. News reports say it closed on January 27, 2024, after a car drove off its end, and reopened later that spring after about three months of repairs. We found no 2025 or 2026 report about its hours, fees or license rules, and sources disagree on its length, so we are not describing it as open or listing its terms.

Tackle that suits the pier and the surf

A 7 to 9 foot medium spinning rod is a comfortable choice for a pier like this one: long enough to lift a fish over the rail and to cast past the pilings, light enough to fish all day. Pair it with a reel that holds a few hundred yards of line and a pier net or drop net, since you cannot walk a fish down a 400-foot pier. For the beach, a 10 to 12 foot surf rod and a sand spike are the standard combination. A rod built around the sinker weight you actually throw, with guides that hold up to salt, will outlast a store-bought one.

Safety

Leave the beach and the pier when lightning is near. Keep hooks and lines clear of other anglers on a crowded pier, and watch the surf and rip currents from the beach. Pack out your line.

Check before you go

Pier hours, fees and rules are set by the city and by VMRC and can change without notice. The park office number is (757) 385-7324. Our Virginia rules guide links to each agency, and the pier history is in the 15th Street pier tale once it is published. Anglers who also fish Ocean City can compare with Assateague and Maryland surf rules and Delaware’s surf fishing guide.