Fall togging is about to get even crazier in Rhode Island and Massachusetts as the bag limits in both states are about to increase. With October waters cooling and the action heating up, these relaxed regulations couldn’t come at a better time.
Anglers targeting blackfish, also known as tautog, across southern New England have reason to celebrate mid-month. Effective October 15, both Rhode Island and Massachusetts will step up their recreational daily possession limits to five fish per angler, per day. This marks a substantial bump from the early-fall limit of three fish per person that had been in place for September and the first half of October in both states.
Alongside the increased “per angler” daily take, size regulations remain unchanged at 16 inches for all harvested blackfish in both states. To safeguard mature spawning stock, anglers in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts may only keep one blackfish over 21 inches as part of their five-fish daily limit.
Boaters heading out on private vessels should also be mindful of the fact that both the Bay State and the Ocean State have total boat limits in place. These limits have been in place for a few years now, but it bears repeating that private vessels operating in either state are subject to cap of 10 fish per boat, regardless of how many licensed anglers are onboard.
As tautog push deeper in the cooling coastal waters of New England, the second half of October and well in November consistently deliver some of the finest bottom fishing of the year. And with the bag limit set to increase later this week, we wanted to make sure all of our readers were ready and well-informed ahead of this change and the ramping up of the late-October tog bite.
