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NEW YORK
Point Lookout
The party boat Captain Al was dry docked for maintenance, Capt. Tom Weiss said. He hopes it’ll begin fishing again this weekend, and 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. Trips are sailing 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. See More Info. Call: 516-623-2248.
VIRGINIA
Virginia Beach
With Rudee Inlet Charters, the weekly party boat trip to Norfolk Canyon was weathered out on Saturday, Capt. Skip Feller said. Was a rough stretch of weather, cancelling trips, the past several weeks. But when trips last sailed, fishing was usually good. Catches included blueline tilefish, wreckfish, barrelfish and black belly rosefish. 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
After being weathered out for nine days, the boats from Canyon Runner Sport Fishing on Friday sailed for bluefin tuna once again, an e-mail from Canyon Runner said. Six to 10 large bluefins were fought on each. So bluefins were still there and snapping, the e-mail said, and were caught 35 miles from Oregon Inlet, mostly on the troll. Charters and open-boat trips are fishing for them, and the angling usually lasts until early April. Call: 732-272-4445. Visit Web Site.
Hatteras
Boats from the docks ran far north on the ocean on Friday, but scored 200-pound bluefin tuna, a report said on the Web site from The Roost Bait & Tackle at Teach’s Lair Marina. “And got them good,” it said, and a few of the trips reeled in multiples. “It was great to see the fish back,” the report said. Trips were headed out for the fish again on Sunday, the report said that day. But no further news was posted about the fishing. Surf fishing was slow, except dog sharks bit. Shelling was great, including for welks on the northern beaches and Scotch bonnets on the southern. Visit Web Site.
FLORIDA
Islamorada
Amberjacks, lots, continued to get boated at the Islamorada Hump with Captain Easy Charters, Capt. Bruce Andersen said. That’s an underwater dome, 11 miles offshore, rising 290 feet from bottom, in 600 feet of waters. The fishing, with live bait dropped down to the Hump, began a couple of weeks ago, and usually does this time of year. Big sharks – bulls, hammerheads and tigers – fed on the amberjacks, and anglers aboard sometimes fought them. Closer to shore, trips nailed a mix of sailfish, king mackerel, blackfin tuna and mutton snappers in 100 to 200 feet. The sails, kings and macks were usually trolled on live bait, and the muttons were hooked on live bait fished at wrecks. A few more mahi mahi started to be caught aboard than before, and by April, charters usually begin targeting them more often. The dolphin are trolled on dead bait or caught on pitched baits, and the fishing usually peaks in May and June. Call: 305-451-9578 or 305-360-2120. Visit Web Site.
Peter Rotelli joined some of the traveling charters to the Florida Keys this weekend aboard, said Capt. Joe Hughes from Jersey Cape Guide Service from Sea Isle City, N.J. Peter fly-fished the whole time, tugging in a bunch of jacks and some speckled sea trout and barracudas both Saturday and Sunday, in the bay near Islamorada. Lots of flies were fished, but a red and white rabbit-strip fly caught best that Joe tied. On Sunday Peter also sight-fished for sharks on the fly on the bay. A dozen sharks swarmed around the boat for two hours, and three bit. One, an 80-pound lemon shark, was hooked and fought before pulling the hook. Different flies were fished for the sharks, but a toad fly got all the bites. The flies were fished on a 12-inch wire tippet on 30-pound leader. Weather was in the mid-70s and a little breezy. Joe will offer the annual Florida trips, fishing each winter, through Easter. Call: 609-827-3442. Visit Web Site.
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