VIRGINIA

Chincoteague Inlet

Trips for striped bass on the ocean are probably finished for the season for Topless Fishing Charters, Capt. Perry Romig said. Low water temperatures near the shore from the cold winter seemed to cause the fish to swim too far away from land earlier than expected this year. But he’ll keep an eye on the fishery, and if the stripers happen to swim back at some point, he’ll go after them.  Call: 757-824-5580. Visit Web Site.

Virginia Beach

Striped bass fishing on the ocean was blown out because of weather through the weekend with Fin Seeker Sport Fishing, Capt. Bob Robinson said. But more of the trips are on the books for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Afterward, as soon as the next clear weather moves in, the boat will be moved to Cape Hatteras for annual fishing for blackfin tuna and bluefin tuna. Call: 757-618-7421. Visit Web Site.

Winter’s slower period for striped bass fishing seemed to “bottom out,” because catches began to improve, after the fish seemed to pull closer to the beaches in steady west winds, said Capt. Bill Richardson from Backlash Sport Fishing. West winds, sun and no rains were forecast for the rest of the week, and the rockfishing could be “game on” this weekend. Plus the outlook for the next couple of weeks certainly appeared good. Call: 757-286-0711. Visit Web Site.

The weekly party boat trip to Norfolk Canyon was cancelled Saturday because of weather, Capt. Skip Fuller from Rudee Inlet Charters said. Forecasts, only available through this Friday when he gave this report, looked all right for that day, so the crew kept their fingers crossed that the fair conditions would last long enough for this weekend’s trip to run. The trips, sailing 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Saturday, hook mostly blueline tilefish, a few golden tiles, blackbelly rosefish and snowy groupers. A solid catch was socked the last time the boat steamed. 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

A potential state record striped bass, a 64-pounder, was clobbered from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center yesterday, Virginia Lawhorne said. The record will need to be confirmed by officials. But boaters from the marina banged away at big stripers very close to port that day. Forty-pounders were waxed the whole time, and a 38-pounder was the smallest weighed in. Stripers don’t always school this far south in winter, but the cold apparently made them arrive this year. Fishing for them so far had been turned on for weeks. Offshore boaters, all who fished that day, drilled bluefin tuna 150 to 200 pounds. A 202-pounder and a 177-pounder were some that were weighed in. None of those anglers found yellowfin tuna. Visit Web Site.

Hatteras

When offshore boaters could sail in the weather, they cleaned up on bluefin tuna, said Dave Hissey from The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair Marina. The fish were good sized, up to 175 pounds. Anglers on one boat landed eight. Another vessel motored out for the fish today, was still on the waters when Dave gave this report, but the crew probably took a beating in the seas. Scattered blackfin tuna, scattered yellowfin tuna and some amberjacks were also gaffed lately. Blackfins are typically the main fish hunted at this time of year, but a large population of bluefins stole the show for now. Surf fishing was dead, because the waters were frigid. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Lake Okeechobee

Weather was cold, but anglers on trips still caught the lake’s largemouth bass, and none of the fish was big, but 7-to 8-pounders were plowed on nearly every outing, said Capt. Butch Butler from <b>South Florida Bass Fishing</b>. Shiners, the best bait for landing the biggest and most, were swum 1 ½ feet under a bobber, usually along the edges of weed beds or other vegetation in 3- to 5-foot depths. Crappie fishing was best on the Kissimmee River at night, and some could be picked from Okeechobee, but the cold weather probably affected the panfish. Anglers who were good at crappie fishing only reeled in 10 or 12 per trip. But plenty were mugged on charters with Butch previously, and many anglers visit the area just for the exceptional crappie fishing. This winter’s been cold, but that’ll turn around, probably soon. Call: 863-634-5431. Visit Web Site.

The lake’s largemouth bass became lethargic in cold weather, but anglers aboard changed up tactics to club catches, said Capt. Angie from Captain Angie Douthit Guide Service. They fished slower, with more finesse, and maybe used lures with smaller profiles. Even when the bigmouths picked up rubber worms, they mouthed the baits, dropped them and mouthed them again, trying to eat the offering. That made feeling the bite tougher than usual. Flipping baits to hydrilla mats, where the largemouths hid underneath in the cold, was one tactic that worked. A Vibe Worm, a small, cut-tail, rubber worm that vibrates on the retrieve, was effective. But so were other usual flip-baits like rubber crawfish. Some anglers aren’t used to flipping, and they could use spinners or anything that could be fished through the grass. Afternoons that allowed the lake to warm could be better in the cold, and the lake, relatively shallow, cools and warms quickly. Chilly weather was turning out to be the norm this winter, and therefore so was this type of fishing. The colors of lures that worked best was one thing that Angie found remained consistent. June Bug colors, Watermelon greens, and black-with-blue, such as a black crawfish with blue pinchers, worked well here and nearly anywhere Angie’s fished this past year. The exact color depended on conditions. If discolored waters were fished, and discolored waters are warmer, bright colors such as chartreuse were the choice. The gravitational pull of the moon also matters, and Angie said the Moon Clock from Doug Hannon, her friend, really works to show best times to fish. Saltwater anglers fish according to tides, but bass anglers pay attention to when the moon is either directly overhead or directly on the opposite side of the earth from the angler, the two times per day when gravitational pull is strongest, and freshwater fish are most active. A 7-pound bigmouth was the largest belted on the boat in the past days. That would sound like a large one in New Jersey, but it wasn’t one of the biggest for Okeechobee. She also did some crappie fishing on the lake, and the slabs were also lethargic because of water temps. But the crappy population was on the upswing on the lake, producing quality catches. Angie is a professional largemouth bass angler who guides when not competing on the pro circuit. She enjoys fishing with artificials and teaching if anglers prefer, and is up on the latest techniques. But trips also fish with bait if the anglers want. Call: 863-228-7263. Visit Web Site.

Fort Lauderdale

Anglers batted down a big week on sailfish, because the cold chased the fish to local waters, said Capt. Brenda Fann from Fanntastic Fishing. Charters on the boat mostly hang live goggleyes from kites to mop them up. Hordes of king mackerel swam the waters and were trolled. A 7-foot hammerhead shark was battled to the boat yesterday, and the sharks began to arrive. That fish swiped a dead king mackerel on a kite, and the sharks are commonly caught along the surface, tailing along the waters on the migration. Call: 954-288-1055. Visit Web Site.

Catches were somewhat hit or miss on party boat trips with Flamingo Fishing, Rebecca Moudy said. The weather was cold, dropping into the 40s at night. But patrons whaled plenty of king mackerel on west winds. East winds that push Gulf Stream waters toward shore are usually the breezes that move them in, but the kings showed on west winds, for some reason. Lots of gray triggerfish were bagged, and snapper fishing was slow in the cold. All the fishing was done on the drift, because night trips that anchor stayed in port. Too cold to make customers head out. People would show up to fish at night, but they’d be surprised and unprepared for the low temps, and would end up in the cabin. The crew didn’t want to take them out for a boat ride, when the anglers expected to fish. Three trips sail daily 8 a.m. to 12 noon, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Call: 954-462-9194. Visit Web Site.

Miami

Anglers battled cold and rains like they had been in previous weeks, but sailfish were fought 3 miles from shore, and king mackerel were wrestled 2 miles from the coast, said Jackie Glinski from the Blue Waters II. Sometimes the cold will trigger sails to migrate south to local waters, but lack of currents put the brakes on that happening much. Amberjacks were cranked up from the wrecks.  Call: 305-373-5016. Visit Web Site.

Islamorada

Though sailfishing somewhat slowed during the past days, anglers with Captain Easy Charters blistered big amberjacks 30 to 65 pounds at the Hump, Capt. Bruce Anderson said. At the reef they smoked a bunch of king mackerel and loaded up with yellowtail snappers. At the patch reefs they tugged up mangrove snappers. So fishing was good. Check out a YouTube video of anglers on a two-day charter tangling last week with wahoos, a king mackerel, a blackfin tuna and sailfish, including a triple-header of sails. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.

Anglers dealt with cool weather, but king mackerel, not a lot of big ones but plenty, put up good catches for Over Under Adventures, the report on Over Under’s Web site said. Reef fishing, through mid week, turned up lots of groupers that were released. Grouper season is closed, “(but) they need a break anyhow,” the report said. Yellowtail snappers chewed great at the reef until another cold front on the weekend turned them off. Sailfishing was hit or miss, and the fish bit for a couple of days, stopped feeding, bit again, and so on. Bait became difficult to catch in the cold, but sometimes baits including pilchards and cigar minnows were netted. The snow that pounded the North last week even affected the Keys, preventing anglers from arriving for charters. Still, Over Under ran trips most of the week. Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site.

Fish seemed to feel a cold front that was supposed to tumble in today, because they got active yesterday, serving up a mess of catches on the Miss Islamorada, Capt. Ben Loy said. Fronts will do that sometimes, and probably 60 yellowtail snappers, all of them hefty or 2- to 4-pounders, and 20 king mackerel 10 to 15 pounds were waffled on the trip. The snappers were hooked on pieces of bait floated out in a chum slick, and the kings are taken on dead ballyhoos on a triple-hooked rig, sometimes with a weight, bounced up and down on the retrieve. The amount of weight depended on winds. A really strong cold front plummeted nighttime wind chills to the 30s a couple of days, shutting off snappers. Abrupt changes in the weather can affect them. But king mackerel were pounded all week, and cold sometimes sparks them up, gets them more active. Maybe 40 porgies were reeled from the bottom on one of those days, and so were 8 or 10 hogfish, good-eating fish. The Miss Islamorada sails 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from world famous Bud N’ Mary’s Marina. Call: 305-664-2461. Visit Web Site.

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