DELAWARE

Indian River

Tog fishing’s been tough on the Bandit, because of one storm after another, Capt. Scotty said. The bottom gets stirred up, and the fish don’t want to feed, and the water takes three or four days to recover, depending on the size of the storm. But the crew feels that the outlook is promising, because more fish are showing up at new places they’ve searched. No reports were posted from the boat in the past weeks, apparently because Fishing Reports Now’s e-mail was blocking the Bandit’s e-mailed reports. But an attempt was made to solve the problem, and the crew will try to send the past e-mails, and if they come through, look for summaries of those trips to be posted in next week’s report or afterward. The Bandit, fishing from Belmar, N.J. from spring through fall, is fishing for tog from Delaware for the second winter in a row. Those waters reportedly receive less pressure than in Jersey, and the result can be better togging than typical in the Garden State. Delaware’s bag limit is currently also 10 fish until April, while Jersey’s is four. The water can also be warmer, keeping the fish biting later in winter. From Fridays through Sundays the boat accepts individual reservations, usually from two or more groups of anglers, but a single person can also book a spot. However, no walk-ons are accepted. Those trips are limited to 25 passengers, and the boat has been full, so making reservations ahead of time is a good idea. From Mondays through Thursdays the boat accepts charters from single groups.  A discount is available at a local hotel for patrons from the boat. Call: 732-692-9521. Visit Web Site.

VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

Striped bass kept biting along the ocean beach front for boaters from Virginia Beach Fishing Center, John Crowley said. The charter boats this morning were all returning with limits, and the marina held a striper tournament over the weekend, and participants all pretty much limited out. The fish were running 25 to 55 pounds, and all were 25 pounds or larger, and the boaters found them within 4 miles north or south of the inlet and within 3 miles from shore. The marina’s party boats were weathered out this weekend but are bottom fishing every Saturday, and they came back the weekend before with good catches of sea bass. Virginia Beach Fishing Center features a marina, a tackle shop, charter boats and party boats and is located near the beach, boardwalk, hotels, ocean and Chesapeake Bay, near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Oregon Inlet

Striped bass had somewhat turned on for a moment but then slowed down, and boaters marked them in the ocean, but the fish refused to bite, said Jenny Lippincott from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. So anglers were waiting for the run of the rockfish to kick in. Nothing was doing offshore either, and the weather was calm enough for offshore trips at times, but catches were scarce. Visit Web Site.

Hatteras

A few speckled trout, but not many, were pulled from the surf, but the ones that did hit were 3 or 4 pounds, good-sized, said Dave Hissey from The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair Marina. Artificials including MirrOlures and Gulps got the strikes. Once in a while puppy drum also smacked the artificials while anglers tried for the specks. “All the dogfish in the world” also filled the 62-degree surf, Dave said, and no word was heard about any stripers beached. Offshore boaters could catch all the king mackerel they wanted if they put the boat in the water. Visit Web Site.

Atlantic Beach

Giant bluefin tuna were caught “pretty heavy” from Captain Stacy Fishing Center, Loretta Davis said. A few king mackerel also showed up. Bottom fishers filled buckets with red snappers, groupers and triggerfish. The party boat Captain Stacy was in dry dock to get repowered with new engines and should resume bottom fishing sometime in February. Boaters fishing the sound were picking up speckled trout. Visit Web Site.

LOUISIANA

Venice

Trips with Paradise Outfitters during the past few days sounded like a mix of good trips and slower ones in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the reports on its web site. The first charter of the year sailed Wednesday, and no wahoos could be found after looking all over, so the anglers switched to working butterfly jigs and reeled up two gag groupers, two scamps, eight almaco jacks and three amberjacks. Two charters left port Thursday, and one reeled in 11 wahoos to 50 pounds, mostly smaller ones 20 to 30 pounds, and a yellowfin tuna. The other drilled nine wahoos, including an 89.9-pound whopper, six jacks and a small yellowfin. So both trips were good. On Friday in rough seas one boat searched for wahoos but struck out, which didn’t figure, considering the trips that mugged them the day before. Another boat that day had two bites all day. The anglers started reeling in one of the fish, a yellowfin tuna, until two mako sharks jumped on it. But they managed to hook and land one of the makos, a 100-pounder, a “good eater” that was kept, the report said. The shark blew out of the water and put on a good aerial display until it was landed. Another boat that day saved the trip with a catch of bottom fish, and yet another was yet to return when the report was posted. On Saturday one charter found that fishing turned on at the Midnight Lump, and came back with three yellowfin tuna, a limit of amberjacks and two wahoos. Another bagged a yellowfin and a beeliner, and another fought a 70-pound wahoo and a small yellowfin to the boat, and neither of those boats fished the Lump. Paradise fishes offshore in the Gulf for big game and also targets the Gulf’s rigs and wrecks for snappers, cobia, groupers, amberjacks and such. Call: 985-845-8006. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Clearwater/Tampa/Tarpon Springs

Wintertime trout fishing was in full swing, said Capt. Rich Knox from Absolute Flats Fishing in an e-mail. Light, 8-pound spinning tackle was catching loads of the speckled sea trout from 2 to 8 pounds around the barrier islands and on the flats along the mainland shoreline on pinfish, shrimp, jerk baits and shrimp imitations on jigs. Many of the same flats were also giving up redfish. Anglers sight-fished for the reds, looking for a big push of nervous water on the high tides and beginning of outgoing tides at the potholes in the sand near points or along the mangrove shorelines. Tarpon and snook could also be fought both in the deep-water canals with dark bottoms and springs or well up the rivers in the deeper bends at the undercut banks with rocks, limestone and/or mangroves. Plugs, jigs, pinfish and shrimp did the trick. Springtime trips, including for giant tarpon, are being booked, and reserve now to ensure your dates and get the best rates. Call 727-376-8809 or 800-890-9373 or Visit Web Site.

Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Boca Raton

Sailfish and bonito were boated with charters since the weekend, Capt. Ron Mallet from the Just Add Water said. On Saturday part of the catch on a charter included a sailfish that a 9-year-old boy landed, and he also had fun fighting barracuda in the back waters. On Monday a charter scored a double-header of big bonito, and a 100- or 115-pound hammerhead was also battled on light tackle and landed after 40 minutes. A photo was taken of the fish, and then it was released. But the shark had dragged the boat into blue water, and the anglers got into a school of mahi mahi there. A handful of schoolie mahi from 3 to 5 pounds were hooked, and then a big, 31-pound bull was taken. A weather front over the weekend triggered some good fishing, causing fish to migrate from up north. The water was warm and 74 degrees, but that’s been the case the past 4 or 5 years, so maybe that’s the new normal. The sailfish in these waters are caught in 120 feet, and the bonito are found in 160 feet, both within 1 to 1 ½ miles from shore. Live pilchards were the bait for all the fish. Charters did little fishing in the harbor and back waters in the past days, except the barracuda fishing, because the weather was calm enough to fish the ocean. But fishing in the back is always an option, especially when the weather kicks up or if charters simply prefer the calmer, protected waters, and fishing for jack crevalles and barracudas is fairly dependable in those areas. Call: 954-423-8700. Visit Web Site.

Islamorada

King mackerel fishing was very good for Captain Easy Charters, and the bite was “wide open” a couple of days, Capt. Bruce Anderson said. A charter on Friday limited out on a dozen 8- to 15-pound kings in 20 minutes and released a dozen smaller ones, for example. Cigar minnows on 12- to 20-pound tackle grabbed the fish in 120 feet, about 4 miles from shore, with the fish pretty much hitting as soon as the baits hit the water. Bottom fishing for snappers and groupers was also good at the wrecks in 100 to 250 feet from 4 to 7 miles offshore. Local anglers hooked a few sailfish, but sailfishing definitely wasn’t red hot. Last year sailfishing turned on early in the season, and this year Bruce is hoping for a late bite. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.

Anglers on the Pretty Work caught a little of everything, Capt. John Oughton from Over Under Adventures said. Charters during the past couple of days limited out on yellowtail snappers, caught an occasional mutton snapper and pulled up a few red and black groupers 4 to 5 miles from shore. One group wanted to target amberjacks and boated a bunch in 400 feet, 9 miles from land.  Most sailfish were farther north and yet to migrate to the Keys, and few king mackerel were showing up on trips so far. Over Under’s boat That’s Right was also fishing from Key West on overnight trips to the Dry Tortugas, a 60- or 70-mile sail. A trip this past week fished there for very productive catches, limiting out on yellowtail snappers, including big ones to 4 and 5 pounds, and hauled aboard a few muttons, nice catches of red groupers, a couple of black groupers and some gag groupers. Tortugas trips are available for two, three or four nights or whatever the charter prefers, and the anglers sleep overnight on the boat. That’s Right is licensed for up to 15 passengers. Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site. 

Key West

Fishing was very good at the Dry Tortugas with Yankee Capts for catches of yellowtail snappers, mutton snappers, and red and black groupers, Capt. Greg Mercurio said. Blackfin tuna and quite a few king mackerel were also sometimes boated. The anglers usually flat-line ballyhoos to hook the tuna and kings, and of course they bottom fish for the other species. Yankee Capts fishes the Dry Tortugas on two-, three- and four-day trips from Key West on a 90-foot party boat that carries up to 48 passengers. Patrons live and fish on the boat, leaving Key West at 10 p.m. and sailing 57 miles to the fishing grounds—the edges of reefs and patches of hard bottom in the sand—by 3 a.m. Yankee Capts fishes on the boat in the Dry Tortugas from fall to spring and has been doing this fishing 30 years. From Memorial Day to Labor Day the boat fishes for cod from Gloucester, Massachusetts, and in September and October it targets tuna from New Bedford before returning to the Keys. Lots of info about the trips and boat is included on the vessel’s web site. Call: 888-88CAPTS or 305-923-2926. Visit Web Site.

Bahamas

Over Under Adventures--fishing from Avalon, N.J., and Ocean City, Md., in summer and fall and from Morehead City, N.C. in early winter--is gearing up to begin fishing at its mid-winter through spring home in the Bahamas, an e-mail from Over Under said. Big wahoos are the main catch in February and March, and the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas is one of the top destinations in the world for large ‘hoos. Afterward big mahi mahi, yellowfin tuna, wahoo and billfish are targeted, and the best bet for blue marlin is May to July. A rare opportunity is available to book a couple of single spots on Over Under’s Bahamas fishing packages. The spots are open March 13 to 17 and include a private, chartered flight to San Salvador from Fort Lauderdale, double occupancy at Riding Rock Resort and Marina, meals and fishing, and gratuities and beverages are extra. A Club Med on the island is also an option. Over Under’s fishing packages in the Bahamas will be available February 1 to July 4, and the fishing will take place on the Low Profile, a 55-foot Carolina Sportfish.  Visit Over Under’s web site for more info about the packages. Also on the site, videos of ESPN2 episodes featuring George Poveromo fishing with Over Under in the Bahamas can be viewed, and several articles from magazines, including Saltwater Sportsman, Florida Sportsman, Marlin Magazine and the Big Game Fishing Journal, about the fishing can be read. Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site. 

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