NEW YORK

Point Lookout

A few more cod than before were sacked on a trip Saturday on the party boat Captain Al, Capt. Tom Weiss said. Trips will now concentrate on fishing for them more than before. The boat is this site’s closest to New Jersey that sails for cod daily, and the fishing started peaking in January in recent years. The cod on Saturday’s trip weighed up to 10 pounds, and were mostly found in the 55- to 60-foot shallows. But a handful were located in 100 feet on Saturday’s trip, the first time this season they were seen that deep. Cod usually swim shallow at first then deeper in winter off Point Lookout. All the cod were clammed, and none was jigged. Lots of more bait including mackerel and herring started showing up. When cod forage on bait like that, sometimes the cod can be jigged. Ling were also caught on the trip, and when cod are in, the trips go after them. Otherwise the trips fish for ling or other bottom fish. But Tom expects to concentrate on cod now. Trips were weathered out afterward on Sunday and Monday, but weather looked fair for today’s trip to sail. Trips had been departing at 6:30 a.m., but will sail from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting Friday. The trips are fishing daily, except no trip will fish on New Year’s. See More Info. Call: 516-623-2248.

VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

Annual deep-drop trips will fish offshore starting Saturday with Rudee Inlet Charters, Capt. Skip Feller said. The unique party boat trips, running each winter to Norfolk Canyon, mostly target blueline tilefish. But a variety of catches can be cranked in, including black belly rosefish, wreckfish, barrelfish, golden tilefish and groupers.  The trips sail 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Saturday. When possible, anglers are offered to sail on another day instead, like on a Sunday or a Monday, if weather is rough for a Saturday, and looks better on one of the other days. In the meantime, the trips have been fishing for sea bass at wrecks somewhat inshore of the canyon, taking advantage before sea bass season will be closed starting Wednesday. The sea bassing was phenomenal aboard this past Saturday. Almost all anglers limited out, and the fish weighed up to 6 ½ pounds. The trip also pushed a little deeper, to 50 fathoms, “not deep, deep,” Skip said, and tilefished a moment. Bluelines, bluefish and even triggerfish were landed. The season was becoming late for triggerfish, the warm-water species, to stick around. But waters were warm at 60 degrees. The ocean closer to the coast, along the shore, was 48 or 49 degrees. In other news, striped bass season will be opened Wednesday on the ocean in Virginia within 3 miles from shore. Striper fishing is closed in federal waters beyond 3 miles along all of the East Coast in the nation. A few stripers were seen in the ocean off Virginia, but how fishing for them will shape up was difficult to say, without boaters actually fishing for them. A lot of the rockfish seemed to swim federal waters currently. Call: 757-422-5700 or 757-425-3400. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Islamorada

A little of everything was boated with Captain Easy Charters, Capt. Bruce Andersen said. That included a few sailfish, and, on Monday, a good catch of blackfin tuna. Especially large king mackerel were beaten recently. No mahi mahi were hooked Monday, but quite a few mahi were around, for the time of year. Mahi fishing peaks in the warmer months, but the dolphin swim the waters year-round. A few wahoos were also fought in the past week. All these catches were pretty much trolled on livelined ballyhoos and cigar minnows just offshore of the reef. That’s in 100 to 200 feet of waters, 3 to 5 miles from port. Weather was often rough in past days, and was calm on Monday, but was supposed to be rough again today. Still, temperatures were mild, reaching the high 70 degrees to 80 on most days. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.

Traveling charters to the Florida Keys began aboard, said Capt. Joe Hughes from Jersey Cape Guide Service from Sea Isle City, N.J. The trips fish each winter, mostly on weekends, also on holidays, like these current holiday weeks. Mike Deckart joined one of the trips Sunday, fishing the Everglades. At least a dozen snook to 12 pounds, 10 black drum to a 30-pounder, speckled sea trout and other fish, including ladyfish, jacks and sheepshead, were bailed. The 30-pound drum was huge for the South, where they’re a different species than the large ones that swim New Jersey waters, like Delaware Bay. Most of the trip’s drum weighed 3 to 5 pounds. On Saturday, Joe fished with his family close to port in the Keys. They tugged in specks and a bunch of jacks, and had shots at redfish that didn’t connect, and jumped a 100-pound tarpon. Tarpon fishing was excellent on the trips in January and February last year, usually best at sunset. Another trip fished the Everglades the other day, tackling a bunch of snook, a load of specks, and other fish, including ladyfish and barracudas. Fishing was firing on all cylinders now, Joe said. Weather was windy in past days, and rain fell on Sunday, but temperatures reached 78 to 80 degrees on the outings. One option is to arrive on a Friday, fish all day Saturday and part of Sunday, return on Sunday evening, and be back to work that Monday.  Visit Web Site. Call: 609-827-3442.

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