DELAWARE

Indian River

A tog trip made it out Friday on the Bandit between the windy weather, and catches were very good, and the water bumped up to 45.5 degrees, a degree-and-a-half higher than before, Capt. Scotty said. Bob Murphy from Lewes, Del., won the pool with a 9-plus-pounder and limited out, and others also limited out. The boat fished in 75 to 80 feet. The weekend was a washout from the storm followed by ripping winds, and no trips sailed. The Bandit will target the blackfish off Delaware through the first weekend of April before heading back to its home port in Belmar, N.J., to fish from spring through fall. The boat’s been fishing for tog from Delaware for the second winter in a row. Delaware’s waters are less pressured and somewhat warmer than Jersey’s, keeping the fish biting later in winter and earlier in spring, and Delaware’s bag limit is 10 fish through March, compared with four in Jersey. Individual-reservation trips for the slipperies are leaving the dock every Friday through Sunday, usually with two or more groups, but single reservations are also available. No walk-ons are accepted. Charters are fishing for the tog the rest of the week. Anglers from the boat are offered a discount at a local hotel. Looks like water temps and the fishing might be on the upswing after the coldest months, and get down there before it’s too late, or otherwise wait until next year. The crew is also looking ahead to the boat’s season in Jersey and is accepting bookings for Garden State charters. The boat will first fish for winter flounder in the Manasquan River in April and then will move to Belmar in May to run for bottom fish, blues and stripers in the ocean. Call: 732-692-9521. Visit Web Site.

VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

Striped bass fishing turned a little slow for boaters in the nearby ocean, said John Crowley from Virginia Beach Fishing Center. A few of the linesiders were hooked yesterday, and winds were too strong to fish Sunday. Previously the bite was incredible this winter, and lots of big bass from 30 to 50 pounds were schooling for weeks. Maybe the slow down meant the fish were finally heading north toward Jersey for spring? Wait and see. Anglers fishing the inlet sometimes boated speckled seatrout and puppy drum. Head boats at the marina were also weathered out from sea bass trips this weekend. But the party boats are running for the bottom fish Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays and Tuesdays, fishing the grounds closer to shore than earlier this winter, because of warming water. Virginia Beach Fishing Center includes a fleet of charter boats, party boats, private boat slips, boat launching and a tackle shop and is located near the beach, boardwalk and motels, and is also located near the Chesapeake Bay and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Hatteras

Pamlico Sound anglers were mugging puppy drum whenever the water reached 50 degrees, said Steve Hissey from The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair Marina. Probably six to eight schools of 1,000 drum apiece swam the sound, and Steve himself hooked 25 of the fish on a trip last week, keeping his limit of one slot fish and releasing the rest. And all the fish were the slot size from 18 to 27 inches. Artificials such as Gulp grubs were attracting the bites, and the fish were also starting to swallow down cut baits, but casting the artificials on light tackle was fun. A few puppies and larger drum to 40 inches were also pulled from the surf on the south side of Ocracoke when the water warmed. Otherwise the local suds were giving up mostly dog sharks and skates, though small, 1-pound or ¾-pound blues sometimes stormed the wash.  Weather fronts from the southwest or Georgia and Texas were often making offshore fishing impossible. Winds gusted to 60 m.p.h. over the weekend, but when winds and seas were calm, blue-water boaters were claiming blackfin tuna and small to medium-sized schoolie bluefins. Giant bluefin tuna were virtually absent this winter. Scattered yellowfin tuna were sometimes found, but yellowfin fishing kicks in a little later this season. Visit Web Site.

LOUISIANA

Venice

Offshore fishing was up and down in the Gulf of Mexico last week, said Capt. Damon McKnight from Super Strike Charters in an e-mail, but he reported plenty of catches. On Wednesday he ran a trip with the John Payne crew, starting in choppy, 4-foot seas and strong winds that quickly settled down. At first the anglers went 0 for 3 on wahoos, and then the crew figured out that the eyes of the Yozuri Hydro-Magnum lures were cutting through the wire leaders, and needed split rings. Next the charter decided to try for amberjacks, easily bagging a two-person limit and drilling a cobia to boot. Then they were off to the tuna grounds. A school of 30- to 40-pound yellowfins came up immediately, and two of the tuna were landed, and then two more were fought aboard, until the fish turned off.  The anglers chose to wrap up the day by looking for wahoos one more time, but none of the fish appeared. On another trip the Stewart gang fished with Capt. Bob Kenney, going 1 for 5 on wahoos, boating a 61-pounder, and putting the brakes on a couple of amberjacks and some cobia. On Thursday the Preston charter joined Capt. Bob in heavy seas, went 3 for 4 on wahoos and also pinned down several blackfin tuna. Rough weather kept charters from sailing the next days. Fishing’s spring pattern in the Gulf seemed to be coming early. “I guess only time will tell …” Damon said. Super Strike fishes the Gulf for big game and rig, wreck and reef fish. Duck hunting is also offered in this world-class flyway, one of the last of its quality, along the marshes where the Mississippi River finally draws to an end, at the open Gulf. <b></b> Call: 800-318-1720. Visit Web Site.

Fishing for yellowfin tuna seemed to turn back on in the Gulf of Mexico for trips through the week with Paradise Outfitters, according to the reports on its web site. One charter yesterday with the owner, Capt. Scott Avanzino, nailed a 183-pound Allison along with a 90-pounder and a 20-pounder: three yellowfins in three bites. Two other groups who sailed with two other captains that day came back with five 20- to 30-pounders on one boat and a mix of blacks and yellows on the other. On Sunday a party of 12 on two vessels walloped 13 yellowfins, mostly on live ballyhoos, and six amberjacks. A charter last Wednesday night sailed for swordfish, got three bites, released a 60-pounder, and landed two sharks. In the morning the anglers kept busy with nine yellowfins and eight blackfins taken on chunks and live baits. “Pretty cool to see the tuna blow up on ballys,” the report said. “The ballyhoo start jumping before the tunas hit, and it’s pretty exciting ….” Man. Laissez les bon temps roulez: Let the good times roll. Paradise fishes offshore in the Gulf for big game and also targets the Gulf’s rigs and wrecks for snappers, cobia, groupers, amberjacks and other fish. Call: 985-845-8006. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Clearwater/Tampa/Tarpon Springs

More and more charters were scoring slams of speckled seatrout, redfish and snook, said Capt. Rich Knox from Absolute Flats Fishing in an e-mail. Chuck Herb from Mickleton, N.J., was one of the anglers. Most trips were pinning down plenty of trout and reds and a few snook, and snook fishing should pick up with the warmer water of spring. Actually all the fishing should keep getting better, as water temps rise, bringing in schools of migrating pilchards and greenies, attracting predators. Capt. Rich normally castnets the baitfish at first light, and then he chums with them on charters while the anglers fish with the baits. Other fish that will arrive to ambush this forage on the flats will include cobia, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, jack crevalles and juvenile tarpon to 40 pounds. Book your slam trip now for April. Charters are also being accepted for giant tarpon fishing in May and June in Boca Grande, world famous for its run of the silver kings. Call 727-376-8809 or 800-890-9373 or Visit Web Site.

Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Boca Raton

On the Just Add Water anglers yesterday went 1 for 2 on sailfish and bagged some mahi mahi in the ocean a mile or two offshore and then fished the harbor, tangling with jack crevalles and barracudas on light tackle, Capt. Ron Mallet said. Live pilchards were the baits for all the fish, and seas in the ocean were 3 to 5 feet, with a ripping north current against easterly winds, but the anglers hung in there like Vikings. Boaters on a nearby vessel landed four sails, and folks on a boat slightly north wrestled up a blue marlin only a mile from the beach, closer than usual. Maybe 30 blue marlins are caught in the area each season. So the fishing was good yesterday, but a dreadful amount of rains, more than Ron ever remembered, fell the rest of the week.  Water temps remained the same, and last week Ron said they were 73 or 74 degrees, warm for this time of year. If the water fails to cool now, it’ll only start warming through spring and summer. Fishing should only improve at this point, because the fish should begin to migrate through local waters from down south as they head north to cooler waters. The harbor fishing for jacks and ‘cudas kept producing lots of action, and Ron often mixes in those catches with his ocean trips for a bonus. The option to fish the harbor is one of the advantages on the Just Add Water, because anglers can stay in the back waters if the ocean’s too rough, helping to ensure that some type of fishing is available. Or sometimes charters, such as those with children, simply prefer the calmer waters in the harbor over the ocean. Call: 954-423-8700. Visit Web Site.

Islamorada

Rough weather with lots of rain fluctuated water temperatures and made fish finicky much of the week, but conditions were improving by yesterday, said Capt. John Oughton from Over Under Adventures and the Pretty Work. But more dolphin—5- to 10-pounders or “heavy lifters”—were showing up than before. Lots of yellowtail snappers were clamping down on baits at the reef close to shore before the weather cooled the water, and that bite was picking back up by yesterday in the improved weather. A few king mackerel were around, and not many sailfish were turning up. One of Over Under’s boats, That’s Right, licensed for 15 passengers, is also fishing on multi-day trips to the Dry Tortugas from Key West, but the weather nixed those trips lately. But John expects lots of mutton snappers and some groupers to get reeled aboard at the Tortugas in April. Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site. 

A charter with Joe Renzo and wife Deidre from Atlantic Highlands, N.J., loaded up on two 20- to 25-pound mutton snappers, a 30- or 35-pound cobia, a red grouper, two almaco jacks, eight dolphin from 5 to 12 pounds, a true American red snapper—a somewhat rare fish locally—a big, 8-pound yelloweye snapper,  and a mix of 20 other yelloweyes and vermillion snappers yesterday, Capt. Bruce Anderson from Captain Easy Charters said. So the catch was great, and charters through the week were mostly doing this type of fishing, dropping down hooks to the wrecks in 180 to 250 feet. For example, a charter the previous day boated a bunch of yelloweye snappers and vermillion snappers and some amberjacks. The bottom fish on these trips were taken both on live bait or on multi-hooked rigs with dead bait. The number of dolphin or mahi mahi was starting to increase. A few king mackerel were hitting, more kings than sails, and a handful of sails were showing up. Yellowtail snappers were also lifted up from the reef in 60 to 90 feet, a half-mile closer to shore. The water was 70 degrees, the coolest all season, but a normal temp. Earlier this winter the water was a little warm, but cold fronts pushed the temperature down to a normal level by now. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.

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