Spring tautog tips from the experts

Amanda Riffkin caught and released this 9.5 pound tautog this weekend on Flippin Out Charters, Portsmouth. 

Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle said, “Jason Christopher of Providence caught tautog to 22” this weekend. Out of 30 tautog, 12 of them were keepers, most released.” 

Spring tautog tips from the experts

If you have not tried spring tautog fishing, now is the time to do it as the spring fishing has been great. 

Chris Torre of Red Top Sporting Goods, Buzzards Bay, MA said, “The tautog bite in Buzzards Bay and in the Cape Cod Canal has been great.” John Lavallee of Continental Bait & Tackle, Cranston, RI said, “The tautog fishing has been the best it has been in years.  Fishing is so good customers have to work hard to catch an undersized fish.”

The tautog minimum size is 16” with a three fish/person/day limit and a 10 fish per boat maximum.  The catch limit in Massachusetts drops from three fish to one fish on May 31 for the months of June and July during the spawning season.  In Rhode Island the season close for June and July during the spawning season.

Here are some spring tautog fishing tips:

1.       Easy to bite and keep it still in spring.  Dave Hess of Breachway Bait & Tackle, Charleston said, “I have found tautog jigs effective, particularly when there is little water movement.  Smaller baits seem to work best in spring. I cut the legs and often pull off most of the shell of a green crab cut in half.  And, I believe in keeping the bait still on the bottom.”

2.       Warm and shallower water in spring. Dave Henault, Ocean State Tackle,  Providence, said, “Tautog are in a pre-spawn state so they are looking for warmer water, that means you will tend to find them in shallower water in the spring and not necessarily over structure, they can be found on a sandy bottom next to or near structure too.”

3.       Feel the bite… tap, tap and then get ready for a tug of war.  Tautog is a quick hook set.  Feel a bite and get ready to set the hook.  Angler Rich Hittinger, vice president of the RI Saltwater Anglers, said, “If you get two bites with no hook-up your bait is gone. Reel in and re-bait.”

4.       Boat placement is important and chum.  Find structure with electronics, estimate wind/drift direction and anchor up current from where you want to fish and drift back to the spot as the anchor is setting.  Once in position, fish all sides of the boat.  Ken Landry of Ray’s Bait & Tackle in Warwick suggests casting a bit to cover as much area as you can.  If still no bites, let some anchor line out a couple of times to change your position, if still no bites it is time to move the vessel.  Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait said, “To attract tautog to where you are fishing many anglers find chumming effective.  Grass shrimp is a popular chum for tautog in the spring, other anglers grind up quahogs and we sell a lot of whole clams for chum.  Clams are easy to cut up when frozen and they are fairly cheap.”

Where’s the bite?

Tautog. Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle said, “Jason Christopher of Providence caught tautog to 22” this weekend using jigs.  He and his party caught about 30 tautog, 12 of them were keepers.  And when fishing on Flippin Out Charters, Amada Riffkin of Lincoln caught a 9.5 pound tautog that she released.”  Charter Captains, like BJ Silvia of Flippin Out Charters, are often releasing large female tautog that have great egg producing and spawning potential. 

Dave Hess of Breachway Bait & Tackle said, “The tautog bite is very good from boat and shore.  The fish are in 20 to 25 feet of water with green crabs and worms being the bait of choice.”  Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle Warwick said, “The tautog bite is good, customers are catching them at Ohio Ledge, Conimicut Light and Plum Island light in North Kingstown.  Green crabs and worms are working for anglers.” 

John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait & Tackle, Riverside said, “The tautog bites has been good at the Day Marker off Rumstick Point, Barrington.  One customer caught sixteen keepers and released them all, the largest was 8.5 pounds off the Bridge in Barrington in the rain last Sunday.”

Striped bass fishing continues to improve along the coastal shore, in estuaries and in the Bay.  Dave Hess of Breachway Bait & Tackle said, “Fishing has been great from the beaches, breachways and jetties with anglers catching school bass with 30” keepers mixed in.  The worm hatch in salt ponds has started with anglers catching bass on flies and lures that mimic cinder worms.” Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle said, “It will not be long before we have the large fish here.  Right now anglers are catching school bass, averaging about 20” in Greenwich Bay at Buttonwoods, Sally Rock and off Oakland Beach.  Soft baits such as Storm Shads are working well and many are having good luck with the Rebel Jumpin Minnow and lures like it.”

John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait said, “One customer caught a 35” and 31” striped bass from the rocks off Narragansett.  The fish were loaded with lice.  Keepers have also been caught in the Bay and up the Barrington River.  Anglers in river are floating worms, clam tongue and whole squid to catch keepers there.” Chris Torre of Red Top said, “Customers are catching school bass with some 28 to 30 inch fish mixed in on the Canal.”

Fluke fishing is still slow as the water is cold. A warm day or two and things will explode as bait is around.

Freshwater fishing.  Chris Torre of Red Top Sporting Goods, Buzzards Bay said, “We are behind on the largemouth bass season by a couple of weeks.  With this warmer weather the bass will start bedding, I fished New York last we and the pre-spawn had started there.  The trout bite from the Cape to Fall River has been great.  We weighed in a seven plus pond rainbow last week.” Dave Hess of Breachway Bait & Tackle said, “The trout bite in stocked ponds continues to be very strong and now that the water is warming the largemouth bass bite has been good too.”  Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait and Tackle said, “Customers continue to catch trout at stocked ponds like Barber and Silver Spring Lake in North Kingstown.  The largemouth bite has been good for customers at Gorton’s Pond, Warwick.”  John Lavallee of Continental Bait & Tackle said, “Hats off to DEM.  The trout bite has been so good in ponds stocked by DEM that even causal anglers are catching 2.5 pound trout.  The trout bite at Curran Reservoir and the Pawtuxet River is good in Cranston.”