Welcome to the first Offseason Report of 2009-2010!

VIRGINIA

Chincoteague Inlet

Rough weather kept trips from striped bass fishing, but the fish seemed to be in, said Capt. Perry Romig from Topless Fishing Charters. The schools seemed spread from north to south, including right off Chincoteague Inlet, where Topless sales from. Commercial netters saw the rockfish throughout the area before the current cold snap, winds and the weekend’s snowstorm, and water temperatures were probably perfect, so there was no reason the linesiders shouldn’t still swim the area. This should be prime time for the fishing. The ocean had been 50 to 51 degrees when Topless last sailed before the weather, and Perry guessed the waters should now be 47 to 48 degrees, the magic number when the big lunkers usually move in. He hoped this coming weekend’s trips would get the weather to run. The snowstorm in the local area only dumped an inch of ground cover. Charters usually troll for the stripers with custom-made umbrella rigs that include Sassy Shads and Atomic swimming plugs, a lure originally made for salmon fishing. Call: 757-824-5580. Visit Web Site.

Virginia Beach

Good catches of striped bass were walloped, and every trip so far this season limited out on them, said Capt. Bob Robinson from Fin Seeker Sport Fishing. A couple of trips ran as far north as Fisherman’s Island, on the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, to chase them, and anglers on the boat also found them along the border of 3 miles from the coast. Striped bass fishing is open within 3 miles from the coast and is closed farther from shore, in federal waters. This was the time to get on the fish, the largest population of big striped bass anyplace. Big, mature breeders park off the local coast at this time of year, wintering there after migrating from the Northeast. So basically the whole population of the biggest bass gathers in these waters. Plenty of dates remain for charters this month, and many dates are already booked in January. The weather was yet to turn bitter cold, and there was no ice on the deck or anything at this point. Trips usually troll with umbrella rigs and Mojo’s, a big, weighted bucktail that sinks the rigs deep, but anglers can also jig or cast plugs if they want, when the fish are on top. Call: 757-618-7421. Visit Web Site.

The weather kept all but a few boats from hunting down striped bass, but the few that sailed did catch the fish locally, said Capt. Steve Richardson from Backlash Sport Fishing. Winds to 40 or 50 knots hampered sailing and broke up the schools, and the anglers who fished in the past days said waters were so muddy that a bait would’ve had to pop the rockfish in the head to be seen. A half-day trip that managed to get out with Backlash only picked up eight stripers, before the school moved beyond 3 miles of land, where fishing for them is closed. Still, the rocks definitely poured down the coast, migrating from up north, and fishing for them was on. The migration pulls in the largest number of big bass that gather anywhere. Anglers can expect to catch 35-pounders on average days, and they can luck into 45- and 50-pounders on many days. Backlash has racked up limits of 16 rocks that each weighed 50 pounds, but that’s rare. January might turn out to be the best month for the fishing this year, but every year is different. In recent years February was best, but those years were warmer, and this year seemed to be a colder one. Most trips troll for the fish, but charters can cast or jig for them, whatever they’d like. Call: 757-286-0711. Visit Web Site.

The weather kept forcing offshore trips to stay tied to the dock, said Capt. Skip Fuller from Rudee Inlet Charters. But party boat trips are slated to fish Norfolk Canyon 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Saturday for blueline tilefish, a few golden tiles, snowy groupers and blackbelly rosefish. The fare is only $170, a great price for offshore fishing. In other news, Skip said local charter boats whaled away at striped bass close to port. Call: 757-422-5700 or 757-425-3400. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Oregon Inlet

When boaters from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center were able to sail between difficult weather, they pumped in yellowfin tuna, a mess of the fish, Virginia Lawhorne said. Two boats ran for them today but were yet to return. Bluefin tuna, bigger fish, usually roam the area January to March, so anglers hoped to see them soon. Another boat from the marina sailed for striped bass today and was yet to return. Stripers were a little scarce, but the current cold weather could help pull them down soon. Visit Web Site.

Hatteras

One of the boats, the Big Tahuna, took up focusing on vertical jigging for blackfin tuna, smoking the fish, said Steve Hissey from the The Roost Bait & Tackle at <b>Teach’s Lair Marina</b>. There’s no limit on blackfins, but the boat usually self-imposed a limit of 24, racking up that many nearly every trip. Eighteen to 24 pounds was the average size, and blackfins need to be at least 20 pounds to earn a citation from the state, and several citations were usually picked up per outing. A 34.8-pounder was the largest seen at the shop. The weather was horrendous these days, and a trip Monday found the fishing slower than usual at the rocks that were normally fished, but four blackfins and some amberjacks were creamed. The cold front was probably the cause. Otherwise sharks were the only difficulty in the fishing lately. Sharks, big ones like hammerheads and black tips, were abundant. When they bit off the expensive tuna jigs, that was a drag. Big sharks even held in the surf, and someone belted a 7- or 8-footer. A few puppy drum were hauled from the surf at the inlet, and a load of flounder, mostly undersized but a few keepers, had been stacked up in the suds on the north side of the inlet. Then the flounder moved out, and 5- to 7-pound puppies moved in. Pamlico Sound was frigid, supposedly 45 degrees, no chance of catching anything there for a while. Visit Web Site.

Morehead City

Several giant bluefin tuna were beaten in the past two weeks with Over Under Adventures, the report on the boat’s Web site said, and the fishing was under way. The first catches that were heard about came on Monday, December 7, when the fleet totaled probably three or four of the fish out of eight bites. Cold weather seemed to get things going. Then rough weather rolled in that week, and Over Under got out afterward on that Friday and Saturday, banging out one giant per trip, fish that cored out to 230 pounds and 290 pounds, 82 and 90 inches long, respectively. Another, a 90-incher, was tackled with Over Under that Monday. An 81-incher was bagged the next day on a trip. By a few days later, this past Friday, the fish seemed to move, and bait was difficult to find, and a trip hooked no tuna, and the weather deteriorated. Trips hoped to head back out early this week in better conditions. Over Under’s annual fishing for giants, catches of a lifetime, are sailing probably until sometime in January on both charters and open-boat trips. The open trips are available at an especially reasonable price, and must be reserved ahead of time. Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site. 

Atlantic Beach

A fleet of probably 100 boats tried for giant bluefin tuna every time they could sail, and they landed a few, someone from <b>Captain Stacy Fishing Center</b> who asked to remain anonymous said. A 500-pounder was seen at the docks, and so was a 300-pounder, and someone fought a 200-pounder. Keepers weigh at least about 300 pounds. The angling had at least started, and boaters hoped the population of giants continued to increase. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Boca Grande/Pine Island

A few big tarpon swam the waters, said Capt. Larry Conley from Reel-Ality Sportfishing. He sent a photo of a 133-pounder that was landed at Boca Grande Pass on the boat, and anglers aboard occasionally jumped the silver kings when the fish showed up, and landed one once in a while.  Big tarpon are commonly “jumped” and never landed. That means they were hooked but broke off, or maybe threw the hook, because the big, powerful fish are difficult to land. Something usually gives way, whether it’s the leader breaking, or the main line getting broken in half, or a knot failing at a swivel and so on. The tarpon usually leap out of the waters once hooked, meaning they were jumped, even if they got off. Tarpon anglers consider jumping the fish part of the tally of the day’s success. The goal, of course, is to land one, but that takes time and experience for even the best anglers. Goliath groupers, including large ones, were boated on trips, usually along the ledges of drop-offs in the limestone along the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. One was so big that a false albacore was used for bait, and the anglers saw a goliath chomp the fish with a mouth that looked like a 40-pound striper, before the grouper swam back into the structure and got off. But plenty of others were landed, and they also often hang out at pot holes in the limestone bottom that lead to caves. Three, four or five might be reeled up from one of the holes. Anglers have to be quick to yank the fish away from the holes once they bite, before the groupers swim into the cave and break off. Live pinfish are usually used for bait, and sometimes anglers aboard will spend the first day of fishing jigging pinfish on Sabiki rigs to stock up enough of the bait for several days of angling. Barracuda swam all over, many of them gathering at the reefs from 7 to 20 miles offshore in the Gulf. Live blue runners often hooked them with Reel-Ality. Big amberjacks, fish to 60 pounds, should begin to hold along the reefs 20 miles from shore any time. They’re also powerful fish, and big tackle has to be used to crank them in. Twenty-pound tackle won’t do the job. Smaller fish like redfish swam the shallows, but Reel-Ality usually fishes in deeper waters for bigger game because of the 28-foot boat. Bigger reds to 30 and 40 pounds swam in the deeper waters of the Gulf 1 or 1 ½ months ago. Call: 239-471-0875 or 215-932-8411 (cell). Visit Web Site.

Islamorada

A little of everything bit, good fishing, said Capt. Bruce Anderson from Captain Easy Charters.  Sailfishing, although always hot and cold, was going fairly strong so far this season, pretty consistent. One trip, a charter with Chuck, Matt and Tony Stark from Connecticut, early last week walloped 10 sails that were released. But that, of course, was an unusually large number. A charter Wednesday limited out on sizeable king mackerel to 20 pounds and piled up a bunch of yellowtail snappers. Lots of kings were around, and reef fishing, like for the yellowtail snappers, barreled out plenty of catches. A cold front moved in during the past days, but otherwise daytime temps usually reached the high 80s. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site. Also check out Captain Easy’s Facebook page that includes reports and photos. It also includes a recent video of a blackfin tuna catch and another recent video of a sailfish catch and release.

Key West

Fishing before the cold front pounded everything from sailfish to tuna, occasional wahoo, and reef fish, excellent catches, said the report on Over Under Adventures’ Web site. Flats fishing also racked up lots of permit and bonefish. The front put the kibosh on catches starting on Wednesday but was almost finished by the end of the weekend, and angling was expected to kick right back in. Ted Lund, former editor of Saltwater Sportsman, is heading up Over Under’s operations from Key West this year for the first time. Lund, who’s fished from the Keys for 30 years, has also been managing editor of Sport Fishing, editor in chief of Fly Fishing in Saltwaters and a freelance outdoor writer and photographer for publications including Sports Illustrated, Yachting and the Miami Herald.  Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site.

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