Nine days on the Sound and 22 in the Bight will give you enough time for a game winner.
In spite of the near mythical status the late-season tog bite has achieved, December togging is not for the faint of heart. It’s often cold, the seas are often rough and, while the bite can be red hot, it can also be frustrating and the fish decide when the season ends. One day you will be picking away at good fish in deep water and the very next morning, those fish might be gone and seem impossible to find. I just want to be up front with you, the best days are behind us when we turn the page to December, gone are those epic inshore bites with flat seas, fishing in t-shirts and fast action that seems to go on all day. But December does offer a very real chance at going ‘double D’. This is extreme togging and the clock is ticking.
The Big Move
The day the inshore tog leave is always a somber one for me. I know the inshore bite is all but done. One day, the fishing at a common late-season spot is great… and then the next, it’s a desolate ghost town. There is a metabolic and cyclical response that’s triggered in the fish during this time of year. Some of them start their push offshore where they prepare for the winter but remain active. Others will stay inshore but turn dormant, into a zombie like state.
I remember one season where this happened quite dramatically. I was fishing the same spot and same tide three days in a row… but on the fourth day, everything changed. The only bites we were getting were seemed to be annoyed, “don’t bother me” type bites. We would occasionally foul hook or skin hook one and what came up was quite startling. All the fish were pale, white-grey zombie fish. They had begun their dormant-hibernation state. Some fish start this cycle early, as soon as this metabolic response is triggered, while others push offshore and continue normal feeding patterns for most of the winter.
A Season Of It’s Own
The offshore December tog fishery is like a season of its own. At this point in the charter season – and specifically tog season – I’m burnt out. Yet, I know there are still a few more weeks of good fishing where I can give my clients a shot at ‘double-digit’ togzilla. So, I begin moving offshore. There is nowhere to hide offshore. No protected, leeward hideouts like we can always find along the inshore coast. We’re at the mercy of the sea and need to pick our days carefully. During this time, I often run open boat trips, since the weather is so inconsistent.
When you’re able to get out you can be rewarded with some excellent days of fishing. The waters of Block Island Sound and areas further south are loaded with large, deep shipwrecks. There are also large areas of hard, broken bottom. You must be more specific, and detail oriented in how you choose which spots to fish, but the payoff can be very rewarding. Typically, similar age class fish move offshore together. So, if you’re on a piece of structure holding sizeable fish, odds are high you’ll have opportunities to connect with a true, trophy-sized, tog.
The Deep Approach
How you approach these fish is the same as inshore fishing, with some subtle differences. You’re still togging, still jigging and bait fishing, but your approach needs to be a bit different. You’re typically fishing deeper and sometimes with more tide, so jigging can be more difficult. Some of the wrecks are large and can start 20- to 30-feet above the bottom. Hang ups and snags are more common on some of these large wrecks.
The bait you choose needs to match what they’re feeding on. Sourcing white crabs (aka sand crabs), mud crabs/calico crabs, large spiders and even jonah crabs will make or break your trip. Green crabs, asian crabs, hermit crabs and other inshore baits are less common out here and you’ll be surprised by how selective the bite can be. We’re typically using one or two hook snafu rigs with heavy weights, capable of reaching these offshore depths without too much scope. Heavy conventional rods are also the norm, for winching ‘double d’ tog out of 70- to 200-feet of water.
Bombs Away!
It isn’t always ‘drop and reel’ fishing, especially when fishing some of the vast natural bottom. I seldom chum inshore, but offshore it can draw in nearby hungry tog and keep them under your boat. Even the chumming is different. The shallowest I fish offshore is 70 feet but I will sometimes fish as deep as 200 feet. Dropping handfuls of chum down into these depths can result in your chum settling a considerable distance away and may actually pull fish away from your boat. This is where a chum pot, or even better, a chum bomb works wonders.
To deploy a chum bomb, fill a brown paper bag with a few handfuls of crushed crabs and/or mussels, along with a heavy, baseball-sized rock. Carefully cinch the top of the bag shut and tie fishing line or twine around it, making sure you have enough line to reach the bottom. As you deploy your chum bomb to the bottom, the brown paper bag absorbs water, becoming saturated and increasingly weak. Once it hits the bottom, let it sit there for a few minutes to make sure the bottom of the bag is fully saturated and soft. Now, give a few firm upward tugs on your line. This should break the bottom of your bag, releasing the chum directly and the rock under your boat, pull the line back up and you will retrieve the torn bag. It’s a simple trick that works great. Any tog holding on nearby structure should find their way to your baits.
Holding Your Position
Setting up on your chosen bottom can be tricky out here as well. Some of you may use an anchor and others may use a trolling motor. Those with a fancy double anchor tree really have the advantage. That doesn’t mean there aren’t tricks to help you anchor while fishing deep. Bring plenty of anchor line, practicing a minimum 4:1 anchor rode to depth ratio. When single anchoring, try bridling your main anchor line to whichever side of your boat is causing the most swing. This will help lock you onto a spot and cut your swing in half. You can also deploy a stern anchor. Simply fall back far enough past your target waypoint and deploy your stern anchor. Then, come back up on your main anchor line while paying out your stern anchor line until you’re back at your target waypoint, at which time you will cleat both anchors.
There are also tricks to using your trolling motor offshore even when the sea starts to kick up a bit. If the seas are rough enough that your trolling motor starts to cavitate, (pop out of the water) and is unable to hold you in place, it’s time to make an adjustment. Turn on your main engine, keeping your wheel midship and put your boat in gear at the absolute lowest possible rpm. Make sure your boat is aimed directly into the predominant force (wind and/or tide). The main propulsion should do most of the heavy lifting while the trolling motor makes the fine adjustments. This isn’t necessarily easy and takes practice to dial in, but you’ll be shocked by how well it works once you’ve got the process nailed.
Give it Time
Patience is key while togging offshore. Building the bite can be very important, especially on some of the hard natural bottom. These fish move around more than they do when they’re inshore, on tighter pieces of structure. Some of these spots can be very tide dependent as well. If you’re on a promising piece of bottom and the bite never turns on, give it another shot once the tide changes, as this could be your ticket.
Don’t be afraid to fish large baits either. The jonahs and sand crabs are naturally bigger. Tog will eat large baits, you just need to let them eat. Don’t swing at the first bite. Let them eat 5, 6, 7 times until you feel that ferocious, rod shaking crunch. When you do hook a larger tog, be mindful of your depths. When fishing deep, these fish are prone to barotrauma. Get the fish out of the danger zone as fast as you can, then reel them up painfully slow. Let the fish de-gas on its way up so it’s able to be successfully released.
| NEW YORK’S TAUTOG REGULATIONS |
| For 2024, New York blackfish regulations are split by region. In the Long Island Sound, the season runs from October 11 to December 9 with a daily limit of 3 fish. For the NY Bight (outside the Sound, including the South Shore), it’s October 15 to December 22 with a daily limit of 4 fish. The minimum size for both areas is 16 inches. Be mindful of which regulations to follow, according to the port you leave out of. The line between the two is Orient Point. |
If you’re a hardcore Rhode Island togger, or hoping to become one, then you’ll undoubtedly experience the end of season shift from inshore to offshore. The shot at a trophy-sized ‘double d’ tog is still there, you just need to work a little harder, burn a little more fuel and try some new strategies. Be sure to pick your days carefully, as the weather can change quickly offshore. Come prepared with fully-charged batteries, multiple anchors and plenty of anchor line as well as the appropriate baits to match what the fish are feeding on. Be patient and give each spot some time before calling it quits. The offshore December tog fishery is unique and it can be very rewarding if you put in the right preparation and dedication. Go scratch the itch one last time, because you won’t see them again until April!
