NEW YORK

Montauk

The party boat Helen H was returned to home port in Hyannis, Massachusetts, Capt. Joe Huckemeyer said. More about trips from there in a moment. First, annual trips for cod from Montauk were mostly a bust this winter. Cod were around, but fishing for them was off, compared with super fishing for them the previous two years. This winter’s catches were average, compared with the 15 years prior to then. That was probably because waters were 5 to 9 degrees warmer this winter than the previous two. Fish that were hooked were sometimes species that should have departed in November, like sea bass, fluke and porgies. Cod fishing this winter was good on a few days. Boats even creamed them on Friday, but found slow fishing for cod the next day. The Helen H will be returned for cod fishing from Montauk next winter, and if the season is cold as usual, the fishing could be awesome again. In Hyannis this spring, the Helen H will sail for cod and haddock starting in mid April for 2 or 2 ½ weeks, during the peak. Trips for porgies and sea bass will begin May 11. With warm waters, good fishing for them is expected early. Two-day porgy packages are available, featuring fishing, a motel, breakfast and dinner. Call: 508-790-0660.
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Point Lookout

Ling, very good catches, were plowed on the party boat Captain Al, and a handful of cod were mixed in on every trip, Capt. Tom Weiss said. Most cod, probably 75 percent, were jigged, instead of clammed, for some reason, maybe because they fed on mackerel. Mackerel were sometimes mixed in with catches. Trips fished in 90 to 130 feet in 45-degree waters, a couple of degrees warmer than on previous days. Trips fished on Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday and Monday, between weather. The boat will go in the boat yard a moment starting on Monday for a Coast Guard hull inspection that will be due. Afterward trips will keep steaming for ling and cod, but will start departing at 7 a.m., an hour later than currently. Porgies will be able to be targeted when New York’s porgy season opens May 1. The Captain Al is this site's closest Long Island cod boat to New Jersey. Trips are running 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, but will begin to depart at 7 a.m. sometime next week. See More Info. Call: 516-623-2248.

VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

The weekly party boat trip to Norfolk Canyon pummeled a great catch this weekend with Rudee Inlet Charters, Capt. Skip Feller. Mostly blueline tilefish, including a couple of 19-pounders, were bombed. Many of the bluelines were citation fish, 10 pounds or larger. A few groupers, small ones, were reeled in, when the trip fished deeper, in 400 to 500 feet. But the outing mostly fished shallower, in 300 feet, for bluelines. That was because the angling was so good. Sometimes the boat mixes in fishing deeper for different species like golden tilefish, groupers and wreckfish. This trip fished on Sunday instead of the usual Saturday, because of rough weather. Weather was beautiful on Sunday, and seas were slick calm. The trips are sailing to Norfolk Canyon, a 4- to 4-1/2-hour trip, every Saturday from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. The unique outings steam for catches including blueline tiles, golden tiles, black belly rosefish, wreckfish and groupers. Ask about special trips for golden tiles that are set for April and May. Charters are also running. In other news, striped bass departed for the season from local waters. So did bluefin tuna that were bailed near the shore earlier this winter. But blackfishing was currently good from the marina on other boats. Call: 757-422-5700 or 757-425-3400. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Oregon Inlet

Offshore boaters scored well, Denise MacNamara from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center said. On Monday five vessels from the marina fished offshore. One of the trips returned with eight yellowfin tuna. Another bagged a yellowfin and a 67-pound bluefin tuna, releasing three bluefins. Another released four bluefins, and another bagged a 62-inch bluefin, releasing two. And so on. Seven trips ran offshore Sunday from the center. On one boat, nine yellowfins and a 68-inch bluefin were bagged, and five bluefins were released. On another, three yellowfins, a bigeye tuna and a 150-pound bluefin were bagged, and five bluefins were released. On another, a bluefin and a bigeye were bagged, and five bluefins were released. Catches that day also included a limit of yellowfin tuna and a 65-inch bluefin bagged on one boat, and a limit of yellowfins and a 107-pound bluefin bagged on another. That’s what catches were like. No fishing happened inshore for the marina’s boaters, and the last couple of inshore trips from the center, covered in the last report, hooked dogfish. Striped bass never schooled this far south this winter. Visit Web Site.

Hatteras

Five boats ran from Teach’s Lair Marina on Sunday, “and it was on, folks,” a report on the marina’s Web site said! Bluefin, yellowfin and blackfin tuna, amberjacks, hammerhead sharks and false albacore were nailed on the trips. “And to put the cherry on top the sundae, citation drum on the way home on Diamond Shoals,” the report said. In the surf, drum from pups to citations were beached on Ocracoke, the island south of Hatteras. The drum could swim north to the inlet and Cape Point, the inland point on the Hatteras side of the inlet, this week. “The weather conditions are perfect to sustain the bite, and I believe it will be a good one,” the report said. “So if you’re lacking in the Citation Crum Department, now would be a good time to call off work and head south for some R and R.” In the Hatteras surf, scattered blowtoads and sea mullet bit, “not coolers full, but enough for a good fish fry every evening,” the report said. Small blues ran the local surf, and smoker blues could begin to show up any time. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Islamorada

A little of everything bit, said Capt. Bruce Andersen from Captain Easy Charters. But catches on evening shark trips began to take off, like usual this time of year. Blacktip, bull and lots of nurse sharks were battled aboard. Trips this time of year fight them close to port at the end of the day. That can be an extra that charters can enjoy after a day of other fishing. Plus, a big, 150-pound tarpon was angled on the shark grounds with Bruce the other evening. That was early for big tarpon, and fishing for them usually kicks in during April, also close to port. Farther from shore, catches began to gain steam aboard at the Islamorada Hump.  Amberjacks were wrestled there, and so were a few blackfin tuna. Blackfins just began to show up there. The hump is an underwater mound rising 300 feet from bottom in 600 feet of waters 11 miles from shore that attracts fish. On a couple of days Bruce’s anglers sight-casted to hook sailfish, mahi mahi and cobia that were tailing. That was another cool type of fishing that was happening. The tailing only happens during certain conditions: when northeast winds blow against current. Then the fish ride the surface along waves, and anglers pitch baits to them by sight. That happened along current edges in depths anywhere from 40 to 180 feet. Reef fishing aboard put up lots of yellowtail snappers and muttons a few miles from the dock. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.

COSTA RICA

Los Suenos

Sailfishing remained strong on the Dream Girl, Capt. Pete Wagner said. Six to eight sails were released on every trip. Bottom fishing was good aboard, pumping in red snappers that began to appear, groupers and tilefish. Pete will return to home port in Highlands, New Jersey, in April to run his Hyper Striper from spring through fall, starting with striped bass trips. Book spring striper fishing now. Visit Web Site.

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