Tips for a great fall tautog season

Tautog (or Blackfish) are a great eating fish with a grey/white delicate meat. Rhode Island and Massachusetts have the same trophy fish regulation. Anglers are allowed just one trophy fish, 21” or larger, the minimum size is still 16” and a ten-fish boat limit applies for private recreational vessels. Until Oct. 14, there is a three fish/person/day limit, and then it jumps to five fish from Oct. 15 to Dec. 31.

The tautog bite is on and building. “There are two times during the year when tautog are in shallow water … during the spring and then in late summer/early fall,” said Jeff Sullivan of Sam’s Bait & Tackle, Middletown. In early fall tautog tend to be in lower water, 10 to 20 feet, and as the water cools, they can be found in deeper water.

Here are some tips from the best tautog sharpies in the region.

Find structure to find tautog

Tautog are a territorial species, you have to find them, they are not going to find you. An angler on one side of the boat can be catching fish, yet his colleague on the other side of the boat will not be catching fish. So, if you get no bites move to another spot — a different area on the boat, or a few feet away if fishing from shore. Tautog can be fished from shore or boat, and in both cases they like structure such as rocks, wrecks, bridge piers, dock pilings, mussel beds, ledges, holes, and humps on the bottom.

From shore look for rocky coast like the Cape Cod Canal; Beavertail Point, Jamestown; off Newport; and around jetty and breachway rocks. From a boat I have had good luck at Plum Light house; the rock wall north of Coddington Cove, Portsmouth; Hope Island; Brenton Reef and out on the Fountain ledge off Newport; Whale Rock; the bolder field between Pt. Judith and Scarbrough Beach, Narragansett; General Rock area, North Kingstown; Ohio Ledge in the East Passage; and mussel beds in the lower Bay off Jamestown and Newport.

Crabs are the preferred tautog bait

Both cut green crabs and Asian crabs work well. When using green crabs, I like to make it easy for the tautog to bite and take the bait. Break off claws and leave one or two legs on each side of the crab, cut the crab in half, and hook it through one leg socket and out another. I often take the shell off too. Traditional tautog rigs are simple, with two hooks and a sinker. I prefer to use one hook to reduce bottom tie ups.

“My bait of choice are Asian crabs,” said Sullivan. “If they are soft (particularly in the spring) you might have to stack more than one on a hook.”

Preferred rigs or jigs

“I jig all the time unless conditions such as deep water, heavy structure, etc. dictate a traditional rig. The jigs I use are generally 1/2 to 3/4 of an ounce, with my favorite colors being white and orange. I think that these colors tend to get more attention when down at the bottom of the water column,” said Sullivan.

As an alternative, when on heavy structure I prefer to use an egg sinker rig that has reduced bottom tie ups by 60 percent. The egg sinker slides on a small piece of monofilament adorned with red and white beads which has a two-way swivel on each end, a pre-snelled lazar sharp hook is attached to the end of the swivel and hangs down about eight inches.

Where’s the bite?

Striped bass, bluefish, bonito, false albacore:“Before the storm this past weekend, fishing was outstanding, with striped bass, bluefish and bonito moving into the beaches, with Monahan’s Dock producing well for anglers,” said Elisa Cahill of Snug Harbor Marina, South Kingstown.

Tom Giddings of the Tackle Box, Warwick, said, “We closed for a couple of days because of the storm, but prior to that the bonito, bass and bluefish were on fire in Narragansett Bay, with fish from Providence all the way down to Newport, Jamestown and Narragansett. Anglers were catching good sized bonito in the East Passage.”

Jeff Sullivan of Sam’s Bait & Tackle, Middletown, said, “The bluefish, striped bass, bonito, and false albacore bite has been outstanding. We had surface blitzes of good-sized bluefish in the 15-to-16-pound range. They were herding sea herring. And the bass bite was outstanding off Brenton Reef, at Land’s End and off the Sakonnet River. But the real story last week were the bonito and false albacore bite out in front and in the lower Bay at Rose Island, off Goat Island, with good sized bonito, which all seemed to be chasing anchovies and peanut bunker.”

Tautog

Tautog fishing has been heating up. Tom Giddings of the Tackle Box said, “Tautog fishing had been very good before the storm in the Bay and out in front. The hope is it will be even better once the water clears.”

“After a storm, the water is turbid and dirty. The sand in the water from flood and wind conditions irritate the gills of tautog and they tend to stay put. And, they cannot see your bait,” said Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle.

“Tautog fishing has been slow. So far, a few large fish being caught in shallow water in the Bay, with most anglers catching a lot of shorts along the southern Rhode Island coastline,” said Elisa Cahill of Snug Harbor Marina.

Tuna

“The giant bluefin tuna bite has been very good. However, it closed last week and reopens with new monthly quota on Oct. 1. Giants were being caught close to shore, with a good bite just a mile or two off Narragansett as well as at Cox Ledge. However, the school or recreational size smaller tuna has been off,” said Jeff Sullivan of Sam’s Bait & Tackle. “Customers were catching some yellow fin tuna off Newport before the storm. Let us hope that continues after the storm,” said Tom Giddings of the Tackle Box.

Freshwater

Freshwater fishing for both trout and largemouth bass has been good in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. “Top water lures and frogs are working well when they’re feeding on the surface at sunrise, and later in the day when they are down deeper, spinner baits are working for anglers,” said Jeff Bullivan of Sam’s Bait.

Dave Monti holds a master captain’s license and charter fishing license. He serves on a variety of boards and commissions and has a consulting business focusing on clean oceans, habitat preservation, conservation, renewable energy, and fisheries related issues and clients. Forward fishing news and photos to dmontifish@verizon.net  or visit www.noflukefishing.com .