Rudee Tours runs the cheapest fishing out of Virginia Beach and the only walk on head boat option in the port, a fleet of roomy air conditioned boats that bottom fish by the person from about $53 a seat, with the rods, bait, and license supplied. For a first trip, a family on a budget, or anyone who wants to fish without booking a whole boat, it is the accessible choice out of Rudee Inlet. It lands in the mixed tier because the value and the access are genuine, but so are the caveats: the fishing reviews run uneven, and the operation is as much a sightseeing company as a charter.
The verdict and where it ranks
Rudee Tours is a mixed pick: book it with caveats, depending on the trip. The case for it is the case for any good head boat, the cheapest way to fish in the port, on a stable air conditioned boat with the gear and the license covered and no experience needed, which suits a budget half day or a family. The caveats are equally clear. The crew is a rotating roster, the rail gets crowded, and a recurring complaint in the reviews is that some trips spend more time riding around than fishing. The company also runs dolphin and whale watching, which is a large part of its business and its review volume, so the fishing record is thinner and more mixed than the headline numbers suggest. Book it for a cheap, sociable bottom fishing day, not a serious trip. For a private boat, the ranked sportfishers above it are the move.
The boat
The Rudee Tours head boats, the Rudee Angler and its sisters, are roomy, air conditioned head boats, Coast Guard certified to carry many anglers, which is what lets them sell cheap seats by the person. The climate controlled cabins are a real comfort on a cold spring morning or a hot afternoon, and there is the deck space a small private boat cannot offer. The flip side is the head boat reality: with a full load the rail gets crowded, and the boat is a bottom fishing platform rather than a sportfisher. For what it does, a budget walk on bottom trip, it is the right boat.
The fishing and what you target
The head boats bottom fish, and the trip sets the target. The full day trips work black sea bass, gray triggerfish, bluefish, and flounder; the dedicated flounder trips target flounder through the summer; the half day stays closer in for croaker, seatrout, spot, and small sharks; and the 17 hour deep drop trip runs out for blueline and golden tilefish, sea bass, and rosefish. None of these is the offshore canyon troll for tuna and marlin, so the catch is bottom and reef fish. On a good day the bottom fishing is steady action for sea bass and flounder; on a slow one, as the reviews note, it can mean a lot of riding and not much fishing.
Trips and prices
The head boats sell seats by the person, walk on. A half day is about $53, a full day about $153.70, a night trip about $47.70, a full day flounder trip about $153.70, and the 17 hour deep drop trip about $265, with everything for fishing supplied and the mates helping on deck. The value is the whole point and it is genuine: this is by far the cheapest way to fish out of Virginia Beach. Our cost guide sets the per person fare against a private boat, and the party boat versus private charter guide works through the trade between a shared rail and your own boat, such as a nearshore trip on the Marcia B.
The crew
The head boats run on a rotating roster of captains, with the mates the ones you deal with on deck, baiting hooks and helping newer anglers. On a good trip the reviews praise helpful mates and a friendly crew that makes a first timer comfortable. The honest qualifier, which recurs too often to ignore, is two sided: the fishing experience is uneven, with a thread of reviews describing trips that ran around more than they fished, and because the same company runs the sightseeing trips, the fishing specific record is harder to read and more mixed than the overall review count implies. It is the uneven service of a busy tour and head boat operation rather than a dedicated charter.
Booking and what to know
Book online or by phone, or walk on for most head boat trips. The boats leave from Rudee Inlet at 200 Winston Salem Avenue, the same dock the company runs its dolphin and whale watching trips from, so confirm you are booking a fishing trip and the right departure time. Arrive early for a full day to get a spot at the rail. No fishing license is needed, the boat covers it. Bring food and drinks, sunscreen, a hat, a cooler for your fillets, and motion sickness medication taken before you board, since a day drifting offshore can turn a stomach.
How we scored it
Rudee Tours scores last in the field and lands in the mixed tier: the cheapest, most accessible way to fish in Virginia Beach and the only walk on head boat, with the value and the access genuine, held down by mixed fishing reviews, a recurring complaint about too much riding and not enough fishing, a rotating crew, and a record blurred by the company’s sightseeing business. Value is where it holds up; captain and crew and track record are where it gives ground. See how we scored this boat, and weigh it against the rest of the Virginia Beach fleet.