VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

Boaters from Virginia Beach Fishing Center were usually limiting out on striped bass along the ocean front, even during rough weather, Carter Shewbridge said. None of the fish was huge, but many weighed 20 to 30 pounds, and she said in past reports that the anglers fish for the stripers with everything from eels to trolled umbrella rigs. The head boats at the marina finally bottom fished Saturday after being weathered out the past several Saturdays, and patrons nabbed a few big flounder, including a 9-pounder, and lots of good-sized sea bass. Those trips are running every Saturday when the weather allows. Virginia Beach Fishing Center features a marina, a tackle shop, charter boats and party boats and is located near the beach, boardwalk, hotels, ocean and Chesapeake Bay, near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Visit Web Site.

NORTH CAROLINA

Hatteras

Surf fishers beached scattered striped bass, “and when I say scattered, I mean scattered,” said Dave Hissey from The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair. If the water stays cold, more stripers might arrive this season, and the water was 60 degrees yesterday, but the temp was probably dropping now because of rough, cooler weather. Surf anglers also hauled in an occasional slot-sized puppy drum, and drum were hooked each month last winter, a mild year. Scattered small blues also hit the suds, and so did a few flounder. Stiff weather kept offshore boaters from fishing in the past week, but previously they got into good king mackerel fishing and sometimes boated tuna and wahoo. Visit Web Site.

Atlantic Beach

Offshore boaters had been catching giant bluefin tuna, but rough seas kept them from fishing lately, said Loretta Davis from Captain Stacy Fishing Center. The party boat Captain Stacy will bottom fish on a couple of charters this weekend and will run open-boat bottom trips January 19. Patrons on the vessel reel in red snappers, silver snappers, groupers, triggerfish and such species on two types of open trips: an all-day outing and a 24-hour run. Visit Web Site.

LOUISIANA

Venice
                              
After great wahoo fishing December 21, the next few trips through last week with Paradise Outfitters were disappointing to the captain “but a success in the eyes of the customers,” the report on its web site said. One day produced a blackfin tuna, a jack and a shark bite, and the shark attacked among big sharks, tuna and porpoises that were balling up bait. “Not a memorable day, but we did the best we could,” the report said. A charter the next day produced six wahoos, including one that leapt into the boat without being hooked as the angler lifted the bait out of the water to clear the line. The next charter was great, with 12 bites in 4 hours and 12 fish landed: nine wahoos and three blackfins. Another charter the same day came back with five wahoos and four jacks. On Monday one charter grabbed a 35-pound yellowfin tuna and one bonito, returning home early in rough seas, and another charter fought a few bonito to the boat and missed a wahoo, returning early because of a steering problem. Wahoo fishing is a big thing in winter in the Gulf of Mexico out of Venice, and big, triple-digit yellowfin tuna that usually show up at the Midnight Lump in the Gulf is the main event during the cold months. Apparently the best fishing for both was yet to come, provided all goes like normal this winter, and Paradise Outfitters’ winter season was just getting started. Paradise fishes offshore in the Gulf for big game and also targets the Gulf’s rigs and wrecks for snappers, cobia, groupers, amberjacks and such fish. Call: 985-845-8006. Visit Web Site.

FLORIDA

Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Boca Raton

Mostly sailfish, king mackerel and bonito were the targets in the ocean, and the action was just beginning this winter, and not much cooler weather had arrived yet, so the season was starting late but would only get better, said Capt. Ron Mallet from the Just Add Water. He was visiting New York in the past days, but before he left, he fished on two trips: one offshore during fair weather and one inshore during rough weather. The offshore trip produced king mackerel and Spanish mackerel, and anglers on a nearby boat scored a double-header of sailfish. On the inshore trip Ron’s anglers pinned down barracuda at the inlet and jack crevalles, smaller ones but quite a few, in the canals. One of the great things about Ron’s charters is that the inlet, harbor and canals can be fished either when the ocean is too rough or when charters simply prefer the calm back waters. All of his fishing, both for big game in the ocean and small game in the back, is usually done with live bait, often pilchards. Call: 954-423-8700. Visit Web Site.

Islamorada

Charters fought good-sized wahoos, lots of king mackerel and a few sailfish on live bait and also bottom fished and boated groupers and amberjacks, said Capt. Bruce Anderson from Captain Easy Charters. The groupers and amberjacks hovered around wrecks in 100 to 250 feet, and the wahoos and kings swam in the same area, although the wrecks didn’t have to be targeted specifically for them. The sails showed up in a little shallower water in 140 feet. Sailfishing was okay so far but wasn’t red hot yet. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.

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