VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

Anglers on the weekly party boat trip to Norfolk Canyon cleaned up on blueline tilefish to 19 pounds, lots of blackbelly rosefish, a couple of barrelfish and a 25-pound snowy grouper, said Capt. Skip Fuller from Rudee Inlet Charters. All in all a good day, he said, and the weather was beautiful with slick-clam seas, couldn’t have been better. Five of the bluelines weighed more than 15 pounds apiece, and probably 20 were Virginia citation bluelines, fish that weighed 10 pounds more. Lots of out-of-season sea bass chomped baits. 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. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Oregon Inlet

Anglers on 10 boats sailed offshore from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center on Saturday, a beautiful day, Affie Meekins said. They hammered big bluefin tuna to a 333-pounder and a few yellowfin tuna around 30 pounds, not large, not tiny. Smaller yellowfins are caught in spring, and larger ones in fall. Anglers on one of the boats reeled in seven bluefins, keeping a 179-pounder. On Sunday a crew on another boat found more yellowfins than before, bagging nine and a 250-pound bluefin. Other bluefins docked during the weekend included a 163-pounder, a 150-pounder and a 122-pounder. Nothing really was doing inshore for boaters. But surf anglers on Saturday beached a few striped bass, apparently some of the last migrating north, at the south end of the inlet bridge. Visit Web Site.

Hatteras

Trips fished offshore every day, limiting out on yellowfin tuna, said Capt. Bob Robinson from Fin Seeker Sport Fishing.  They beat plenty of bluefin tuna, too. The yellowfins weighed 25 or 30 pounds, not big, but plentiful, and were mostly trolled, but occasionally one was jigged. The bluefins, weighing anywhere from 70 to 300 pounds, were trolled, jigged and chunked. Last year bluefins had already departed, but fishing for them this year was already holding up for weeks. Fishing was awesome so far. Charters on deck did no grouper fishing, wanting to tuna fish instead, but grouper fishing was possible. A few wahoos began to arrive, and Fin Seeker was surprised to hook a small mahi mahi, early in the year for the dolphin. The populations of both should increase as waters warm. One angler landed a white marlin already this year. Call: 757-618-7421. Visit Web Site.

Over Under Adventures began its spring season in Hatteras, walloping a great catch of bluefin tuna toward the end of the week on the first trip, an e-mail from Over Under said. The boat that morning ran 24 miles offshore to the Gulf Stream, meeting a 30-degree temperature break. Birds worked the waters upon arrival, and steam came up from the break, and a bluefin slammed a line before the mono could be snapped onto the outrigger, ripping the line out of a crew member’s hand. Line was being paid out from another rod, began speeding up, and bam! Another bluefin was on. Action continued like that, and the anglers never went 10 minutes without a bite, and had all they could handle by 1 p.m. Most of the tuna were 60 to 69 inches. But one was 90 inches, estimated to weigh 400 pounds. Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site.

Offshore fishing for yellowfin tuna picked up, was excellent, said Dave Hissey from The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair Marina. The fish weighed 25 to 40 pounds, and he heard about as many as 14 decked on one boat. Bluefin tuna fishing slowed down, after great fishing for them previously. Big drum were dragged from the surf at Ocracoke, hooked on cut bait. The suds reached 52 degrees, and puppy drum began to be seen in Pamlico Sound, and were caught there  two or three days ago on rubber grubs. Toadfish, sea mullet, black drum and bluefish should arrive in the surf as waters warm. Action in the wash should take off by Easter, and water temps were low this year after the cold winter. But fishing from the shore seemed to be coming around, and tuna fishing’s been super since winter. Getting the weather for boats to sail was the only difficulty in winter. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Tampa

Nine black drum, including eight over 45 pounds, were pounded on a trip Thursday, said Capt. Chuck Rodgers from Rattlesnake Point Outfitters. Probably 2,000 of the fish schooled the shallows near the Skyway Bridge. White and red, ½-ounce bucktails grabbed them, and the drum move in every year, but were a little early. Big bull sharks usually follow to feed on them starting in April. Winds knocked the boat all around, and the weather’s been windy. Saturday looked like the weather was going to warm up, but then the days cooled down again. Speckled sea trout fishing wasn’t fantastic, but anglers who tried could limit out on them in the bay. Small, 1/8-ounce jigs tipped with bright-colored, 3-inch rubber tails gained strikes, and the bright colors worked because of churned waters from the winds. Waters were too cool for the specks to move to the Gulf of Mexico yet. Redfish tailed on the flats of the bay but were finicky, because baitfish were yet to show up this season. Giant tarpon fishing usually peaks toward the end of May with Rattlesnake, but Chuck’s caught them as early as February during warm years. To draw them in, waters need to reach 72 or 73 degrees, and were currently 61 degrees. Call: 866-439-4305. Visit Web Site.

Lake Okeechobee

Winds kept blowing, often making the lake’s largemouth bass fishing difficult, despite somewhat warmer weather, said Capt. Butch Butler from South Florida Bass Fishing. The year’s been a tough one for weather, first because of a cold winter, and lately because of winds that wouldn’t stop. Still, the fishing produced on some days, such as on a half-day trip Sunday, when the one angler aboard waxed 25 bass to 6 pounds on shiners during light drizzle and cloud cover. Shiners were fished on trips, but artificials including top-water plugs and rubber worms also worked well when anglers could escape winds. The weather also affected crappie fishing, but angling for them at night on the Kissimmee River, flowing into Okeechobee, was best. Lots of bluegills nibbled baits in the lake. Anglers would expect winds too settle down at least in a few weeks, as the days keep warming. Call: 863-634-5431. Visit Web Site.

Capt. Angie from Captain Angie Douthit Guide Service fished in Texas throughout the past week, but largemouth bassing on Okeechobee remained the same as it’s been, and three charters are slated to fish the lake with her this week, she said.. Winds made the fishing challenging lately, but her clients mostly hooked the bass on artificials such as top-water lures pitched to the holes in the weeds, rubber frogs worked across the top of the grass and rubber worms inched along the bottom. The fishing should become more consistent in the next weeks, as the weather warms, and she hoped most of the windy days will be left behind. Angie, a professional bass angler who guides when not competing on the pro circuit, likes to fish with artificials, and is up on the latest techniques. She enjoys teaching, if anglers want. Call: 863-228-7263. Visit Web Site.

Miami

Schoolie mahi mahi, the season’s first substantial run of the fish, showed up 3 to 5 miles from the coast, said Jackie Glinski from the Blue Waters II. That seemed a good sign, because waters were a little cool. A big sailfish tournament will take place this weekend, and anglers hoped for a strong turn out from the fish. King mackerel sped along waters a couple of miles off, and amberjacks gathered along the Dade County wrecks. A couple of swordfish were hauled in during the daytime 22 miles from shore. A daytime swordfishery exists here, unlike the usual nighttime fishing for them. Expensive electric reels are used to crank them in from the deep. One trip tried tilefishing, but the bite was a bit slow. But the tiles live in 600 feet only 5 miles from land, unlike 60 or 80 miles off the Northeast. New Jersey anglers fall in love with how blue-water angling is only a few miles off Miami. Lots of charters are booked as springtime kicks off. Call: 305-373-5016. Visit Web Site.

Islamorada

Cool, dirty waters made fishing challenging or “spotty at best,” said the report on Over Under Adventures’ Web site. But trips scored some good days, and hard work usually paid off. Charters sometimes tore up catches of king mackerel. A few cobia were wrestled in, and so were a few blackfin tuna and big amberjacks. A sailfish was leadered during the week, but the crew wondered how the fish saw the bait in the dirty waters. Bait was difficult to find recently, but sometimes managed to be netted. Fishing at the patch reefs was a little tough, but fish such as snappers were claimed, and lots of porgies and hogfish were rounded up. Some trips fished the back country, tangling with great catches of Spanish mackerel and cero mackerel on light tackle and fly-fishing gear. Speckled sea trout and ladyfish hit on almost every cast. Call: 866-OUA-TUNA. Visit Web Site.

Big amberjacks, lots of them, were fought aboard at the Hump, located 11 miles from shore, said Capt. Bruce Anderson from Captain Easy Charters. The fish whacked live bait, such as speedos, and vertical jigs. Blackfin tuna also swam abundant at the Hump, swiping live bait or jigs for customers. Yellowtail snappers were scooped up at the reef 3 miles from shore, and mutton snappers were socked at the patch reefs inshore of 3 miles. King mackerel ran wild along the edge of the reef 4 miles from shore. A trip with one angler Monday probably landed 50 kings, keeping a limit, releasing the rest. Pilchards, cigar minnows or whatever bait that’s available will get them to attack. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.

Warm days triggered yellowtail snappers to feed during trips Sunday and Monday on the party boat Miss Islamorada, Capt. Ben Loy said. Lots, including 50 or 60 on Monday, were boxed. A final push of king mackerel for the season showed up, and a dozen were angled up on that trip. That’s about how fishing was going now, and previously the kings made up most of the catch, before warm waters got the yellowtails active. Both fish hung along the edge of the reef in 50 to 70 feet 4 miles from the dock. 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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