NEW YORK

Point Lookout

Daily cod trips were weathered out from wind and rough seas in past days on the party boat Captain Al, a post on the vessel’s Facebook page said. But the crew shaped up to sail every day, and hoped to resume fishing soon. A trip sailed Friday, and cod were scattered. Lots of wrecks were fished, and cod turned up at each place, “but they weren’t concentrated,” the post said.  Someone posted on the boat’s page, saying he fished on the trip, and probably a dozen keepers were swung aboard. The captain tried hard, and the crew was good, the angler who posted said. The crew hopes the fish resume “bunching,” the post from the boat said, and is “raring to go.” The Captain Al is this site's closest boat to New Jersey sailing for cod daily. Trips run 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call: 516-623-2248. See More Info.

VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

Weather was rough through the weekend, so the weekly party boat trip to Norfolk Canyon sailed Monday instead with Rudee Inlet Charters, Capt. Skip Feller said. The trips are slated for every Saturday but sometimes sail on one of the next couple of days if weather looks better. Forecasts appeared calm for Monday, but weather and seas ended up rough. But the trip fished, and all anglers limited out on sea bass, a great catch. The sea bass weighed up to 6 pounds, and a few blueline tilefish were tugged in. Weather kept the trip from fishing deeper like the trips sometimes do. When trips fish deeper, additional fish are usually cranked up. They can include wreckfish, barrelfish, black belly rosefish and a few golden tilefish or groupers. The boat usually fishes shallow first for sea bass and blueline tilefish. Afterward – when possible, like if that fishing goes well and seas are calm enough – the trips move deeper to catch the other fish. The unique trips, running 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Saturday, sail to Norfolk Canyon, 4 to 4 ½ hours from port, each winter. Sometimes when weather is predicted for a Saturday, anglers will be offered to sail on that Sunday or Monday, if weather looks better. Call: 757-422-5700 or 757-425-3400. Visit Web Site.

Anglers on two boats from the marina braved winds on Saturday, motoring to the ocean, a report on Virginia Beach Fishing Center’s Web site said. But they caught nothing, and “rapidly (lost) their spirits,” the report said. No other reports were posted on the site through the past week. Striped bass were yet to swim inshore of 3 miles from the coast of Virginia, the report said. Fishing for them is closed beyond 3 miles. By this time of year, the fish schooling beyond 3 miles is usual. But striper fishing never really took off on the ocean this season off Virginia. In the recent past, the fishing was incredible. The fish are large, mature bass that migrate from the entire Northeast Coast to winter off Virginia. Last year, bluefin tuna were also caught within several miles from shore in winter. That was unusual. This year, stripers and a handful of bluefins were landed briefly in early winter. In past years, the marina reported large schools of stripers including many 40- and 50-pounders swimming within 3 miles from shore in January and early February. By mid to late February, the fish typically schooled farther from shore, for whatever reasons, before migrating back north in late winter. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Manteo

The season’s first bluefin tuna trips will launch this week from Oregon Inlet with Canyon Runner Sport Fishing, an e-mail from Canyon Runner said. The fish started showing up in the past 10 days, and fishing for them seemed to become better and better. “It’s on …!” the e-mail said. Ninety trips are already booked for the fishing on Canyon Runner’s boats, so lock up the dates now. The fishing, only 20 to 30 miles from shore, can last from mid February to mid April. In the past three years, since Canyon Runner began the trips, the fishing averaged 10 to 15 bluefins landed per day with Canyon Runner. The fish averaged 100 to 300 pounds, and dozens weighed 350 to 600 pounds. Charters and open-boat trips are fishing. Call: 732-272-4445. Visit Web Site.

Hatteras

Two trips on one boat from the docks fished offshore in past days, a report said on the Web site from The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair Marina.  The trips scored “fantastic,” the report said, on yellowfin tuna and beat a mako shark. The outings also clubbed sea bass and tilefish, very good catches of both. Few fished offshore, but winter is one of the favorite times of year to fish the blue waters from Hatteras for the crew from the shop. Anglers never know what they’ll catch, whether bluefin tuna, yellowfins, a mako shark thrown in, mahi mahi, tilefish or whatever. “You just never know,” the report said. Not much was landed from the surf, except puppy drum “for those with some time on their hands,” the report said. Dog sharks roamed the surf. Weather was cold with gusts more than 40 knots from the northwest during the weekend, but better weather was coming. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Islamorada

Some of the traveling charters to the Florida Keys fished this weekend aboard, said Capt. Joe Hughes from Jersey Cape Guide Service from Sea Isle City, N.J. The trips fish each winter, mostly on weekends, and on trips Saturday and Sunday, John Martin and Steve Luski climbed aboard. Saturday was fiercely windy, during the season’s strongest cold front to arrive in Florida. Still, they fished that day, and that’s the great thing about the Keys: There’s always someplace to catch fish, no matter the weather, important on vacation. On that day, they fished near port in Islamorada, tackling a bunch of jacks, including large ones, snappers, ladyfish and all kinds different fish, on live and Gulp shrimp on jigheads. In the evening, they landed a tarpon and jumped three. At first, they weren’t targeting tarpon, fishing with Gulp shrimp on light rods for the other fish. Three tarpon were jumped and got off, and one was fought a while. When tarpon were known to be around, a pinfish was livelined on a heavier rod, and the fourth tarpon was landed and released. Tarpon fishing’s been good on the trips this winter. On Sunday, weather was better, and the anglers boated across the bay to fish in the Everglades near Cape Sable. They whacked a bunch of snook to larger than 15 pounds, big ones, and redfish, speckled sea trout, snappers and jacks, on live and Gulp shrimp on jigheads. Anglers can arrive on a Friday, fish all day Saturday and part of Sunday, and be back to work on Monday. Call: 609-827-3442. Visit Web Site.

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