NEW YORK

Point Lookout

Cod fishing sailed Thursday, before the blizzard, on the party boat Captain Al, Capt. Tom Weiss said. The small crowd, eight anglers, picked the fish, bagging two dozen keepers 5 to 10 pounds. Mackerel were also landed, and no herring were seen, though herring were seen during previous trips. Much fewer dogfish were a nuisance than before -- they “backed off big time,” he said. The trip fished at similar depths as previously, about 50 to 75 feet, relatively shallow. Cod usually swim deeper as water cools, and Tom didn’t remember the water temperature from the trip. None of the daily trips fished since, and weather was rough for days afterward, including the blizzard Saturday that dumped 2 feet of snow locally. A trip probably had the weather to sail Monday, but too few anglers showed up to go, though twice as many telephoned to ask if fishing was possible. Tom expected the trips to resume today, and a bunch of anglers telephoned and were expected to climb aboard. The boat is this site’s nearest to New Jersey that fishes for cod daily each winter, and the trips are running 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. See More Info. Call: 516-623-2248.

DELAWARE/MARYLAND

Reports were scarce from Delaware and Maryland, because of weather. Rough weather was relentless, one online report said. But that report said an enormous flock of gannets bombed the ocean off the Delaware and Maryland border last Tuesday, saying that was good news. That meant striped bass still seemed to be migrating south along the coast. The birds worked the water along the 3-mile line from shore, and striper fishing is closed beyond 3 miles. The ocean then was above 40 degrees, it said. But the temperature might’ve been dropping quickly in last week’s cold. 

VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

No snow fell at Virginia Beach in the storm that was a blizzard farther north Saturday, said Capt. Skip Feller from Rudee Inlet Charters. But the weather was a severe rainstorm locally and canceled the weekly party boat trip to Norfolk Canyon that day on the company’s vessel the Rudee Angler. Wind gusted to 58 m.p.h. at nearby Cape Henry that day. A charter was booked for Monday that probably had the weather to sail. But the anglers were from farther north and couldn’t travel to the boat because of the snow. The weekly party boat trip, sailing 3 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Saturday each winter, is a unique outing that cranks in catches that can include blueline tilefish, golden tiles, black belly rosefish, wreckfish, barrelfish and more from Norfolk Canyon, several hours from port. Call: 757-422-5700 or 757-425-3400. Visit Website.

Wind chill near the teens didn’t make for the best fishing conditions last week, a report said on Virginia Beach Fishing Center’s website. Several boats attempted to locate striped bass, trolling up and down the ocean coast. But they “had no luck with landing a legal fish,” it said. Bluefin tuna were yet to show up that sometimes swim locally in winter. Farther from shore, deep-drop fishing’s been pumping in great catches incuding blueline tilefish, black belly rosefish, wreckfish, barrelfish and groupers. Visit Website.

NORTH CAROLINA

Hatteras

This was prime time to jig blackfin tuna off Hatteras, a report said on the website from The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair Marina. One trip from the docks landed 27 blackfins and one yellowfin tuna last week. The previous trip on the boat, two days before, fought lots of false albacore and a good number of king mackerel. The blackfin jigging is “hands on” fishing more than trolling is. On a charter, the angler drops a 7- or 9-ounce jig into the water, after a brief lesson on the retrieve and action the fish like. A key to the fishing is to find the tuna with no sharks around, because anglers will never reel in a hooked blackfin if sharks are stalking. A shark will bite off part of the tuna or the entire fish. Captains know plenty of places to find the tuna. So if sharks are a nuisance, the trip moves to another place. Visit Website.

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