NEW YORK

Point Lookout

On the party boat Captain Al, a few ling and cod were picked from the ocean Friday and Saturday, Capt. Tom Weiss said. Fishing “was on the slow side,” he said, and the trips fished in 130 to 180 feet.  Waters were 40.5 degrees, a little warmer than before. A few small blackfish, out-of-season in New York, were released. The Captain Al is this site's closest cod boat to New Jersey. When cod are in, trips target them. Otherwise trips fish wrecks for a mix of cod, ling or other bottom fish. Looking ahead, New York’s porgy season will open in mid-May, and anglers aboard usually nail some big ones. Sea bass season is yet to be determined, but if sea bass season is opened, trips will also fish for them. Sea bass season opened on May 19 last year. Trips are sailing 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. See More Info. Call: 516-623-2248.

VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

Weather was calm, and the weekly party boat trip to Norfolk Canyon sailed Saturday with Rudee Inlet Charters, Capt. Skip Feller. Fishing was good, mostly for blueline tilefish to 17 pounds, cranked from 300-foot shallows. Out-of-season sea bass, lots, were released. Then the trip pushed farther offshore to 600 to 900 feet, a quick drop in this area. Wreckfish, barrelfish, black belly rosefish and several golden tilefish, small ones, were pumped in. Waters were 50 degrees. 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 and early spring. 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.

NORTH CAROLINA

Oregon Inlet

Boaters from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center on Friday landed five giant bluefin tuna, and each boat that day caught at least one bluefin in the smaller-slot size-limit, Elisha King said. Bluefins 300 pounds or larger are generally considered giants, and the smaller slot is 27 inches long to less than 73. Afterward, the fishing was “kind of hit or miss,” she said, but on Saturday, two giants were bagged, and three were released. Mako sharks and tilefish were also docked that day. Nobody sailed from the marina on Easter Sunday. On Monday, a 500-pound giant was released. Visit Web Site.

Hatteras

Bluefin tuna busted waters or breached everywhere on the fishing grounds on Easter Sunday,  a report said on the Web site from The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair Marina. The tuna to larger than 350 pounds were “all over the dock. … Boy, it was one of those days,” it said. The fish were trolled and vertical-jigged, and a bigeye tuna, the first seen at the marina in two years, was also caught. One boat bottom-fished, piling up a bunch of triggerfish and tilefish. The anglers aboard also decked a 42-pound grouper and released an 80-inch shark. Surf-fishing improved “immensely,” the report said. Lots of blow toads filled the waters, and a few sea mullet swam around. A few puppy drum were beached at Hatteras Inlet. “So it’s finally starting to look like spring,” the report said.  Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Islamorada

Big king mackerel were smoked with Captain Easy Charters, Capt. Bruce Andersen said. They were livelined on cigar minnows, along the offshore edge of the reef, a few miles from port. Farther out, at the Islamorada Hump, 11 miles from shore, lots of amberjacks were beaten. That’s an underwater dome, rising 290 feet from bottom, in 600 feet of waters. Blackfin tuna, small ones, were also gaffed there. Amberjacks gather at the hump to spawn this time of year. Big sharks including tigers, duskies, hammerheads and occasional makos feed on the a.j.’s, and a couple of trips targeted the sharks. Duskies to 400 pounds and hammerheads a couple of hundred pounds apiece were wrestled. Fishing was good through the week. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.

The season’s final traveling trips to the Florida Keys fished during the weekend with Capt. Joe Hughes from Jersey Cape Guide Service from Sea Isle City, N.J. The boat afterward was trailered back to New Jersey, and Joe will begin striped bass fishing from Sea Isle. On the Keys trips, Jay VonCzoernig and Dave Stuart climbed aboard, strictly fly-fishing. Dave hooked and released a tarpon larger than 100 pounds on a Black Death fly. Afterward, weather turned cool, turning off tarpon fishing, and they fly-rodded redfish, speckled sea trout, barracudas, jacks and a big snook on Clouser Minnows and shrimp flies. The Keys trips, mostly on weekends, fish from Christmas to Easter each year, and can be a mini, fish-filled vacation. 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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