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Offseason Fishing Report 3-6-18

NEW YORK

Point Lookout

The party boat Captain Al’s trips for cod and ling are docked for at least another week because the boat is in the yard for maintenance to ready the vessel for spring. The maintenance includes installing new engines. See More Info. Call: 516-623-2248.

DELAWARE/MARYLAND/VIRGINIA

Coastal fishing was weathered out in the nor’easter Friday and windy weather throughout the weekend. But occasional reports began to roll in about blackfishing from Delaware previously. A charter boat from Indian River, Delaware, ran two trips the previous two weekends, “catching a few,” one online report said. The ocean began to warm, and better blackfishing is expected from Delaware before the state’s blackfish season is closed beginning April 1. Maryland’s blackfishing sounded similar, and Virginia’s fishing for the tautog sounded best among these states. Anglers in Delaware are anticipating the migration of striped bass to shoot into Delaware Bay, headed to Delaware River to spawn. News was scarce in the weekend’s wind. An online report from Delaware last week said nothing was heard about stripers yet from the bay. But Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle in Philadelphia posted news on the shop’s Facebook page yesterday, saying “hearing of some bite” in the bay. Nothing further was written about that. Brinkman’s keeps an eye on the run because customers jump all over the striper fishing when the fish reach the river. The store in recent springtimes has been the best online source about that angling, in reports on its website and posts on the Facebook page.   

NORTH CAROLINA

Oregon Inlet

Tall seas kept the fleet in port since Friday, said Norma York from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. Previously, a few bluefin tuna and good numbers of yellowfin tuna were belted. A report on the marina’s website Wednesday said the boats were “in the meat” that day. On that day, one boat returned with a 597-pound bluefin, and several other boats from the docks either released or bagged bluefins. Multiple boats that day came in with good numbers of yellowfins that averaged 35 to 45 pounds. Anglers hope to get the weather to return to all of this fishing Thursday, but Friday looks more likely. Nobody can know what the fishing will be like after this blow, Norma said. We’ll see, she said. Visit Website.

FLORIDA

Islamorada

Capt. Bruce Andersen from Captain Easy Charters was yet to return a phone call at press time for a fishing report. But yesterday he posted a photo of amberjacks aboard on Instagram and Facebook. That seemed to mean that the a.j.’s began to bite like they do this time of year. Trips clobber the powerful fish including at the Islamorada Hump, an underwater mound that attracts fish 11 miles from shore. The mound rises 290 feet from bottom in 600 feet of water. In last week’s report, Bruce said trips were catching king mackerel and a few sailfish and mahi mahi just offshore of the reef, and plenty of yellowtails at the reef, a few miles from port. He also said tarpon and shark fishing was beginning to turn on at the channels near the bridges. He’s doing that angling with light tackle on a 27-foot Conch center console, named the Easy Does It, an additional boat he recently began to run. Call: 305-360-2120. Visit Website.

Capt. Joe Hughes from Jersey Cape Guide Service, Sea Isle City, N.J., is running traveling charters to the Florida Keys that he offers from Christmas to Easter each year. He took a fun trip to the Keys this weekend with his wife and parents, he said. They banged out lots of snappers, jacks, Spanish mackerel, cero mackerel, hogfish and a big variety of catches. They released a 60-pound tarpon and jumped a baby tarpon. They had a couple of shots at sharks while sight-casting along shallow flats, but windy weather sometimes prevented that angling. Wind ripples water, and that can prevent seeing the fish. This was all on Florida Bay inshore of the Keys. Visit Website. Call: 609-827-3442.

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