The science of tog habits can improve your catch this fall.
Have you ever wondered why don’t blackfish bite all summer like porgies, sea bass, and fluke? It’s because once the bottom water temperature exceeds 68 degrees blackfish leave their spring staging location or “home site,” regardless of how abundant food is, and move to deeper, cooler water for the summer. Tautog also have a poor tolerance for low dissolved oxygen. So, when water temperatures warm and oxygen levels drop, the reduced oxygen plays role in determining migration timing.
Blackfish will also move from their home site when forage sources are depleted. We know that blackfish return to shallow water in early fall, but they leave the shallows again in November when bottom water temperature falls below that magic 50-degree mark, migrating into deeper, warmer water for the winter.
During non-spawning periods, blackfish prefer to hold along the crests and outer edges of coastal reefs and rockpiles. This tells us that you should drop anchor uptide of the high point on a reef and drift back until you reach the peak. That will be your best bet for finding tog, regardless of the season. Fishing during feeding periods is important, too.
As most of you know, blackfish forage throughout the day. They begin feeding shortly after sunrise, and they’re most active for the first hour or two afterwards. But their activity decreases around mid-morning. Throughout the day they exhibit periods of rest after periods of feeding, which is linked to current flow.
When tog aren’t in eating mode, they stop foraging and rest in a sleep-like state in holes and crevices out of the current, often grouped together and sometimes even lying on their sides until a tide change stirs or “wakes” them. Peak activity occurs within about an hour of either side of the tide change—your best time to fish.
Blackfish use a “scan-and-pick” feeding pattern, which according to studies, leads them to wander up to 500 yards away from their home site during the day when searching out food on structure. But they typically return to their sheltered home site at night. This is how localized populations are formed. However, that also means well-known hotspots get fished out in the fall, leaving only the shorts.
“Blackfish are very territorial,” says Capt. Kerry Douton, owner of J&B Tackle in Niantic, CT, “and that means good spots get fished out fast. It’s not like fishing for striped bass or bluefish. When blackfish move in they stay in that location—that’s their home for the season. Once they’ve been caught from a reef a new group doesn’t just move in overnight. “So when you’re on a promising spot and don’t get any bites—unless you know it’s a poor tide condition—you have to move. It’s not as if you can stay there at anchor, and the fish are suddenly going to swim in.”
Blackfish also follow and feed in the inter-tidal zone (vertical area or “amplitude” between high and low tide points) during the flood tide, especially early in the fall season. This allows them to forage on ledges, rocks, or pilings that are above the low-water mark. During the ebb tide they ghost back out to deeper water. This implies that at high tide early in the fall season, you almost can’t fish in water that’s too shallow, with areas of only 10 to 15 feet deep sometimes being very productive.
Feeding continues until sunset, but blackfish don’t feed at night. According to biologists, and contrary to what many anglers think, blackfish don’t have a great sense of smell, instead they rely heavily on their keen eyesight to find food. This may explain why they don’t feed at night. It may also answer why some tog sharpies succeed by chumming only with dry, broken-up, empty oyster or clam shells. It’s the sight that draws them to the boat.
So take some lessons from marine biologists: Although it’s more work, explore different inshore spots until you find one where tog are congregating and haven’t been fished out. Start shallow and move deeper as the season wanes and water temps drop. If tog aren’t feeding one week, don’t give up, they may be feeding there the next week. Use light-colored chum like live, smashed clams or oysters, which appeals to both their eyesight and smell. Fish early in the morning, and don’t bother keeping your baits in the water during peak current flow or slack tide. When the current stops moving, blackfish take a nap—and so should you.
