NEW YORK

Point Lookout

Annual cod fishing will launch Sunday on trips 7 a.m. to 4  p.m. daily on the party boat Captain Al, Capt. Tom Weiss said. This is the closest daily cod fishing to New Jersey on this website. Daily fishing for blackfish aboard will continue through Saturday, the final day of blackfish season in this area. The ocean’s a little colder than usual, at 46 to 46 ½ degrees. Tom likes water 42 to 46 for cod. That’s prime. Quite a few mackerel schooled, so the bait is there. Herring are being seen in bays and back waters. A ton are swimming creeks and along docks. He saw a couple of cod come aboard at inshore spots where they should swim this time of season. As the ocean becomes colder, they pull farther from shore. But the boat’s been fishing for blackfish in deeper water, not where cod would be currently. The blackfishing currently was okay, alright. Lots of smaller bit in the past week or so. On some days, the number of bigger is better. Still, the blackfishing’s been decent this year aboard. See More Info. Call: 516-623-2248.

DELAWARE/MARYLAND

Maryland’s striped bass season closed beginning Sunday on Chesapeake Bay, and not many of the fish were hooked this season, online reports said. A few anglers scratched out a few big stripers at the mouth of the bay. Schoolie stripers to 24 inches bit at night in the cold in the bay. Practically no big, migrating stripers were reported caught from the ocean off Delaware and Maryland. All those fish seemed to migrate beyond 3 miles from shore, where striper fishing is closed. Delaware boats had been sailing north to land a few off New Jersey, like near Sea Isle City. That angling seemed to be tapering off now, though rough weather prevented most of the trips this past week. Delaware boaters who fished the mouth of Delaware Bay for stripers last week were disappointed. One report said a friend worked the mouth of the bay for 5 hours two Sundays ago without a bite. That angler said the water was 43 degrees. Stripers are infrequently hooked in water that cold. That’s about the limit.

NORTH CAROLINA

Hatteras

Puppy drum, summer flounder and speckled sea trout were eased from the surf, River from Teach’s Lair Marina wrote on the marina’s Facebook page. On a trip at Hatteras Point, he hooked and lost a good-sized puppy immediately. A few minutes later, he banked a 26-incher. His friends fished the beach elsewhere. So they moved to the point and pulled in several of the puppies. Bait or Gulps caught, and the water was clear. On River’s next trip, the water was full of grass at the point. He only saw dog sharks landed.  Elsewhere that day, water was clearer, and a few puppies, flounder and black drum were dragged onto the shore. If the conditions are right, the fish will bite. Visit Website.

Atlantic Beach

A few giant bluefin tuna, not many, were heaved in, said Loretta Davis from Captain Stacy Fishing Center. Boaters from the area found hardly any last December and January. Some were tied into that December, looking like a fishery was going to develop. Then the tuna disappeared. So a few were located recently, but nothing like two or three years ago. Then again, weather kept most trips from sailing, like in New Jersey. Anglers will see how the angling develops now from Atlantic Beach. When boaters did have the weather to sail offshore, wahoo fishing was particularly good. Lots of wahoos. Visit Website.

FLORIDA

Marathon

Capt. Greg Fabrizzi from Manicsportfishing from Keyport, N.J., arrived in the Florida Keys to fish through winter like he does each year, he said. His trips mostly fish on the ocean side for reef fish to sailfish, blackfin tuna, king mackerel, daytime swordfishing and other catches between. Call: 908-216-8355. Follow on Facebook.

Islamorada

The days around Christmas are when Capt. Joe Hughes from Jersey Cape Guide Service from Sea Isle City, N.J., begins annual charters to the Florida Keys, he said. He runs the trips mostly on weekends and holidays through Easter, then returns to Sea Isle to fish the rest of the year. His trips from the Keys mostly fish the bay and back country, but sometimes the ocean side. Catches in the bay and back country include redfish, speckled sea trout, snook, permit, tarpon and much more. Visit Website. Call: 609-827-3442.

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