NEW YORK

Montauk

The crew delayed moving the party boat Helen H to Montauk last week to begin sailing for cod, because waters were warm, and cod were just beginning to show, Capt. Joe Huckemeyer said. The bite was strong last year then, but this year’s warm weather seemed to delay the action a week or so. So the boat will be moved to the port later this week, and the crew hopes to kick off the cod trips this weekend. The weather might prevent the fishing, and a decision will be made Friday. Call: 508-790-0660. Visit Web Site.

Point Lookout

Cod fishing was getting better every day, said Capt. Tom Weiss from the party boat Captain Al. Anglers aboard started to jig them sometimes in the past days, after only hooking them on clams previously. Plenty of ling bit, and the anglers filled buckets with them. Plus mackerel began to be mixed in with the catches, and the mackerel and herring migrations were in. The better cod fishing was in 50 to 60 feet, and the ling were landed farther offshore, in waters as deep as 120 feet. See More Info. Call: 516-623-2248.

VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

The weekly, party-boat, bottom-fishing trip to Norfolk Canyon sailed Saturday with Rudee Inlet Charters, clobbering a good catch of blueline tilefish, Capt. Skip Feller.  The catch was almost the best he’d ever seen, especially the sizes of the fish. At least 50 were citation bluelines, fish 10 pounds or larger. Out-of-season sea bass were mixed in and released. The trip didn’t fish deeper, where other fish like golden tilefish can show up, because the weather was somewhat breezy. Sixteen-hour trips are sailing to Norfolk Canyon every Saturday from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. for catches including blueline tilefish, golden tiles, black belly rosefish, wreckfish and groupers. The forecast for this coming Saturday currently looks questionable, but if the trip gets weathered out, Sunday looks good, and the trip will be moved to then. In other news, rockfishing was incredible on the ocean for boaters from Virginia Beach, and the stripers were big. Probably the most 40- and 50-pounders Skip ever saw were landed. Boaters who sailed today limited out on the linesiders. Bluefin tuna, as many as anglers could want, also filled the ocean 2 miles from shore. Most were 150 to 200 pounds, and a 317-pounder was the biggest Skip knew about so far this season. Fishing in general was good. Call: 757-422-5700 or 757-425-3400. Visit Web Site.

The annual Mid Atlantic Rockfish Shootout kicked off on Thursday, and the rockfish or striped bass and bluefin tuna were everywhere, a report on Virginia Beach Fishing Center’s Web site said. The tournament lasted through Saturday, and the marina reported lots of sizeable stripers to the 50-pound class, including numerous in the 40-pound range, weighed in through the weekend. Stripers in winter migrate to the local ocean, pouring down from the entire Northeast seaboard. Sometimes they stay all winter, if waters are relatively warm, and sometimes they stay a shorter time, then slip down to the coast off North Carolina, if waters are cold. So far, waters were warm this season. Bluefin tuna, many of them from 100 to 200 pounds, sometimes topping 200, occasionally larger than 300, were checked in. The bluefins, the last week or two, were mixed in with the rockfish. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Hatteras

Blackfin tuna fishing was “out of control,” a report on Teach’s Lair Marina’s Web site said. “Totally off the hook.” A few yellowfin tuna were in the mix, “not as many as we would like to see,” the report said. Amberjacks were also mixed with the blackfins. If you catch the a.j.’s while jigging for blackfins, “ya just ain’t got the jigging-rhythm down right,” the report said. Violent jigging will produce the tuna. “If your jigging technique is off a little bit, you will get an amberjack,” the report said again. Very scattered mahi mahi were around. Surf casting for speckled sea trout was fickle, but produced some daily. If surf anglers fish a spot 10 minutes without a hit, they should move. Surf fishing this time of year is especially about running and gunning, and the jetties at Buxton are a great place to start. Then anglers can work their way north or south from there. Three or four puppy drum were known about that were beached from the surf in the past week. One trip on a boat ran across a school of 60 or 70 drum at the shoals while returning from offshore. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Islamorada

Lots of sailfish were swiped, said Capt. Bruce Anderson from Captain Easy Charters. A usual variety of fish were beaten, but sailfishing was on. Trips either trolled the sails offshore of the edge of the reef on live ballyhoos, or cast to the sails in the shallows inshore of the reef at bait the fish showered along the surface. Also on board, plenty of king mackerel were axed, and a big wahoo, 50 pounds, was nailed. Sometimes mahi mahi bit, and a few blackfin tuna were socked. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.

A trip today on the party boat Miss Islamorada limited out on yellowtail snappers, so returned to port early, Capt. Ben Loy said. The fish were good-sized, weighing 1 to 2 pounds, and were light-tackled on spinning rods, fun fishing. Small chunks of bait were drifted toward the surface in a chum slick to catch them. This was the first day that yellowtail snapper fishing was good since a cold front last week. But the weather now warmed, reaching the high 70s, and the fish bit. Last week lots of porgies and hogfish were bailed on the boat. They’re more active in the cold. A couple of king mackerel were usually walloped aboard each day, and more should show up any time. They move in during winter. Visit Web Site.

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