VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

Rockishing banged out the catches on the boat the last couple of days to the north, said Capt. Bob Robinson from Fin Seeker Sport Fishing. Just good fishing, he said, and all the fish were trolled. But on Friday a trip found the striped bass on top, and the anglers blistered them on rubber grubs and shads cast on light tackle. Some of the fish five days ago weighed 40 and 50 pounds, and the fish now weighed 20 and 30 pounds, but the sizes can change in a heartbeat, as schools of different size classes move through. In another three or four weeks Fin Seeker will make an annual move to Cape Hatteras, running charters for blackfin and bluefin tuna, fishing that takes off  in late February and March. Book now to ensure a spot. Call: 757-618-7421. Visit Web Site.

Some of the striped bass off North Carolina were closer to Virginia Beach than Oregon Inlet, could be caught more conveniently from Virginia boats, said Capt. Bill Richardson from Backlash Sport Fishing. The cold a couple of weeks ago and freshwater runoff from rains made many of the rockfish near Virginia Beach head offshore, beyond 3 miles from land, for the moment. The fishing is closed beyond 3 miles, but some were caught and released within 15 miles from land, and some still remained farther north off Ocean City, Maryland, beyond 3 miles. But the location of the fish can change, such as when the wind direction and weather warms waters near the beaches, drawing in the schools. He’s got trips booked clear to March and expects them to catch, and he trolls the fish. Call: 757-286-0711. Visit Web Site.

The weekly party boat trip to Norfolk Canyon was weathered out on Saturday, said Capt. Skip Fuller from Rudee Inlet Charters. The trip the previous Saturday, covered in the last report, limited out on blueline tilefish, socked a bunch of blackbelly rosefish and wrenched aboard a few barrelfish. Really good fishing, Skip said in that report. The trips sail 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Saturday, hooking blueline tilefish, a few golden tiles, snowy groupers and blackbelly rosefish. Limited to 40 passengers, the trips are only $170 per person, a great price for offshore angling. Call: 757-422-5700 or 757-425-3400. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Oregon Inlet

Winds kept boats from fishing from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center since Wednesday, Virginia Hawthorne said. On Wednesday anglers on the vessels limited out on striped bass on the ocean close to Oregon Inlet, and one caught and released 30. Last week’s report from the marina said one boater found the fish immediately off the inlet. Many of the fish the anglers kept weighed 40 to 45 pounds, so they were big. Puppy drum were also boated Wednesday at the southern end of the Oregon Inlet Bridge. No boaters fished offshore in the past week because of rough seas. Visit Web Site.

Hatteras

After puppy drum fishing had busted wide open in the surf and even in Pamlico Sound last week, strong southerly winds built seas, dirtied waters and screeched the angling to a halt the past few days, said Dave Hissey from The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair Marina. But the surf catches were the best he’d seen in his 32 years in the area, and he expects the fishing to kick back in when the weather settles. The fish in the sound will move in and out depending on temperatures. When the sound is cold, they’ll move to the surf, and vice versa. Offshore boaters before the weather sometimes put a beating on lots of blackfin tuna, as many as 53 on one boat, and other times tackled a few. An abundance of sharks sometimes showed up, chomping the jigs that are fished. Boaters sometimes ran far north for decent catches of yellowfin tuna, including a few big ones topping 200 pounds, before the weather. Visit Web Site.

Morehead City

Giant bluefin tuna fishing never really became consistent from Morehead City since late December, and Over Under Adventures is probably finished with the fishing for the year, the report on Over Under’s Web site said. The season ends next week anyway. Only nine giants were boated among the fleet this month, and anglers had different ideas about the reasons. But strong, sustained northwest winds from late December until the middle of this month probably contributed. The fishing is usually done in the shallows close to shore, and the winds caused those waters to chill down to between 48 and 53 degrees. Over Under typically targets giants in waters 58 to 63 degrees. The winds caused the usual fish-holding temperature break to push 30 miles offshore to grounds where Over Under never normally fishes for giants. Three giants apiece were caught on Over Under’s two boats that sailed in the fishery, and the crews felt fortunate to nail that many in the slow season. But they love the fishery and will be back next year, and the chance always exists to mug a giant. One trip bottom-fished this past week, taking advantage of the good catches being made off Morehead. The wreck that was fished gave up unlimited bites from sea bass, puppy drum, groupers, red snappers, ling, sheepshead and lots of other species. Sea bass season is open from the area, unlike farther north. The anglers also tried trolling after overnighting on the waters, and a mako shark, a surprise, was muscled in. Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site.

Atlantic Beach

Winds kept the fleet docked, but boaters who had been fishing for giant bluefin tuna had already stopped sailing, said Loretta Davis from Captain Stacy Fishing Center. They kept at the ready in case more of the fish appeared, but the angling had slowed way down. The weekly party boat bottom-fishing trip from the marina was weathered out on Saturday. On the previous Saturday the trip cleaned up on sea bass, triggerfish and other bottom huggers, mentioned in the last report. Sea bass season is open from the port, not closed like up north. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Tampa

A charter absolutely crushed two 30-inch cobia, four permit to 24 inches, 11 pompano, including five over 3 pounds, and some jacks and snappers at the warm waters at the power plant on Friday, said Capt. Chuck Rodgers from Rattlesnake Point Outfitters. Fishing became best there after the cold snap, and that was the first trip that fished afterward. But the weather and waters were getting back to normal, with days in the 70s. Anglers said redfish began to show at Fort Desoto a little to the south and that a herd of speckled seatrout swam there, too. So the fishing also seemed to start to rebound. Fishing at the power plant is usually done with white or chartreuse soft-plastic lures on jigheads, because they’re visible in turbid waters caused by hot and cold flows. Fishing for the reds and specks is usually done with live shrimp. Looking ahead, charters in spring and summer will battle giant tarpon in local waters. Eighty pounds is the average size, but they do get bigger, and a couple last year weighed up to an estimated 180 pounds that were released from the boat. Call: 866-439-4305. Visit Web Site.

Lake Okeechobee

The weather was back to normal or warmer, and the lake’s temperature was beginning to rise, and its fishing for largemouth bass was picking back up, said Capt. Butch Butler from South Florida Bass Fishing. So was crappie fishing, but that was best on the Kissimmee River at night.  The largemouths were mostly pulled from around cattails, hydrilla or eel grass in waters 3 to 5 feet deep. Shiners hung on a 1/0 or 2/0 hook 1 ½ feet under a bobber grabbed the most and the larger ones. Medium shiners 3 to 5 inches are used, but so are larger ones 5 to 11 inches. Butch usually keeps a dozen of the biggest ones on hand in February to try to attract the largest lunkers that become especially hungry after the spawn. Most of the lake’s bucketmouths weigh 2 to 6 pounds but can often range 1 to 11 pounds, and most trips get a shot at a bigger one. Whether the angler lands the fish is the question. Okeechobee’s largemouth bass fishing is great, and the fishing is awesome in winter, when anglers from up north can escape the chill to boat in the warmth of the Florida sun. Butch also guides for the crappies, and they usually pounce on smaller minnows or 1/8- or 1/16-ounce rubber jigs or hair jigs. Some anglers like to load up on them. Call: 863-634-5431. Visit Web Site.

Water temps were coming back up, though not like they should, but plenty of largemouth bass, terrific catches, were claimed, said Capt. Angie from
Captain Angie Douthit Guide Service. The bigmouths always relate to structure like weed beds, and anglers aboard lately creamed them on top-water lures, including one with a prop on the front and back that was buzzed across the surface with twitches. Top-waters imitated shad that drive the fish nuts this time of year. Anglers on deck caught some big ones, 7- to 11-pounders, on top-waters. The fish should be getting ready to spawn, and the big females then will be hungry before they form their spawning beds. Angie caters to anglers who want to fish with lures or artificials, and Okeechobee is known for flipping and pitching lures. She’s an award-winning, professional bass angler who guides when not on the pro circuit, and is up on the latest lure techniques. Trips aren’t just about fishing, she’s said in the past, but are about learning and the experience, too. Many charters join her specifically to learn. But anglers with her also fish with shiners when they prefer. Angie also guides for crappies, if anglers want, and a friend this week told her about big, 16- or 17-inch crappies, the biggest in several years, that were on a tear. In summer she also guides for panfish and such. Although the weather warmed back to normal, winds and rains kept Okeechobee from warming as much as usual. The lake was about a half foot lower than usual, normally averaging 14 feet deep. The past year’s been productive for bassing on the lake, and Angie looks forward to the angling getting even better when the weather stabilizes. Call: 863-228-7263. Visit Web Site.

Miami

Fishing stayed about the same, said Jackie Glinski from the <b>Blue Waters II</b>, and previously she said sailfish were tugged from waters 2 to 3 miles from shore. This time she said king mackerel roamed the same stretch, though last week she said they hung closer to shore or a mile from land. Cero mackerel could be yanked from the reefs close to shore, and amberjacks could be cranked from the wrecks. Mahi mahi will sometimes come through. Heads up: Space is available for trips during Superbowl weekend. Call: 305-373-5016. Visit Web Site.

Islamorada

“The warm weather is back!” said the report on Over Under Adventures’ Web site. Sunny days and calm seas returned to Islamorada. Fishing took a moment to recover after the cold, but then picked up, and baitfish or ballyhoos, cigar minnows and some sardines became plentiful to catch again for the angling. One of Over Under’s boats, Pretty Work, competed in the Cheeca Sailfish Tournament toward the end of the week, coming in seventh place with five sails caught. The weather was almost too nice for the fishing those days. A charter on another of Over Under’s boats, That’s Right, around that time landed a sail, some king mackerel to 25 pounds and yellowtail snappers. On Sunday in winds and rough weather another charter fished a wreck close to shore, because of conditions, loading up on yellowtails, all of them big, 4- to 6-pounders, some king mackerel and several cero mackerel. Earlier in the week, when fishing was recovering after the cold, king mackerel and sails were found deep on a trip, and the anglers caught and released groupers, including an 18-pound gag grouper, another gag, a couple of black groupers and a few red groupers. They also reeled up an okay catch of yellowtails that seemed shy around the groupers. Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site. 

Sailfish kept biting, said Capt. Bruce Anderson from Captain Easy Charters, and his trips wrangled them up along the edge of the reef 4 to 5 miles from shore on slowly trolled ballyhoos in waters 120 to 150 feet deep. The sailfishing season’s been good this year, and king mackerel attacked in the same area, and snappers were reeled from over top of the reef. Big amberjacks 50 to 70 pounds showed up at the Hump, an underwater lump that attracts fish farther from shore. They smacked live baits such as bluerunners or speedos. The weather returned to normal, reaching the mid 70s and even sometimes the 80s, after the cold. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.

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