Tautog (Blackfish)

Also known as blackfish, tog.

A hard-fighting, structure-loving wrasse with powerful crushing jaws for eating crabs and shellfish. A spot-specific fishery tight to rock — one of the great cold-shoulder-season targets in the rocky SNE grounds.

When they run

Two inshore windows: a spring run (April–June) and a stronger fall run (September–November), extending into December in RI/MA.

How to catch them

Bottom fishing tight to structure with tog rigs
Tautog jigging (jig tipped with crab)
Fishing wrecks/snags at anchor with short leaders

Bait & lures

Green crabs (the standard)Asian shore, fiddler and hermit crabsClamTog jigs, crab-tipped

Where to find them

Shell beds, eelgrass, rocky outcrops, boulder fields (often 15–25 ft), mussel beds, jetties, bridges, and rock/artificial reefs.

Excellent in the rocky SNE grounds — Narragansett Bay, Buzzards Bay, the RI south-shore and Block Island reefs, and the rock-strewn Sounds.

Block Island Narragansett Bay Buzzards Bay Vineyard & Nantucket Sound Fishers Island Sound & the East End Long Island Sound

Catch reports from cruisers

No catch reports for Tautog (Blackfish) yet. Landed one in these waters? Add the first — real reports only, moderated before they appear.

Augusto fishing notes are a starting point, not a guarantee — fish move with the water and the season. Nothing here is a substitute for current state regulations or local knowledge.