NEW YORK

Point Lookout

Windy weather then Christmas and the blizzard kept the party boat Captain Al from sailing through the past week, Capt. Tom Weiss said. But the weather is finally supposed to calm and become warmer in the next days. Trips are sailing for cod and ling, and no boats in the fleet sailed in the last days. But previously private boaters began to catch cod. In recent years trips on the Captain Al found cod in inshore waters an hour from port in winter. But if trips have to sail farther for them, they will. Trips on the vessel were already landing ling at times this season, but mostly blackfished, until News York’s blackfish season closed last week. Once the season for the tog closes, the vessel focuses on cod. If cod are scarce at any time, trips fish the wrecks for fish like ling. Call: 516-623-2248.

VIRGINIA

Chincoteague

Winds blew every day in the last week, and the blizzard plowed into the coast Sunday to Monday, so no trips were able to sail for striped bass, Capt. Perry Romig from Topless Fishing Charters said. He also heard from nobody who sailed for the fish anywhere, including farther south at Virginia Beach. All boats might’ve been kept docked. Probably 12 or 14 inches of snow dumped on Chincoteague during the storm. But the weather is supposed to warm to 60 degrees by Saturday. Waters off Chincoteague were probably 37 or 38 degrees within 3 miles of the coast, where fishing for the rockfish is open. That’s too cold for them. But the linesiders likely continued to migrate south farther from shore, like 20 miles off Chincoteague, where waters were probably 46 degrees. When that happens, Topless sails for them farther south, where waters are warm enough for the schools to hug the coast in legal waters. Winds could possibly push a warm eddy into the coast at Chincoteague, pulling the bass within 3 miles. Perry has seen that happen, but he wasn’t saying the chances are likely. Still, if the fish school within range farther south, trips chase them there. This is the migration of big, mature striped bass that pours down to Virginia each winter. Fishing for them is world-class, because the fish are the whole population of large stripers that spent the warm months in the northeast. This winter is looking like a cold one that could push stripers farther south sooner than in recent years, but anglers will see. Call: 757-824-5580. Visit Web Site.

Virginia Beach

Thirty-knot winds and 8-foot seas on the ocean hampered fishing on a striped bass trip Monday, but a trip Sunday limited out on the rockfish on a somewhat calmer ocean, said Capt. Bob Robinson from Fin Seeker Sport Fishing. That trip trolled the bass, good-sized fish about 30 pounds apiece, 8 miles to the south. The stripers remained in local waters, and a few days are left to take advantage of a 10-percent discount on ¾-day charters through December. The discount will end in January, and dates are fairly booked that month. Call: 757-618-7421. Visit Web Site.

The weekly party boat trip offshore with Rudee Inlet Charters, usually sailing on Saturdays, is slated to run Wednesday this week instead, Capt. Skip Feller said. That’s because the trips were scheduled to take a break on Christmas last Saturday and New Year’s this Saturday. But the regular Saturday schedule will resume next week, and results of Wednesday’s trip should be reported here next week. The trips that sailed in the previous weeks loaded up on sizeable sea bass, mixing in fishing for blueline tilefish, catching them. The outings focused on sea bass before sea bass season will close on January 1. Afterward the trips will target the usual species on the outings each year: blueline tilefish, golden tilefish, black belly rosefish and groupers. Trips for those species always sail to Norfolk Canyon, and the sea bass were taken at nearby wrecks 50 to 65 miles from the coast. The trips sail 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Saturday. But, again, this week’s trip will run on Wednesday instead of Saturday, because of New Year’s. Call: 757-422-5700 or 757-425-3400. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Oregon Inlet

The boats at Oregon Inlet Fishing Center were kept docked because of weather, Pat Keating said. Winds blew, though no snow fell. But weather looked better starting today, and looked fantastic the rest of the week. Two vessels were fishing the ocean close to shore when she gave this report over the phone today. Last week anglers from the marina boated striped bass close to port on the ocean. No boats sailed offshore, but on Wednesday three are supposed to head offshore. Visit Web Site.

Hatteras

The weather kept boats from steaming for a week, said Aaron Midget from
The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair Marina. Winds blew, temperatures plummeted and waters froze a little. A few bluefin tuna, ones 73 inches or larger that were big enough to sell, were docked the last time anyone could get out. Plenty of blackfin tuna and a few yellowfin tuna were claimed. Nobody mentioned surf fishing in the weather, but a few puppy drum could be around in the suds. Nothing was heard about striped bass. Visit Web Site.

Atlantic Beach

Nobody fished from marina because of winds, said Joyce Davis from
Captain Stacy Fishing Center. But forecasts look better for the coming
days. One or two giant bluefin tuna were landed from the ocean so far this season, but the angling wasn’t good yet. Giants usually give up a fishery this time of year. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Lake Okeechobee

Cold, windy weather hit Lake Okeechobee like elsewhere, said Capt. Angie from Captain Angie Douthit Guide Service. This morning was supposed to be 24 to 27 degrees. But the days are supposed to reach the mid 70s starting Wednesday through the end of the week, and that’s normal for the time of year. That will coincide with trips slated to fish for largemouth bass on the lake with her Wednesday to Friday.  She ran no trips the past two days because of weather like 30 m.p.h. winds and cold. But she and another captain ran a two-boat charter on the previous days, Thursday through Saturday. The anglers on one boat walloped a 9-pound largemouth, and the ones on the other whacked an 8-pounder, and they landed lots of largemouths besides, so they were happy, Angie said. They fished with shiners, and Angie often likes to fish with artificials, but trips will also fish with the live bait when anglers want. But Angie, a pro bass angler who guides when not on the tournament trail, is up on the latest techniques for artificials, and enjoys teaching if anglers want. The lake’s largemouth angling can be best in the warmer parts of the day during chilly weather, but the fish were active. So were crappies, and the lake holds a large population of the slabs. Fishing for them is especially good when the weather starts to warm after cold fronts, like it is for largemouths. The fish school up because of the cold, and they begin to feed when the weather warms. Call: 863-228-7263. Visit Web Site.

Islamorada

Mutton snappers, cero mackerel and king mackerel were tugged aboard a trip Wednesday with Captain Easy Charters, Capt. Bruce Anderson said. The muttons on trips were wrangled from wrecks. Bruce wasn’t asked what the snappers were caught on, but live baitfish is usual. The ceros, big ones 8 to 10 pounds, a good-eating fish with white flesh, were mopped up from along the inside edge of the reef in 20 to 30 feet. The ceros chased schools of ballys, loads of the bait, and ballys were livelined to catch them. Trips lately saw the ballys being showered, jumping from the waters, trying to escape pursuing fish. Ceros were usually the pursing fish, but sometimes sailfish were. Quite a few sails were beaten on trips recently. Sometimes the sails on trips were wrestled there, and other times were waffled along the outside edge of the reef in 120 feet. They were usually hooked on slow-trolled, live ballys or cigar minnows. The kings were also snatched up there on those baits. Cold fronts sometimes moved through, including on Sunday night. But the weather on most days reached the upper 70s, seasonable and pleasant. Check out a video of sailfishing with Captain Easy Charters.Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.

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