Near record tautog and how to catch them

 Joe Bleczinski of Narragansett, RI and the 18.9 pound tautog he caught off Narragansett at Whale Rock.

Fly fishing expert Ed Lombardo with looks to be a 40” plus striped bass he caught at Narrow River using his fly rod and a large fly.

Near record tautog and how to catch them

Tautog (or black fish) have a delicious white colored flesh and are commonly caught in Rhode Island in the fall (there is a short spring season as well).  They remind me of grouper but are much smaller. They live near or in rocks and are not often sold in fish markets because they are more difficult to catch commercially. Tautog baits include crabs of all types, tautog jigs and some anglers using clam worms in the spring.

The minimum legal size in Rhode Island is 16” with a three fish/person/day limit until October 17^th.  On October 18^th the limit jumps to six fish.  However, a ten fish per boat limit applies for both periods (does not apply to charter boats).

Last week Joe Bleczinski of Narragansett, RI caught a 18.9 pound tautog.  This is a fish of a lifetime.  The Rhode Island state record for tautog is 21 pounds, 4 ounces set in 1954. Joe is vice principal at Warwick Veterans Memorial High School.

Joe Bleczinski's 18.9 pound tautog broke the net handle on the way in.

Joe said, “We were fishing at Whale Rock (at the mouth of the West Passage off Narragansett).    I felt a tug and thought I was stuck at the bottom.  Then the boat started to move sideways and I said ‘Get the net this is a big fish’.  The fish did not fight a lot it just deliberately started to swim away and take the boat with it.” Joe and his fishing mates managed to boat the fish even though it broke the net handle on the way in.

If you want to land tautog here are five tips from Capt. Charlie Donilon of Snappa Charters, Pt. Judith who spoke about tautog fishing this week at a Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) seminar.

Capt. Charlie Donilon, Snappa Characters. 

Fishing rod and line.  Capt. Donilon said “I suggest a longer rod for tautog, ideally something at least seven feet with a little bit of backbone.  The longer rod allows you to raise the rod a greater distance from the water while setting the hook… pulling that fish away from structure.  Braid line allows you a more direct contact with the fish to feel the bite and will not stretch like monofilament line allowing the fish to go back into structure.”

Chumming is important.  “If I am bringing five gallons of crabs on a charter trip, one of them will be used for chum.”  Charlie’s chumming technique is not fancy.  He cuts the legs off green crabs (he uses Asian crabs too) with cutting shears, cuts crabs in half and then throws them in the water throughout the fishing area.

Anchoring over structure.  “I have a heavy anchor for my boat, 20 pounds with 20 feet of chain that allows me to get away with less scope and more accurately positon the boat over structure.”  His scope ratio is more like three to one rather than the seven to one or ten to one ratio commonly recommended based on conditions.

Sharp hooks.  Tautog have tough lips so sharp hooks are necessary.  Capt. Donilon said, “Anglers spend so much time and money to fish so why skimp when it comes to hooks.  I use ‘Lazar Sharp’ hooks.”

 Capt. Charlie Donilon of Snappa Charters, Pt. Judith, takes this New York group tautog  fishing every fall.  “They are some of the best tautog fishermen I know.” said Capt. Donilon.

Finesse the rod as you ride the swells.  “When the boat is rising and falling due to ocean swells you have to finesse the rod making every effort to keep that bait on the bottom in the strike zone.” said Capt. Donilon.  So when the boat rises you need to lower your rod to stay on the bottom and when the boat falls you need to raise the rod to take up the slack so you can feel the bite when it occurs.

Where’s the bite

Striped bass fishing is improving with some bass now being caught in Bays, rivers and coves with an enhance bite along the southern coastal shore and off Newport to Little Crompton.  Ken Landry of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick said, “Customers are catching bass at the Newport Bridge next to the bridge stanchions and then trying their luck outside at Brenton Reef.”  Noted local fly fishing expert Ed Lombardo said, “I got a bass (looked to be 40 plus inches) at Narrow River on a large fly.  Lots of bait in the river right now and the good news is that the bass are starting to move in now.  There are many hickory shad too which are lots of fun on a 6 or 7 weight rod.  Pink flies are working very well.”  Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters, Westerly said, “We (I) had a great night fishing (Monday) for striped bass in the 20 to 30 pound range with eels in the Sugar Reef Passage area (about six miles off Watch Hill on the Block Island-New London Ferry line route). When the clouds covered the big moon the bite was on and things slowed as the moon lite things up.  The shoreline guys are doing well too at Weekapaug Breachway and at Fireman’s Beach.” Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Providence said, “This weekend striped bass were from Brenton Reef to Little Compton close to shore and the bass are taking clams off the beaches on Block Island. They are now starting to come back in our rivers too.”  Many Macedo of  Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren said, “Bluefish and keeper strped bass in the 30” range are being caught in the East Passage off Colt State Park, Popasquash Point, Bristol and the T Wharf at Prudence Island.  We  had a couple of Prudence Island residents come in to buy bait last week.”

“False albacore and bonito are being caught inside New Harbor, Block Island this weekend and were close to shore between Brenton Reef and shore off Newport Sunday.,” said Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle.  Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters said, “The false albacore bite has moved off shore to Fishers Island Sound and Montauk.”

“Skip jack blues are everywhere” said Dave Henault of Ocean State tackle. “There are lots of skip jacks and peanut bunker around.  I mean a lot.  Some angles have caught yellow jack fish under the skip jacks and thought they were bonito or false albacore.  Actually the yellow jacks are very good to eat.”

Black sea bass fishing remains strong off coastal shore in and around Newport.  I fished off Newport and at the mouth of Newport Harbor Sunday and we boated twelve nice keeper sea bass.

Offshore fishing.  Captain Charlie Donilon of Snappa Charters said, “I have been fishing the Mud hole for the past two to three weeks. Last week was the final week taking customers out with the shark cage and we came in contact with mako and blue sharks.  The water was 66 degrees. We caught a false albacore but no bonito or bluefin tuna.  We saw a couple of schools of common dolphins and the draggers are still working the area so you know the area is holding fish and should still be good as long as the bait is there.”