NEW YORK

Point Lookout

Daily trips for cod and ling were launched Saturday on the party boat Captain Al, Capt. Tom Weiss said. Ling, good catches, were plundered, and no cod showed up. The trip fished in 60- to 135-foot depths in 47- to 48-degree waters.  Cod usually first appear in the 60-foot shallows around the final week of December. The fish swim deeper as winter goes on. Trips were weathered out the next two days, and might not sail the next few in rough weather forecasts. A few cod 10 to 15 pounds had already begun to be decked while the boat blackfished in 17 fathoms in past weeks. Blackfishing was very good, and a 14.7-pounder was caught aboard last week. Trips concentrated on blackfish through Friday, New York’s final day of the tautog season. Last year’s cod fishing was good. A few began to appear in 17 fathoms in December, and that was unusual. More showed up in 60 feet during the final week of December, typical. Catches dropped off a moment afterward, but soon became good in the deep. The fishing often peaks in January. Catches were much better from the Point Lookout area than other areas, including Montauk, last winter. The Captain Al is this site's closest Long Island cod boat to New Jersey. If cod are in, the boat steams after them. If not, it jumps on ling and wreck fishing. Trips run 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily. See More Info. Call: 516-623-2248.

VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

The weekly, party-boat, deep-drop trip to Norfolk Canyon fished Saturday, had the weather to roll, with Rudee Inlet Charters, and the fishing was good, Capt. Skip Feller said. Blueline tilefish, a slough, were socked, and big bluefish, including a 19-1/2-pounder, were wrestled in. Blues first showed up on the previous week’s trip. On this week’s trip, a few out-of-season sea bass were released. Sea bass season will be opened in January, the government announced. Sea bass will be able to be kept then. This weekend’s trip fished in 180 to 300 feet, sticking with tilefishing that was good. Sometimes trips will push deeper, like when bluelines cooperate less. Then catches including black belly rosefish, wreckfish, barrelfish, a few groupers and a few golden tiles can come in. Weather was beautiful, gorgeous on the outing, and anglers wore T-shirts. The unique trips, running 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Saturday, sail to Norfolk Canyon, 4 to 4 ½ hours from port, each winter. Forecasts look like bad weather might keep the trip docked this Saturday. Sometimes when weather is better the next day or two, the trips will be offered then. Call: 757-422-5700 or 757-425-3400. Visit Web Site.

Striped bass were docked at Virginia Beach Fishing Center, a report on the marina’s Web site said. Virginia’s striper season is currently open in Chesapeake Bay, and will be opened on the ocean starting January 1, the day the bay’s season will be closed. A 47-pounder was weighed in Monday, and bigger stripers were more abundant recently than before. The rockfish seen at the marina all weighed 25 pounds or more. A 51-pounder and a 42-pounder were checked in Sunday, and a 45-pounder and a 40-pounder were hung on the scale Saturday. Folks at the marina were excited, because the fish seemed to be arriving on time. Boats during the weekend also sailed for bluefish, and some even tried for bluefin tuna that swim close to shore in winter. The season was a little early for them. When striper season is opened on the ocean, boaters will meet the migration of stripers from the entire Northeast Coast. The stripers winter off Virginia Beach. During warmer winters, they remain there. During colder ones, they swim south to North Carolina. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Hatteras

One trip boated 30 blackfin tuna on the ocean, a report said on the Web site from The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair Marina. This was the time of year for “high-speed vertical jigging … a real hands-on type of fishing,” it said. “You man the rod, and you hook the fish. It’s all about you.” A trip closer to shore bagged a boat limit of drum, releasing plenty more. Surf fishing was slow, but scattered puppy drum, a few small bluefish and a few throwback summer flounder were landed. Three striped bass were known about that were caught this season, and anglers hoped that “was a sign of things to come,” the report said. One of the stripers was 46 inches, so maybe it was a migrator, instead of a young, resident fish, yet to migrate. During cold winters, stripers migrate to North Carolina. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Islamorada

Mahi mahi, quite a few, were angled in the past week with Captain Easy Charters, Capt. Bruce Andersen said. On two trips, mahi were found at floating debris in 300 feet of water, and were mostly hooked on live ballyhoos and cigar minnows pitched to them. On one of the trips, 15 or 20 of the fish gathered at floating bamboo. On another, a bunch hovered around a floating plastic chair. Wahoos were trolled at the debris, and mahi and wahoos were the main catches farther from shore. Closer to land, a few sailfish began to be caught along the offshore edge of the reef. Sailfishing, peaking in winter, was yet to take off entirely, but should any day. No strong cold fronts arrived yet, and the cold triggers the winter migration of fish, including sails, to arrive. Bottom-fishing piled up a mess of yelloweye snappers the other day. Mutton snappers and a few groupers bit along bottom, and grouper season is open through December 31. Weather was mostly beautiful, probably never dipping below 60 degrees at nighttime. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.

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