Tautog Fishing Update January 20, 2010

March will be here before we know it,   but before then I am sure we can expect more snow around these parts.  Good old March….she teases us.   We are almost in the process of getting the boats ready, if only the weather would cooperate.  I am tired of the cold weather.

Time to start molding sinkers for my favorite fish…Blackfish or ” Tautog’ as they are known around here.  The name is a matter of where you are from.  Tautog are, pound for pound, THE BEST fighting fish out there.  They are very hard to catch if you are not familiar with their bite.  We use crabs that we catch in traps at the dock.  They are cut in half and we remove the claws, legs and top shell, then insert the hook through one leg cavity and out the other.  Tautog live in rock piles, so when you hook one you must get it off the bottom immediately.  Then the fight is on.  Tautog are great eating fish too.

When Tautog season is over at the end of April, the Striped Bass begin to move in and their season begins in early May.  June brings in the Summer Flounder and Bluefish.

I’m getting ahead of myself.  We still have to get through March.  As soon as the weather starts to moderate, we can get the boats ready.  Have to call the boat mover for our 33’ Webbers Cove, “Adventure 2”,   but   the “Aces Wild 2” we can put in ourselves.

I have cabin fever and I am looking forward to getting out on the water and fishing.