NEW YORK

Point Lookout

A few cod began to be hooked yesterday on the party boat Captain Al, Capt. Tom Weiss said. The fish bit close to shore, in 50- to 75-foot depths, mostly on clams, but one on a jig. Herring and a few mackerel have been schooling the water, and those fish, forage for cod, can trigger cod to swipe a jig. Fifty feet of water is usually where cod first appear for the boat’s trips each winter. As the water cools, the cod will school deeper and farther from shore. The ocean was 43 to 46 degrees, depending on location. Cod usually begin to be caught on the boat when the water is 42 to 44 degrees and colder. The boat is this site’s nearest to New Jersey that sails for cod daily in winter. The catches usually begin toward the end of the year, and the peak of the fishing only lasts so long, so get after them. If cod are in, the trips, sailing 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, target them. Otherwise the trips wreck-fish for cod, pollock, ling and whatever bites. Ling were booted aboard Friday and Saturday from depths 120 and 130 feet. Forecasts looked like today’s trip would be weathered out, but looked good for tomorrow. No trip will fish on New Year’s Day. See More Info. Call: 516-623-2248.

Delaware/Maryland

Rough seas through last week kept most boaters from fishing the ocean, online reports said from Delaware and Maryland. When boaters did reach the water, they reportedly found no striped bass within 3 miles from shore. Striper fishing is closed beyond 3 miles, but stripers schooled beyond 3. One report said the fish swam 7 to 10 miles out. The ocean was in the mid-40 degrees near the coast, and stripers were sometimes boated farther north, off New Jersey, last week. So Delaware and Maryland boaters still hoped stripers would appear in legal waters soon. Boaters, when they got back out in better weather, would see whether the few stripers remained that had been swimming Delaware Bay’s rips near Delaware. No stripers were reported beached from Delaware’s surf. But the surf was often rough for fishing last week, too. Forecasts were better for some of this week.

VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

Some big striped bass or rockfish were boated from the eastern side of Chesapeake Bay, a report said on Virginia Beach Fishing Center’s website. The fish bit drifted or slow-trolled eels, and striper fishing is open in the bay through Saturday, the final day of the month. Afterward, striper fishing becomes closed in the bay but, for anglers from Virginia, open in the ocean beginning Sunday. Ocean striper fishing is closed until then for them. Nothing was heard about fishing the ocean close to shore, and no boats fished there from the marina last week. Some fished farther from shore at Norfolk Canyon, deep-dropping tilefish, sea bass and monster blues. Boaters on the bay also reeled in tautog at wrecks and along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. In Rudee Inlet, boaters picked up puppy drum and speckled sea trout. The drum seemed somewhat more abundant. Many of the specks were throwbacks, but some big were mixed in.  Visit Website.

FLORIDA

Islamorada

A trip on Christmas Eve scored great patch-reef fishing aboard, Captain Easy Charters’ Facebook page said. Mutton snappers and “a nice mix of other stuff,” it said, were cranked in. The patch reefs are small areas of reefs inshore of the main reef that’s several miles from port. Captain Easy was previously reporting good catches of sailfish, king mackerel and blackfin tuna on the page. Those are hooked just offshore of the reef, in deeper water, usually during trolling. The sails, for instance, usually pounce on slow-trolled live bait like ballyhoos. Sailfishing can keep improving in winter, because cold fronts can cause the fish to keep migrating south to the warmth of local waters. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Website.

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