Here are ten tips to help you have a great fall tautog fishing season. Some of these you may have read this spring but they are worth repeating.

Tautog (or Blackfish) is a great eating fish with a white delicate meat. Rhode Island’s Department of Environmental Management regulates recreational tautog fishing. The catch limit before October 16 is three fish/person/day, which jumps to eight fish/person/day on October 17. The season ends December 15. Here are the tips.

1. Fishing in the fall is cold. So dress warm. If you dress in layers you can take them off as the sun warms things up. Do not forget the gloves, I usually have at least four pair with me … water proof neoprene gloves, light cotton gloves, heavy winter gloves… whatever the condition brings I am ready because my hands are the first to get cold. And of course the gloves get wet.

2. Find structure to find tautog. Tautog can be fished from shore or boat and in both cases they like structure (rocks, wrecks, bridge piers, dock pilings, holes along the coast, etc.). So no structure, no tautog.

3. Fish where the fish are. This is particularly true with tautog because they are a territorial species, you have to find the tautog, they are not going to find you. So if you get no bites move to another spot. When you find them, you find them and the bite is on.

4. Boat placement is important. Find structure, 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 suggests casting bit to cover as much area as you can. If still no bites let some anchor line out to change your position, if still not bites it is time to move the vessel.

5. Green crabs are the bait of choice in the fall. When using crabs make it easy for the tautog to bite and take the bait. Break off claws and legs, cut the crab in half and hook it through one leg socket and out another. Tautog rigs are simple with one or two hooks and a sinker.

6. Losing rigs is common when tautog fishing due to bottom hang ups on rocks and structure. To save tautog rigs, I use elastics to attach my sinkers. If the sinker gets hung up on a rock the elastics breaks, you loose the sinker but save the tautog rig.

7. Fish lodged in structure. Here is a tip from George Poveromo’s “Rock’em Sock’em” article that appeared in this month’s issue of Saltwater magazine. When a fish is hooked and it has muscled its way back to structure apply pressure forcing a respectable amount of bend in the rod. If the fish is not moving, pull or pluck the fishing line like a banjo or gaiter string. The sharp vibrations emitted work their way back down to the fish through the line and irritate it. The fish in a state of confusion may back out of the hole to free itself from the irritation. Once you sense this has happened start pumping and reeling in the fish so it does not muscle its way back into the structure. I used this technique over the weekend and it worked very well.

8. Feel the bite… tap, tap and then get ready for a tug of war. I believe with the first tap the tautog is positioning the bait for consumption. So at the second or third tap I raise the rod up firmly feeling the weight of the fish (no need to jerk the rod up hard). Once the fish is hooked, keep the rod up and pressure on so the fish in not able to run for cover.

9. Use braid line with little drag. Braid line allows you to feel the fish tap. Monofilament line will stretch allowing the fish to run for cover, braid line does on stretch. It is important to put little drag on the reel and apply continuous pressure so the tautog comes up and does not go back down to hide in structure once you have it hooked.

10. Where to fish for Tautog. From shore look for rocky coastline like Beavertail Point on Jamestown, locations off Newport and off breakwater rock walls at South County beaches. From a boat I have had good luck at Plum Point light house next to the Jamestown Bridge, the rock wall north of Coddington Cove in Portsmouth, off Hope Island, around Brenton Reef in Newport, Whale Rock, Ohio Ledge in the East Passage and any other place there is structure, debris, rock clusters, wrecks, etc.

Where’s the bite

Striped bass bite was still on this week with fish being taken in the East Bay by angler Peter Nilsen with a fly rod off Barrington Beach. School bass were common in the Poppasquash Point, Bristol area with a few keepers and blue fish mixed in. Lots of fish still along Rhode Island Coastal beaches. Bait, bluefish with school size striped bass mixed int. Southwest Ledge at Block Island still producing good numbers of fish in the 20 lb. rang with some in the high 40’s. Eels seems to be the bait of choice.

Tautog bite was good at the stone wall north of Coddington Cove. I caught a nice fish Monday and had it for dinner. Bite also good at Hope Island but mostly undersized fish. Reports of fish being taken a Plum Point Lighthouse and a good fish bite at Whale Rock at the mouth of Narragansett Bay.

Offshore. The weather cleared this past week and anglers were able to fish the Mud Hole. Hope to have good reports of more bluefin tuna next week.

Hats off to John Candelmo of Johnston. Last week while working as a volunteer at a fishing tournament he caught a 9 lb. 7 oz. bass at Beach Pond. The fish was just 15 oz. shy of a State record.

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing on Narragansett Bay for over 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. Your fishing stories, comments and questions are welcome… there’s more than one way to catch a fish so e-mail Captain Dave at ¬¬¬dmontifish@verizon.net.