Northeast coast
Tautog (blackfish)
Tautoga onitis
The structure specialist of the northeast rocks. Crabs, patience, heavy drag.
What they like
- 3–20 musual depth (they tolerate 1–50 m)
- 10–22 °Cwater temperature they feed in
- clear or coloured waterwater clarity
- rough bottom, drop-offs, the shorelinebottom they hunt, in order
- any tidetide
- daylightlight
Boulders, jetties, wrecks and mussel beds in spring and autumn; they leave the shallows below 10 °C.
Season by region
Peak months, shaded. Outside them the species may still be around, just less reliably.
Bait and technique
Methods: bait.
Bait and lures: Green crabs, Asian crabs, clams on a tog jig or a double-hook rig.
Technique: Sit right over the rocks, feel for the tap-tap, set hard before the fish gets back into its hole.
Rules
Atlantic states: Strict seasons and small limits by state (about 15-16 in). Verify with your state.
Seasons, sizes and bag limits change every year and differ by zone. Check the current regulations before you keep anything.
Preferences are expert estimates from the fisheries literature and angling practice, not measurements at your spot. The likelihoods on the maps are a planning aid, not a catch prediction.