VIRGINIA

Chincoteague Inlet

A trip finally got out Monday between rough weather, probably pulling on 35 striped bass, bagging a limit of eight for the four anglers, said Capt. Perry Romig from Topless Fishing Charters. He had been away on vacation at Florida, and finally got a good weather day to run a charter for the rockfish after he returned. The fish were smaller than usual, and included a few throwbacks. Usually none of the stripers are throwbacks. Still, several weighed 36 or 38 pounds, not shabby at all. The trip ran a ways south, below Wachapreague, to catch the fish, all on the troll on custom umbrella rigs that Topless uses. The weather was beautiful, and not much current flowed, allowing fine angling no matter which way the boat was turned. The week was cold, and Chincoteague Bay was frozen, and the back waters as the boat was sailed to the inlet were 30 degrees. Saltwater freezes in colder temps than the usual 32 for freshwater. The ocean on the fishing grounds was 42.8 degrees. Perry was a little concerned whether ice would lock in the boat, but warmer weather was forecast for later this week, and that should keep the waterways clear. The bay usually freezes sometime in February but not normally in January. In Florida the fishing on Perry’s vacation was hampered by rough weather, the same cold front that assaulted the entire eastern U.S., and he returned a couple of days early. The sailfish were there, and boaters beat them up off Stuart. But that was 20 miles from where Perry stayed at West Palm Beach, and the weather kept boats there from sailing to the bite. Topless Fishing Charters, like it does every year, is targeting the huge population of big striped bass, the largest number of big bass in the world, that winters off Virginia. The mature bass slide down from the entire Northeast Coast to spend the cold months here. Call: 757-824-5580. Visit Web Site.

Virginia Beach

Lots of striped bass got banged up, and the location changed every day, said Capt. Steve Richardson from Backlash Sport Fishing. Boats on Sunday, when Backlash cancelled a trip because of weather, loaded up 20 miles from port. Backlash on a couple of trips last week ran 40 miles to get on the bite. But a charter on the boat Monday found the fish 8 miles away. The weather was often cold and rough but was supposed to become warmer later this week. Winds blew 30 on Monday, when Backlash cancelled, but the boaters who sailed did a job on the rockfish. Trolling was the way to go lately.  The top striper in Virginia Beach’s Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout weighed 50 pounds over the weekend. Big bass stack up in these waters in winter. Call: 757-286-0711. Visit Web Site.

Rockfishing was on, and everybody was happy, said Capt. Bob Robinson from Fin Seeker Sport Fishing. Trips in the past days ran a little north for the catches, instead of south like before. All the striped bass weighed 20 pounds or larger, pretty good sized.  Fin Seeker took seventh place in the weekend’s Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout, if Bob knew correctly. All the bass on the boat lately were trolled. So the fishing kept up, and come on down while it lasts. During some years the fish stick around into February, and during other years January is the peak, and one never knows. Call: 757-618-7421. Visit Web Site.

Rough weather forced the weekly Norfolk Canyon party boat trip to stay docked with Rudee Inlet Charters, Capt. Skip Fuller said. But forecasts offered a glimmer of hope that this weekend’s trip will get out. The trips, running 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Saturday, hook blueline tilefish, a few golden tiles, snowy groupers and blackbelly rosefish. Limited to 40 passengers, the trips are only $170 per person, a great price for offshore angling. Call: 757-422-5700 or 757-425-3400. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Oregon Inlet

Several boats from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center limited out on striped bass on the ocean Thursday, Virginia Lawhorne said.  The fish were located 15 miles to the north off Duck, compared with 40 miles to the north of Corolla, where they schooled the previous week.  One boat sailed on Friday, also catching them. But those were the last trips that fished from the marina, because of the weather. No vessels ran offshore, but previously offshore fishing waxed a bunch of yellowfin tuna. Visit Web Site.

Atlantic Beach

The giant bluefin tuna fleet was forced to remain in port at Captain Stacy Fishing Center because of the weather,  Loretta Demsey said. They claimed
a couple of giants last week, but no boats fished since then. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Tampa

Rattlesnake Point Outfitters stayed tied to the dock the past couple of days because of the cold, the worst since 1989, Capt. Chuck Rodgers said. The warm waters at the power plant outflow gave up cobia, lots of jacks 2 to 12 pounds – big for jacks – and a slew of sharks including blacktips, sharpnose and a few bonnetheads. All the fish except the sharks were played on soft plastic lures in white or chartreuse because of stirred up waters from cownosed rays attracted by the warmth. The sharks were hung on fillets of any other fish caught. Speckled seatrout fishing had turned out plenty of catches last week before the cold, but now the bay was 51 degrees. But anglers hoped the warmer weather predicted for later this week would begin to turn the fishing back on. The somewhat warmer waters in the canals held snook and redfish, but the fish were still sluggish from waters that were chillier than usual. Fishing for snook and reds starts to pick up in March or spring. The redfishing is better during some years than others. Call: 866-439-4305. Visit Web Site.

Lake Okeechobee

Highs in the 20s the past three nights, the coldest in a long time, made the lake’s largemouth bass hunker down, slowing the fishing, said Capt. Butch Butler from South Florida Bass Fishing. But the angling will rebound, probably taking a week to get back to normal. Days were already forecast to become warmer later this week. Conditions on Okeechobee were gorgeous otherwise, ideal before the cold snap, and weeds had grown back that the previous drought had killed. If anglers were to fish for the largemouths during the chill, live shiners would probably work best, but an angler would probably score fewer than a dozen bites while the bucketmouths lay low because of the temps. Artificials probably wouldn’t work at all. Guides always fish shiners the most on the lake for the best chances at catching the most and largest bass. But when Butch’s customers want to fish artificials, they certainly can, in warmer weather. They chuck artificials including spinner baits, top-water lures, Senko worms, other plastic worms and a large variety of things. Okeechobee’s bigmouths can weigh more than 10 pounds, and many do. Anglers don’t hook the huge ones often, but most of the fish landed go 2 to 8 pounds or 9. The lake’s crappie fishing also slowed in the cold but will also pick back up. They’re usually hooked on minnows, smaller than shiners, or jigheads, and mostly weigh a half pound to three-quarters of a pound and occasionally up to two pounds. Call: 863-634-5431. Visit Web Site.

The cold lasted long enough that the lake’s largemouth bass actually began to bite again, despite the weather, said Capt. Mike Shellen from Okeechobee Bass Fishing. A cold front usually shuts down the angling a couple of days, but the current cold, probably including seven or eight nights dipping down to the 30s, pushing the lake temps down to the 40s, was so sustained that the fish seemed to have to feed again. The change of weather from autumn to winter usually begins to settle down by mid January, producing terrific catches of 30 to 50 largemouths per angler in a day. The lake’s largemouth fishing is the best in the world, he said. A 7-pounder here “doesn’t even get a look,” he said, though that would be a large lunker elsewhere. Bass 2 ½ and 3 pounds are average, though they’re hefty fish in many other places. Most customers fish big, 5- to 7-inch shiners, and are inexperienced anglers who just want to catch. Shiners work best, but anglers aboard can also fish artificials. Mike usually tosses top-water plugs or a Reactions Innovations Skinny Dipper swim bait. Anglers on the lake fish heavy cover like thick grass, bulrushes and hydrilla in 3- to 5-foot depths. Crappies were caught, prefer the cold, and are usually taken on minnows that are smaller than the shiners. Call: 888-203-FISH (3474). Visit Web Site.

Fort Lauderdale

Sailfishing jumped off the scale, said Capt. Taco from Taco’s Hooked Up Sportfishing. A trip Monday went 10 for 12 on sails, and the fishing’s been good. Cold weather can actually help sailfishing, pushing the fish south to local waters to seek warmth. The fish with Taco were tackled 1 to 1 ½ miles from shore on goggleyes livelined under kites. Lot of sails! Taco said. Call: 954-764-4344 or 877-SEA-4344. Visit Web Site.

Miami

Rains and freezing weather kept charters from fishing, said Jackie Glinski from the Blue Waters II. But another is expected to head out Wednesday on the boat, and she expects to give a report on the results that will be posted here by Thursday afternoon if it does.  Trips previously put anglers on catches including sailfish, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, amberjacks and swordfish. The swordfishing, newly popular, is done during the daytime, instead of the usual nighttime, in deep waters, requiring electric reels to crank them up. Call: 305-373-5016. Visit Web Site.

Key Largo

The cold, weather like nobody had really seen in the area before, certainly affected fishing, but quite a few yellowtail snappers were still beaten on the party  boat  Sailor’s Choice, Capt. Joe Hall said. So were a few mangrove snappers, cero mackerel and even a couple of sailfish. Cold weather affects snapper fishing, but the angling isn’t too bad when the days stay cold.  Sudden  temperature changes are what stuns the fish. Anglers talked about fish kills in the back country because  of the cold  snap. But trips on the Sailor’s Choice fished a little farther out or 6 miles from shore at Molasses Reef.  Sailfish are sometimes landed on the trips when the big game swims up. The crew nets ballyhoos on a trip, pitches a live one to a sail that moves in, and hands off the rod to a customer. Fishing on the boat generally produces these types of catches at this time of year. Two trips sail daily 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. Call: 305-451-1802. Visit Web Site.

Islamorada

A trip limited out on king mackerel on Monday, and that’s how fishing on trips went lately, said Capt. Ben Loy from the party boat Miss Islamorada. All the cold fronts cause the kingfish to move in. Customers wiped up a mess of the drag-pullers – 5- to 15-pounders – had fun with them on 20-pound tackle. Live cigar minnows are the typical bait for kings, but the cold causes cigars to become difficult to catch. So then anglers use dead ballyhoos. Customers fish the live cigars on wire leaders to land the toothy kings. But with dead bally’s they use a three-hook tandem rig with doubled-up 20- or 40-pound mono. One-ounce weights, ½-ounce weights or no weights are used, because the fish swim at all the different depths. The fish were nailed 4 miles from shore in 100 to 150 feet of waters. A couple of trips were weathered out, and air temps on Sunday night dove to 39 degrees, highly unusual. The cold put the damper on snapper fishing at the reefs that trips often do, but the kingfishing was a welcome consolation. The Miss Islamorada sails 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from world famous Bud N’ Mary’s Marina. Call: 305-664-2461. Visit Web Site.

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