Faces of Wind: Will Bransom, President of the Norfolk Anglers Club
Will Bransom, President of the Norfolk Anglers Club
Will Bransom spent his early years as an angler, but he didn’t fall in love with saltwater fishing until after the Navy assigned him to the Hampton Roads area in 1996. After being introduced to fishing for rockfish along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, this quickly became one of his passions. With the opportunity to fish and dive offshore among the Chesapeake Bay wreck sites, a whole new world of saltwater fishing became available. After retiring from the Navy and settling down in Virginia Beach, the Hampton Roads region became his permanent home, and he began to take saltwater fishing more seriously. Within a decade, he had his own recreational fishing vessel, hundreds of dives under his belt, and experiential knowledge of almost every wreck site along Virginia Beach’s coast, some more than 250 feet below sea level.
Today, Will leads the Norfolk Angler’s Club, a group founded in 2005 on “families, fellowship, and fishing.” The organization helps raise money for local causes, educate new anglers, and build a sense of community around the water. Lately, Will has been fishing in a spot that few people have experienced firsthand—the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project. Currently, there are two pilot turbines installed. By the end of 2026, there will be 176 turbines operating as part of the nation’s largest offshore wind project. The CVOW wind energy area is located 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, requiring a nearly 2 hour journey to reach by boat. Once complete, the wind farm will generate enough energy to power 660,000 Virginian homes.
“The fishing out there has been great,” Will says. He’s quick to point out the difference he’s seen since the pilot turbines first went in five years ago. During the first year, anglers were pulling in juvenile sea bass, something that caught his attention. “It was unbelievable the amount of fish they were catching,” he says. Mahi, flounder, tautog, triggerfish, sea bass — species that arrived in numbers and turned heads.
This uptick in fishing opportunities can be attributed to the introduction of a hard-bottom structure. Beneath each turbine is 90 feet of armored rock known as scour protection. Algae, mussels, and other benthic organisms cling to this structure. These organisms draw in baitfish, which attract larger predator fish. And those larger fish? They attract anglers like Will.
Image courtesy of Dominion Energy promotional video
“I think the fish are naturally attracted to that cover, to that habitat almost immediately,” he says. Even cobia, a species rarely spotted in the area, have been seen circling the turbines and hanging in the eddies to feed. Much of the seabed offshore Virginia Beach is a blank slate. Sand, broken shell, and the occasional shipwreck make up the seafloor. Will compares the CVOW site to the Triangle Reef, a site from in World War II when ships collided off the coast, leaving wreckage that became a prime fishing habitat.
Last year, 60–70 foundations from the CVOW commercial project dotted the seabed. This year, that number has grown to more than 130. As offshore construction continues, more structures will populate, drawing opportunity for anglers, charter captains, bait shops, and the working waterfront. Offshore wind has already contributed more than a billion dollars to the Hampton Roads economy through local contracts, port activity, and workforce development, and the benefits continue to grow. “It’s a good thing for our economy and for Hampton Roads,” Will says.
According to a recent analysis by the Conservative Energy Network, the CVOW project is expected to double the recreational fishing value of the area over the lifetime of the project by attracting anglers, charter fishing, and other activities like scuba diving and spearfishing.
Will knows offshore wind can be a tough sell to fishermen who have not experienced fishing around these structures first-hand. “There’s naysayers,” he says. Some worry about navigation, others about changes to the fishing grounds. For the anglers who have actually been to the CVOW site, skepticism often gives way to a pleasant surprise. “Bottom line, the offshore wind project is going to be phenomenally good for Virginia Beach,” Will says. For Hampton Roads, where the water is at the heart of the economy, culture, and way of life, the economic and environmental benefits of offshore wind are not just important—they are an investment in the region’s future.
