Tautog were very common off the coast of
Maryland and Virginia, then
nearly wiped out in the 1990's due to overfishing. Populations
have recovered and fishing for these hard fighters remains
very popular. Good fishing for tautog occurs in
March through April. This fishing occurs over shipwrecks
and artificial reefs in water from 50 to 100 feet. This
"first" part of the tog season actually begins when the
sea bass move off, maybe in December and runs until they
return which is early May or so.
From May until
September, togs are sporadically on (actually
IN) structure from the beach out to 100 feet or so.
While tautog can be caught in the summer, it's often hard to get a
bait past black sea bass and other summer residents. Fresh hard crabs, clams, sand
fleas, shrimp, or other shellfish make the best baits for
tautog fishing..
Anglers new to tog fishing are
often surprised to find that actually moving the boat 10
feet can be the difference between a great catch and an
unproductive trip. This is very hard to instill in the
crew unless they witness it first hand. The fish hold
tight to structure, so it's critical to be precise in
positioning the boat over the structure.
In
addition to ocean structure, tautog can be found inside local
inlets around pilings, rubble, jetties or other structure that
provides growth of barnacles, mussels and and other food
sources. They are also found near suitable structure from the
Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, on up the bay into Maryland.
Tackle
is very basic, just a simple hand tied leader with 1 or 2
hooks and a smooth shaped sinker. Medium to heavy rods and
conventional reels work best, filled with either braided line
or mono in the 30-50 lb. range. Hooking them is an art as they
are masters at eluding the hook. Holding the leader still,
using a short brisk motion to set the hook and frequently
checking your bait will help in catching fish.
Tautog grow
very slowly, and conservation is important. It is a good
practice to identify the sex of the fish and release most of
the females.