DELAWARE

Indian River

Ocean temps finally rebounded to 43 degrees, and tog started cooperating again for patrons on the Bandit, Jerry the mate said in an e-mail. On Saturday the high hook bagged nine keepers, and one group boated about 25 keepers, including a bunch from 8 to 12 pounds. On Sunday customers started picking a few fish, but then strong northeast winds picked up and put the kibosh on things. Still, a few anglers managed two or three keepers apiece, and one nailed a 16-pound 6-ounce hog that was the highlight of the weekend and won the pool. The Bandit, sailing from Belmar, N.J., from spring through fall, has been tog fishing from Delaware since winter, allowing anglers to bag a limit of eight while Jersey’s limit is reduced. The boat’s final Delaware trips will sail through this weekend before the vessel returns to Jersey. Open-boat tog trips will run Friday through Sunday, and the trips will take place longer than usual Saturday and Sunday at no extra charge. Call to reserve, and charters are also available the rest of this week.  Call: 732-692-9521. Visit Web Site.

VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

Striped bass were gone for the season, and bluefish were starting to school 12 miles offshore, but the bigger news was that loads of speckled sea trout to 6 pounds were biting in the inlet, said Mary from Virginia Beach Fishing Center. Boaters were filling the inlet and hooking good-sized specks, like ones 4 pounds and larger, on every other cast on small grub tails in chartreuse or other colors on 3/8-ounce jigheads in red. Puppy drum were also hitting at the inlet on frozen silversides or other oily baits like mackerel. Flounder will be up to bat next and should arrive any time within the next 30 days. The blues, including big ones 12 pounds or larger, that were being found offshore were just starting to arrive and normally begin to school in larger numbers around April 1. On the marina’s party boats tog fishing improved, and some bruisers, including citation fish 9 pounds or larger, were bagged, and an 11-pound 13-ounce tog was the largest over the weekend. One group of three or four anglers bagged 16 of the slipperies on a head boat. Sea bass fishing was very good on the party boats offshore, and most patrons were limiting out or coming close to limiting, and eight citation sea bass 5 pounds or larger were landed during the weekend on the boats. The head boats had been sailing only on Saturdays, but they will now also run Sundays starting this weekend. They’ll fish for both sea bass and tog on Saturdays and only for tog on Sundays. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Oregon Inlet

Tuna fishing was red hot for 40- to 60-pound yellowfins only 25 miles offshore, and 80- to 100-pound bluefins were mixed in, and the Justified, Over Under Adventures’ boat in North Carolina, will start fishing for them this coming week, an e-mail from Over Under said. The mornings were best, allowing anglers to return to the dock by noon during most trips, and although windy weather kept boats from fishing sometimes, anglers limited out on the yellowfins when they could sail. Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site.

Plenty of medium-sized yellowfin tuna were taken on the boats from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center in the Gulf Stream 30 to 35 miles offshore, Jenny Lippincott said.  They also came across a few bluefin tuna, including some keepers, and the bluefin limit was adjusted Saturday to allow anglers to keep one from 27 to less than 47 inches off North Carolina through April 15. That’s in addition to two bluefins from 47 to less than 73 inches that could already be kept along the entire East Coast through May 31 and also one trophy bluefin 73 inches or larger that could already be kept per year. On Saturday the boaters also battled nice-sized wahoos. Not much was happening inshore, but tilefish and sea bass could be reeled in during all-day trips. Puppy drum were sometimes being caught farther south along the coast, and anglers were hoping they’d also show up locally as the season progresses. Visit Web Site.

Hatteras

Fishing was starting to open up, and it should, because April 1 is usually about the start of spring fishing and the end of the winter lull, said Steve Robinson from The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair Marina. Offshore boats started running more often this past week, and the numbers of surf anglers started increasing. The offshore boaters got into blackfin tuna, yellowfin tuna, bluefin tuna, wahoo and false albacore, a good mixed bag, and some big mako sharks started haunting the waters the past couple of days. Dolphin should begin to turn on around April 1. Surf fishers were beaching a pretty good pick of drum, and many of the bigger drum were along the south beach at Ocracoke, and more puppies were holding in the suds around Hatteras. Therefore more keeper drum were toward Hatteras, because only smaller ones or 24- to 27-inchers are legal. Blowtoads, dog sharks and sea mullet also swam the surf. Surf fishing should continue to improve, including drum fishing, and so far it was a good start to the season, and anglers hoped it was promising. Visit Web Site.

LOUISIANA

Venice

Too many wahoos to count were landed with Paradise Outfitters from Thursday to Saturday, the fishing report on its web site said. Besides wahoos, two 50-pound king mackerels and a limit of amberjacks were caught on a couple of charters Monday. Yellowfin tunas and blackfin tunas were also sometimes picked up during the past week, such as when a charter scored two yellowfins and three blackfins Monday, when the Midnight Lump in the Gulf of Mexico was sprouting some life again. Two sailfish even showed up on a trip, and one took a wahoo bait for a moment but got off, and the other flashed on a bait but never took. The crew was competing in an offshore tournament in Florida this week, so a report from Louisiana might be unavailable next week. Paradise Outfitters fishes for big game in the Gulf of Mexico and also targets the Gulf’s rigs and wrecks for snappers, cobias, groupers and amberjacks. Call: 985-845-8006. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Jupiter

Strong easterly winds forced towering seas to build on the ocean, making boating difficult, but also pushing fish toward the coast and making fishing unbelievably good, said Capt. Tony Matarese of Showtime Sportfishing Charters. Tons of mahi mahi bit whenever anglers could brave the seas, and sailfish were also tearing up baits. The mahi ranged from 5 pounds to big bulls, such as a 30- or 35-pounder that spit the hook on a trip with Showtime yesterday. The seas forced Showtime’s trips to be cancelled most of last week, but the boat was able to fish the past couple of days, and while Tony trolled ballyhoos Monday for mahi, one sailfish grabbed a bait but threw the hook, and another sail also came into the spread. The water was blue as could be and 72 degrees, a little cool, and seas were 4 feet inshore and were probably 6 to 8 feet offshore. The bigger mahi were farther from land, and the smaller ones were closer, in shallower water. Tony said he never saw so many flying fish in the area, and that’s what was keeping the gamefish around. The season is early for so many of the dolphin to be caught, and the season is very late for sailfish to still be around. Tony guessed that king mackerel were starting to show up, but nobody was really targeting them, because the mahi fishing was so phenomenal. Call: 561-743-6942. Visit Web Site.

Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Boca Raton

Honking east and northeast winds pushed huge seas into the coast, but when boaters could bear the conditions, they caught fish, because the winds and seas were forcing dolphin and sailfish toward the area, said  Capt. Ron Mallet from the Just Add Water. No great numbers were hooked, but the fishing was decent, and the mahi were especially close to shore, only a mile or two off land. Drifting live pilchards was grabbing mostly school dolphin, but Ron tackled an 18-pounder one day and a 20-pounder the next. So big ones were mixed in, and king mackerel from 5 to 20 pounds were also occasionally caught. He also swims pilchards to catch the sails, sending the bait fish out at a variety of depths on kites, flat lines and deep lines, until the right depth is found. The sails are usually closer to the top, but for example the Miami Herald featured an article on fishing with Ron recently, and a sailfish hit a deep line that day, so it’s a good idea to keep a line deep. Dolphin fishing and sailfishing will peak in April and May and maybe even into the beginning of June, when the dolphin move offshore, and the sails migrate north. The water was warm and 77 degrees and was warm all season. The sails migrate south through local waters toward the beginning of winter and then turn around and start moving north in spring. King mackerel usually stick around all year, and false albacore also stay throughout the year and can even become a nuisance in summer. The rough seas kept Ron fishing in the harbor a lot lately, and one of the Just Add Water’s advantages is that it can fish the back waters when the ocean is too big. Fishing for barracudas and jack crevalles gives up good action in the harbor on light tackle, and tides this week were in a pattern of low water, not the best conditions, but a charter fished the harbor yesterday and battled a mess of barracudas, and two fairly large jacks broke off the lines on the light tackle.  Call: 954-423-8700. Visit Web Site.

Islamorada

Strong winds dominated most of the week and made fishing difficult on the Pretty Work, the boat that fishes the Florida Keys for Over Under Adventures, an e-mail from Over Under said. So reef fishing was the best option, and yellowtail snappers gave up a good bite there. Some keeper groupers and mutton snappers were also able to be trolled up along the coral patches just inshore of the reef. Dolphin seemed to be starting to appear offshore when boats could sail for them beyond the reef. Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site. 

Bahamas

Anglers fishing with the Bahamas contingent of Over Under Adventures were tangling with lots of dolphin, and the peak of wahoo fishing seemed to be tapering off, but the numbers of 40- and 65-pound yellowfin tuna, decent-sized yellowfins, were increasing and taking up the slack, an e-mail from Over Under said. Most wahoos were 40 to 50 pounds, smaller than the bigger ones that the Bahamas is known for in winter, and the ‘hoos were usually biting a couple of times per trip. But the dolphins, yellowfins and wahoos were creating a great mixed catch for anglers. Over Under fishes from the Bahamas until returning to Avalon, N.J., in summer to hunt big game at the offshore canyons. Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site.

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