DELAWARE

The Bandit, which fishes from Belmar, New Jersey, from spring through fall, is now sailing for blackfish from Delaware for the winter, allowing anglers to catch a limit of 10 of the tog while Jersey’s bag limit is reduced to 4 fish this season. The boat this past week targeted the tog on individual-reservation trips from Friday through Sunday, Jerry the mate said in an e-mail. Strong winds created tough fishing Friday, and the high hook bagged six keepers. But Saturday’s fishing improved a lot in better weather, and many anglers limited out on the fish, and others reeled in 4 to 6 keepers, and everyone went home with fillets. A lack of wind took place Sunday, but a catch was still put together, and one father and son combined for 17 keepers, and the son limited out and nailed the pool winner. Another angler that day bagged six keepers including a 9-pounder. The Bandit is sailing on open-boat trips for blackfish every Friday through Sunday, and call to reserve. Spots are open this coming Friday, but the boat is full this Saturday and Sunday. Charters are also available Mondays through Thursdays. Call: 732-692-9521. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Oregon Inlet

Charters boats got into good trolling for striped bass this week, and most of the fish schooled far north, so the trips were usually full-day ones, said Jenny Lippincott from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. The striper run this season’s been very late, because of the warm weather, but the linesiders have moved a little closer now, and the ones that were caught were decent-sized, including 45-pounders, and anglers hoped that this week’s cold front would push the fish south. On offshore trips yellowfin tuna fishing was on and off, and offshore bottom fishing was producing lots of tilefish and sea bass. Visit Web Site.

Hatteras

Surf casting was more like spring fishing, with flounder, blowtoads and lots of dog sharks biting, and puppy drum and sea mullet were also beached, said Dave Hissey from The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair Marina. Striped bass have probably already come and gone for the season, because they appeared earlier, but once they’re gone, they usually don’t return, and now they’re farther north. The water’s unusually warm and 65 or 66 degrees. The puppy drum are more often caught in spring and fall, but they’re always around to some extent. Winter’s not the most popular time for offshore charters, but that’s not to say no fish are there. Offshore charters that are sailing are catching plenty of yellowfin tuna, good numbers of king mackerel and a few wahoo. A charter that sailed in the past days battled five or six yellowfin tuna and a wahoo.  Oystering and clamming are both good. Visit Web Site.

Atlantic Beach

Bottom fishing was great for sea bass, red snappers, groupers and a couple of lobsters on the party boat Captain Stacy this past weekend, said Capt. Maurice Davis from the Captain Stacy Fishing Center. The boat is sailing on weekends, and other boats trolled offshore and picked up decent catches of wahoo and blackfin tuna, and king mackerel fishing was very good.  The boats also landed a handful of bluefin tuna, and giant bluefin tuna fishing so far this winter has been good on some days and slow on others, and the season is open through the end of the month. Visit Web Site.

LOUISIANA

Venice

Fishing at the Midnight Lump finally went off on Saturday! the fishing report on Paradise Outfitters’ web site said. Crews on two boats made the 30-mile ride out to the lump, an underwater mound that rises 200 feet from the bottom in the Gulf of Mexico and holds triple-digit yellowfin tuna, loads of wahoo and other big game that chase bait attracted by upwellings there in the winter. One of the crews nailed four yellowfins from 40 to 100 pounds, five blackfin tuna and a 55-pound wahoo, and the other gang battled six yellowfins over 100 pounds each and a 70-pound wahoo. Three boats took the trip the next day, and the anglers on one stuck 11 yellowfins, including big boys, 150-pounders that swam through the chum slick, and another came back with 10 of the Allisons. The other group also slammed the fish, fighting eight yellowfins, two blackfins and a 50-pound wahoo, and all came home early. Seven boats were on the lump that day, and all loaded up on the fish.  A charter yesterday wanted to focus on wahoo, and the fish were picked here and there, but when all was said and done, eight wahoo, three yellowfins and one blackfin were boated. Guess that’s called a “pick” in the Sportsman’s Paradise! Paradise Outfitters fishes offshore for big game and also for rig and wreck fish, such as snappers, cobia, grouper and amberjacks. Call: 985-845-8006. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Clearwater/Tampa/Tarpon Springs

Fishing was anything but normal so far this season, because of the warm weather, but trips this past week produced inshore slams of redfish, speckled sea trout and snook, and small tarpon could be hooked up the Anclote River, Capt. Rich Knox from Absolute Flats Fishing said in an e-mail. Redfish were the most numerous, and plenty of them from 18 inches to 30 inches or 2 pounds to 10 or 12 pounds were tailing in schools in the shallows along the sand and shell points of the barrier islands. Nothing beats a live shrimp to catch the reds, but 7-inch jerk baits and 3-inch Berkeley grass shrimp imitations also work well. Good numbers of trout were also found, but water temps that fluctuated daily kept them from schooling as much as usual. Still, trout from 2 ½ pounds to 5 pounds, and sometimes lunkers to 8 pounds, blasted livelined pilchards early in the mornings, and articifials also drew strikes. Snook swam the river mouths and along the docks in deep water in the rivers, and pilchards or Berkeley shrimp got them to bite. The tarpon in the Anclote grabbed live shrimp, pinfish, pilchards or well-placed lures like 3-inch, sub-surface Yozuri plugs or a jig. For more info about this excellent light-tackle fishing on 8- to 10-pound spinning gear, call 727-376-8809 or 800-890-9373 or e-mail Capt. Rich.

Jupiter

Sailfishing was improving and was good, and a brief cold front and northerly winds last week helped, though afterward easterly winds kicked right back in, said Capt. Tony Matarese of Showtime Sportfishing Charters. The main body of sails still seemed to be to the north and not to have migrated locally yet, so the best action might last another month or more. A new sailfishing tournament, the Grand Slam Tournament from Jupiter Inlet and Palm Beach Inlet, was a success last week, and Tony thought that 211 sails were landed on the 50 boats that competed.  He targets the sails with live bait or trolled ballyhoos, and he hoped that the cold front that was coming this week would trigger the sailfishing to turn on. Mahi mahi fishing was hit or miss, and if charters lucked into a pod, they’d land quite a few. Fishing for wahoo was very good on live bait or on the troll, and plenty of Spanish mackerel swam along the beaches to the north off Stuart. Showtime usually does no bottom fishing, but bottom fishing was giving up mostly yellowtail snappers and some mutton snappers. Call: 561-743-6942. Visit Web Site.

Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Boca Raton

Frequently changing weather, strong winds, storms and the warm winter kept fishing quieter than usual, and sailfish and king mackerel seemed to be mostly 50 or 60 miles north, said Capt. Ron Mallet from the Just Add Water. But the fish should push south to local waters eventually, and the migration is probably running late. The water was 78 degrees, the warmest Ron could remember at this time of year. A trip yesterday fished in rain and somewhat of a chop and caught mostly false albacores before turning back to the dock early. Charters were sailing again today and tomorrow and would see what turned up. Mahi mahi were sometimes boated early last week, but rough weather kept small boats from fishing, and only large vessels were able to sail. Shallow water close to shore held a decent showing of Spanish mackerel that were landed in chum slicks on live shrimp, bucktails or trolled or cast spoons or anything that moved fast. When the weather keeps charters from fishing the ocean, sometimes Ron fishes the harbor and canals with his clients, and barracudas and jacks can always be fought there. The best tarpon fishing takes place during the spring and fall mullet runs, but resident tarpon, which are big ones, are always around in the back waters, and dead, chunked bait fished on the bottom will catch the monsters. Call: 954-423-8700. Visit Web Site.

Islamorada

Sailfishing off the Keys was fair, and it’s difficult to say why, but the winter is warmer than usual, said Capt. Bruce Anderson of Captain Easy Charters. A charter with Ed and Anna from Tennessee on Thursday released three sails and bagged a dozen mahi mahi to 15 pounds, a pair of 25-pound blackfin tuna and a few king mackerel.  Those blackfins were hooked while the couple was sailfishing at the reef a few miles from shore, and normally blackfins are landed farther off at the Hump a dozen miles from land. Blackfin fishing at the Hump is yet to be good but should improve. The best mahi fishing turns on from April to July, so now is the off season, but the dolphin are not unusual to catch while sailfishing. Bottom fishing at the reef was excellent for yellowtail snappers, mangrove snappers, groupers and such fish. Rob D’Amico and son Zach sailed on a half-day charter Friday and scored a bunch of yellowtails, some cero mackerel and one sailfish. A charter with Billy Fernandez and gang from Naples, Florida, on Saturday reeled in 30 nice yellowtails, some mangrove snappers to 5 pounds, a limit of king mackerel to 20 pounds and a dozen cero mackerel. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.

Both warm weather and water temps probably accounted for slow sailfishing during the past week, but a few were hooked each day, and charters were usually also bottom fishing each trip, and bottom fishing was good, said an e-mail from Over Under Adventures, which fishes the Keys in conjunction with Pretty Work Charters. Most sails were found tight to the reef in 40 to 70 feet, and charters caught them while cruising those waters, looking for showering bait and pitching baits to the fish. Ballyhoos, cigar minnows, speedos and such baits were plentiful. Bottom fishing was good on most days for yellowtail snappers, some mutton snappers and a grouper or two, and limits of mackerel were common. The crew was looking for the next cold front to turn on the sailfishing, and Pretty Work will remain in the Keys for the winter, but Over Under’s 55-foot vessel the Low Profile, currently fishing from Islamorada, will leave for its winter home in the Bahamas in February to charter through spring. Afterward the Low Profile returns to its summer port in Avalon, New Jersey, to fish for big game at the canyons. Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site.

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