NEW YORK

Point Lookout

None of the daily trips for cod sailed in the frigid cold in past days on the party boat Captain Al, Capt. Tom Weiss said. But weather is supposed to be warmer now, and he hoped to resume the fishing today. A few anglers said they wanted to jump aboard this day. Ice prevented many boats from fishing, locking them into slips, along New Jersey’s coast, Tom heard. That almost never happens at the Captain Al’s dock, because the marina is near the inlet. But this cold spell was so bitter and long that 2 inches of ice even surrounded the Captain Al. That broke up yesterday. Trips are slated to sail for cod 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.  The boat is this website’s only that fishes for cod every day, each winter. See More Info. Call: 516-623-2248.

DELAWARE/MARYLAND

A few boats are sailing for blackfish from Delaware, according to online reports. Weather is warming this week, after two weeks of severe cold, and news should begin to roll in about the angling. Not much was reported about the tautog while the temperatures had plummeted. Striped bass fishing fizzled for ocean boaters before the cold began those two weeks ago. The boaters had caught for a moment just before, but soon the stripers seemed to school beyond three miles from shore, where fishing for stripers is closed. The fish never gave up catches in Delaware’s surf. The bass never swam that close to shore there. Throwback stripers bit in Delaware’s surf briefly, just before the cold. Delaware Bay was pretty much clogged with ice last week. That used to be common but not in recent years. 

NORTH CAROLINA

Hatteras

The water at the boat basin was entirely frozen over last week, a report said on Teach’s Lair Marina’s website. The ice completely surrounded boats in slips and stretched from one bank to another, solid, with no open water at the marina, photos showed in the report. Anglers might’ve heard stories about that happening years ago, and it happened now. Ice covered creeks and back waters – shallow waters – and temperatures reached highs like 28 degrees and lows in the teens on a couple of days. Until the fish thaw, that was the news! it said. Weather was warming this week. Visit Website.

Atlantic Beach

A bunch of bluefin tuna swam the local ocean in December, said Loretta Davis from Captain Stacy Fishing Center. Then bluefin fishing was closed, and opened back up on Jan. 1. Nothing was heard about the fish since. They seemed to disappear, but weather kept most boats from fishing the past two weeks. Scarce fishing could be a reason for no news about bluefins. North Carolina was affected by the same cold front that the Northeast was. Weather was unusually cold and rough. This photo of a bluefin was posted on the marina’s Facebook page on Wednesday. Someone who commented on the photo asked if bluefins were biting. Another person answered: Yup. But Loretta, who’s knowledgeable, heard about no bite, she said. Customers are waiting for the fishery to take off, like the angling usually does this time of year. The bluefin in the photo was 96 inches and believed to weigh 357 pounds. “I’m pretty sure,” someone from the marina said about the weight in a comment that was posted. Visit Website.

FLORIDA

Islamorada

Fishing’s been great, said Capt. Bruce Andersen from Captain Easy Charters. That was because fewer anglers fished since the hurricane in fall. Sailfishing was good, and plenty of blackfin tuna were hooked during sailfishing. The sails and tuna were landed offshore of the reef on live bait like cigar minnows and goggle eyes trolled or fished on kites on light, 20-pound spinning or conventional rods. Fishing at the reef itself, about 4 miles from port, was terrific for mangrove, yellowtail and mutton snappers. Farther from shore, deep-dropping for yelloweye and vermillion snappers was excellent in 400 feet of water. Electric reels were used for that, unless anglers wanted to hand-crank. Cut bait like squid was fished during the deep-dropping. Weather’s been pretty good. Sometimes cold fronts will move in, typical for winter. Then days will be chillier and windier. The next few days are supposed to be beautiful with flat-calm seas. Call: 305-360-2120. Visit Website.

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