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Offseason Fishing Report 3-11-14


NEW YORK

Point Lookout

The weekly trips fished Friday through Sunday on the party boat Captain Al, Capt. Tom Weiss said. But the angling, for cod and ling, was slow in the 35-degree ocean, colder than before. A few of the fish, not many, were bagged. The boat will be hauled to the ship yard for maintenance this weekend, so the trips won’t sail then. The trips, one per day, will probably resume the following Friday through Sunday, March 21 to 23, sailing at 7 a.m., instead of the previous 6 a.m. Maybe waters will begin to warm. The weekend’s trips fished in 150 to 210 feet, and none of those depths fished better or worse than another. When cod are in, trips go after them. Otherwise, the boat sails for cod and ling. This unusually cold winter slowed cod fishing compared with recent years. Earlier in winter, the boat is this site’s closest to New Jersey that sails for cod daily. Daily trips usually last through January and maybe into February. Afterward, the trips fish Fridays through Sundays, until sailing daily again, when the new fishing season picks up. See More Info. Call: 516-623-2248.

VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

With Rudee Inlet Charters, the weekly party boat trip to Norfolk Canyon was cancelled Saturday, because of weather, Capt. Skip Feller said. Weather ended up calm that day, but was rough in the morning, after a blow Friday night. When the trips sailed this winter, the fishing was good, every time, covered in previous reports. Catches included blueline tilefish, golden tilefish, black belly rosefish, snowy groupers, wreckfish and more. The boat usually fishes shallower at first for the bluelines. If enough bluelines are decked, and they usually are, and weather is fair, the vessel pushes deeper for the rest of the catches. The unique trips sail 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Saturday in winter and early spring. Sometimes, if weather is rough, anglers will be offered to sail on another day, like that Sunday or Monday, if forecasts look better for then. Call: 757-422-5700 or 757-425-3400. Visit Website.

NORTH CAROLINA

Oregon Inlet

Weather kept boats from sailing for bluefin tuna for a week, a report on Oregon Inlet Fishing Center’s website said. But they started fishing from the marina again Sunday, when six motored out.  A 655-pound bluefin was docked, and a 350-pounder was released, on the vessels that day. The trips sometimes caught yellowfin tuna that day, seeing the most yellowfins so far this year. On Monday, nine boats sailed from the marina, and the fishing for bluefins was “off the charts,” the report said. Most of the vessels returned with a bluefin, and all “had multiple releases,” it said. Visit Website.

FLORIDA

Islamorada

Fishing remained good, said Capt. Bruce Andersen from Captain Easy Charters. Catches aboard included big king mackerel and a healthy run of wahoos to 50 pounds. A couple of the ‘hoos were usually landed per trip, and both the kings and the wahoos were trolled along the offshore edge of the reef, several miles from port. Lots of mutton snappers were cranked from along bottom inshore. Farther out, deep-drop bottom-fishing remained good, including for snowy groupers recently. Amberjacks began to appear at the Islamorada Hump for the season. That’s an underwater dome, 11 miles from shore, that rises 290 feet from bottom in 600 feet of waters. This winter’s been mild and warm at Islamorada in the Florida Keys, despite the cold, snowy winter in the Northeast. The weather in the Keys seemed to make fishing productive. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Website.

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