Virginia Beach

The weekly party boat trip to Norfolk Canyon was weathered out on Saturday, said Capt. Skip Fuller from Rudee Inlet Charters. But forecasts for this weekend’s trip look calm. The last trip piled up a bunch of blueline tilefish, lots of blackbelly rosefish, a couple of barrelfish and a 25-pound snowy grouper. Bluelines, golden tiles, blackbelly rosefish and snowies are some of the common catches on the outings. The trips, sailing 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Saturday, are limited to 40 passengers, costing only $170 per person, a great price for offshore angling. Call: 757-422-5700 or 757-425-3400. Daily party boat trips for tautog kicked off this week, but the Saturday offshore trips will continue to run through the year. Anglers on other boats already bailed plenty of the tog. The blackfish come alive earlier in the season in the warmer Virginia waters. Here’s the chance for New Jersey anglers to fish for them while the Garden State’s waters are too cold. Visit Web Site.

Overnight trips that troll for bluefin tuna in the afternoons and mornings and drop down baits for swordfish at night were the fishing to do now, said Capt. Bill Richardson from Backlash Sport Fishing. The angling takes place at Norfolk Canyon, and deep-dropping for groupers and tilefish was also an option. Anglers just needed fair weather, and cold, windy days kept boats in port lately. Mako sharks will begin to attack in April and May, and yellowfin tuna will show up by late spring. Should be a good season for yellowfins, because the fishing was healthy farther south this year. Call: 757-286-0711. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Oregon Inlet

A couple of boats sailed Thursday, and the anglers returned with a 170-pound bluefin tuna on one vessel and a 155-pounder on the other, said Affie Meekins from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. They released six more of the fish on one vessel and two on the other, and came across no yellowfin tuna. Otherwise news was scarce, because the weather kept the fleet docked. But clear weather is forecast for this Thursday through the weekend. Visit Web Site.

Hatteras

Charters had to dodge weather, so two out of five tuna trips sailed that were slated, said Capt. Bob Robinson from Fin Seeker Sport Fishing. One of the trips Thursday pounded a good catch that included a 189-pound bluefin tuna and a handful of yellowfin tuna. The angling was tougher on a trip Sunday, and bluefins had moved north, but three yellowfins and some false albacore were landed. The yellowfins on the trips weighed 25 to 30 pounds, and most of the fish on the trips were trolled on naked ballyhoos. Sea Stars and Sea Witches took a few. Rough weather sat on the area right now, but this weekend is supposed to be clear. Bob heard about no wahoos boated recently, but some were previously grabbed, and more should show up as waters warm. Mahi mahi should also come in. Grouper fishing was an option, but trips recently chose to concentrate on tuna. Call: 757-618-7421. Visit Web Site.

Bluefish pushed into the surf at Ocracoke for the first time this season, said Dave Hissey from The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair Marina. Big drum had already been beached there, and good fishing for both was nailed. Puppy drum were boated on Pamlico Sound. The weather kept offshore vessels from fishing, but previously those trips gaffed both yellowfin and bluefin tuna. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Lake Okeechobee

Five- to 7-pound largemouth bass were clubbed from the lake on some trips, said Capt. Angie from Captain Angie Douthit Guide Service. She fished almost every day, and bluegills and brim fairly tore up waters, too. The lake’s fishing in general somewhat improved, and winds and rains came through too often, like they did the rest of the season. But the weather was beginning to warm, and the lake temp was rising and was normal or in the high 60s to low 70s, though the mean water level was high at more than 14 feet because of rains. Thirteen-and-a-half feet is normal. The season was in transition, but good fishing was beginning to take off. The bass bit best in the afternoons to late afternoons, after waters warmed, though mornings could also be productive. Top-water lures, flipping, worming and fishing with spinner baits all worked. Some of the fish continued to spawn, and the spawning season lasts from late fall to early spring on Okeechobee. But a mix of spawning, pre-spawning and post-spawning largemouths will be found. The bluegills and brim were now on the spawning beds, and that’s a great time to catch them. Live crickets were top baits for the bluegills, but Beetle Spins could be run across the beds for a fun hook up on light tackle. Meal worms were best baits for the brim. Angie did no crappie fishing, but angling for them at night on the Kissimmee River, flowing into the lake, was best. Angie is a professional bass angler who guides when not on the tournament circuit. She enjoys fishing with artificials and is up on the latest techniques. Some anglers join a trip to learn, and she’s glad to teach if anglers want. Or they can fish with bait if they’d prefer, such as shiners for the bass. Call: 863-228-7263. Visit Web Site.

The lake’s largemouth bass fishing began to improve, said Capt. Butch Butler from South Florida Bass Fishing. Plus he ran lots of panfish trips, socking great catches of bluegills on crickets and brim on red worms. A half-day trip Monday morning shellacked 47 bluegills and a few crappies, both on crickets. Bass 5 or 6 pounds, not big for Okeechobee, were the heaviest on trips in the past days. A buddy looted a 10-pounder. The bassing was good on shiners, but artificials including Senko worms worked well. The weather began to settle a little, though rains still fell and winds still blew at times. Rains increased the lake’s water level a foot above normal. But the lake’s temperature was normal at 70 degrees. Call: 863-634-5431. Visit Web Site.

Boca Grande/Pine Island

Speckled sea trout were mostly mugged on trips, said Capt. Larry Conley from Reel-Ality Sportfishing. Anglers on deck concentrated on them, rounding them up from the 3-foot, grassy flats in Pine Island Sound on Zara Spooks and Gulp Shrimp. Ladyfish pounced mostly on the Gulps in the same locations. Baitfish began to move back in for the season, and waters were 72 degrees, probably a little cool. The weather had been cool early this week but was supposed to reach the mid 80s in the next days. Reel-Ality did no fishing in the Gulf of Mexico this past week, concentrating on the specks, but fish including amberjacks should be on tap in the Gulf. They hover around the box car reef 20 miles from shore, putting up tough fights. Larry looked forward to the approaching tarpon season at Boca Grande, Tarpon Capital of the World. They average 80 to 160 pounds, and anglers have a shot at a 200-pounder. A large population of the silver kings stacks up in the area in spring, and should arrive within a month. Sharks haunt the waters at the same time. Grouper season opens April 1, and waters from the passes to the Gulf hold red and gag groupers; sometimes scamp groupers; goliath groupers that must be released, and can grow to be humongous; and occasional black groupers. Call: 239-471-0875 or 215-932-8411 (cell). Visit Web Site.

Miami

Skipjack tuna, schoolie mahi mahi and sometimes blackfin tuna were trolled, said Jackie Glinski from the Blue Waters II. The skipjacks and blackfins, the first of both species she mentioned this year, can school through on migrations at this time of year. The number of mahi should increase as the season goes on, and Jackie mentioned some being caught already in the last report. Occasional big barracudas started jumping on trolled baits all of the sudden. The season was changing, and fishing was picking up, and the weather was warming, forecast to reach the 80s this weekend. Entrants in a Miami sailfish tournament checked in 300 sails over the weekend. Hammerhead sharks could be found 4 miles from shore, and amberjacks gathered at the wrecks. Call: 305-373-5016. Visit Web Site.

Islamorada

A few sailfish started to get reeled in toward the end of the week on trips, said Capt. Bruce Anderson from Captain Easy Charters. Sails can typically show up anytime from November to April, and fishing for them this past winter turned out super catches until mid February. But a monster bite took off last year late in the season, and Captain Easy scored a dock record of 18 sails landed on one trip at that time. Bruce hoped the current shot of the fish was the beginning of a reappearance. Plenty of big amberjacks were tackled at the Hump, located 11 miles from shore, on the boat, and blackfin tuna were sometimes belted in the same area on trips. Lots of king mackerel were fought aboard. Mutton snappers were cranked in from the wrecks on charters. Bruce saw no substantial affects that the unusually cold winter had on fishing, except on yellowtail snappers. Charters still caught yellowtails at the reef, but fishing for them seemed to be gradually recovering from the chill. They should become more active in the next weeks. The weather now was mostly normal, a little chilly, but some of the year’s better days, reaching the 80s, began to happen in the last couple of weeks. A cold front was settling on the Keys at the moment, but that might be the last of such fronts for the season. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.

“Islamorada has thawed out,” an e-mail from Over Under Adventures said, and the week was full of good fishing. One trip pumped in a few blackfin tuna offshore at the Hump on jigs and live pilchards. Currents became too strong, and the anglers decided to sail 10 miles farther out to try for swordfish. A sword was hooked but got off. They began to move to another location, but ran across 5- to 10-pound blackfin tuna surrounding a 50-foot whale shark feeding on the surface. The tuna were finicky, for some reason, but two or three were landed, and the sight was spectacular. Trips also bottom fished, and yellowtail snappers were gradually turning back on at first after the cold. But by the weekend limits of yellowtails were bagged in no time from the bottom. Bottom catches also included mutton snappers, big mangrove snappers and plenty of porgies and hogfish. Out-season-groupers, including on one trip a 40-pound black grouper and seven or eight 10- to 15-pounders, were caught and released. Excellent fishing. Catches during the week also included 20- to 40-pound cobia and some king mackerel. Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site.