Your tackle gives you a mechanical advantage over huge blackfish.
Your fishing rod, reel, line and rigging becomes a unique system. When assembled and in the hands of a skilled angler, these choices give you an advantage, or not.
Perhaps it’s a very sensitive rod tip that allows excellent bite detection, but is this same tip strong enough to toss a whole whitelegger and a 10-ounce sinker all day long? A tip that does not collapse and is not too soft, but also has the perfect amount of power to help set the hook and quickly move a large fish in your direction, that’s perfection! To be perfect, however, is asking a lot from anyone or anything.
While no one manufacturer of fishing tackle is perfect for every fisherman… certain scenarios may result in that ‘perfect’ rod becoming a compromise. While this may be my personal preference, I’m quick to admit that my way is certainly not the only way. There’s a lot of good tackle out there, and there is some that I prefer more than another. I’ll be glad to share my opinions that I hope you will consider when thinking about buying or building a new blackfish rod.
Whether it’s your rig rod or your jig rod, either will be severely tested by a good-sized tautog in ways you may not have never thought. Over many years of product testing and development, I’ve had rods blow up, reel seat hoods ripped off, the seats ripped from the frame, handles stripped and fallen off, and the gears of reels stripped.
So for hardcore late-run togging, let’s look at some of the best gear on the market today, and look at what differentiates it from its competitors.
Blank Basics
Modern rod blanks and components are good to very good in quality and performance. Truly top tier cutting edge components do cost premium money, but that’s not saying that you must spend huge dollars to get a very good outfit. All things being equal, one of the most critical appointments to any outfit is that it performs its task exceedingly well.
As you spend more and more time at the rail, your skillset will improve. It’s then that you’ll realize that you still have a lot to learn! What happens when you set the hook and fight a very large blackfish? A big tautog can stop you dead during the fight. This is where your rod, when used correctly, will prevent the fish from getting back into the wreck or rocks. Then he makes a turn and you get a couple cranks on him. This is where that long powerful rod is worth its weight in gold. These are skills vital to your consistently getting the bite, hooking and actually landing big fish.
When you know how to fish a slack line, you will quickly learn just how important a properly balanced outfit is. Perfectly balancing an 8-foot rod that weighs 9 ounces can be a neat trick. How is the rod handle set up? Is the reel close enough to the rod butt so as to help you gain some cranks on a crazy big fish? Does the foregrip help you get the most power from the blank? While different anglers have different priorities, my goal is a simple one; to help you land your biggest blackfish ever! No excuses or distractions, simply putting a rod in your hands that will not let you down, but will actually help you to land oversized blackfish consistently.
A rod that is built in a factory overseas may do the job, but is it as good as can be? In many instances yes, but remember the adage, “you get what you pay for.” On the other hand, there are quite a few smaller “cottage rod companies” that offer this experience and care that might be overlooked by price point rods you might find at a big box store. For me, Century ProTogger, Jigging World Black Demon and Magic Tails are excellent examples high-end blackfish rig rods. My favorite jig rod is a Century full-carbon Weapon 7-1/2 in either conventional or spinning. These are companies that produce an excellent rod that you can buy off of the rack that will perform exceedingly well.
Just remember when shopping around for a rod for trophy tautog, don’t just settle for the cheapest price if you expect the very best rod for big fish.
A Reel Drag
Reels are also an integral part of your outfit. It’s very easy to spend twice the cash for the very smoothest reel for this purpose, but is it worth it to you? If the reel holds up well, year after year, and doesn’t let you down under any conditions, that’s where you have to make your choice. Daiwa, Shimano and Penn are tried and true players in the revolving spool game, but don’t forget Okuma, Accurate and Maxel as their reels have performed admirably for many years. My favorite surprise of a spinning reel is a Tsunami SaltX 4000. This reel is an absolute beast with bullet proof frame, huge handle knob, powerful drag and a manual bail arm.
The ability to get a conventional reel in the size that you want in several different gear ratios, left or right-hand retrieve, there are a lot of options on the table! To find the reel that will give you the mechanical advantage, stay away from reels that have a gear ratio much over 6 to 1. You need a reel with the proper balance of speed and power. Too much speed, and you lose needed power. Gear ratio does not have any effect on drag power, but the diameter of the spool does affect gear ratio and the drag. The drag on a half full spool will increase as its diameter lessens. The gear ratio remains the same, but the amount of line put on the spool decreases as the diameter lessens as well. This smaller diameter makes a taller gear ratio less damaging to your effective gear ratio giving you more lifting power.
Just remember that if you have two reels with the exact gear ratio, a wider, smaller diameter spool will gain less line per revolution than a tall narrow spool. The gear ratio will create more loss of power on the larger diameter spool reel.
Braided line has probably been the greatest change in fishing tackle in my lifetime. Smaller reels hold adequate amount of line; reel seats and rod tips can be made a bit differently as this line with zero stretch takes some getting used to. An eight-carrier line is much smoother when tying a knot or while passing through the guides while fighting a fish. My blackfish rods are rigged with Daiwa J-Braid 8 in either 30-, 50- or 65-pound test. My ANDE Pink mono top shot is around 20-feet in length and may be 60- or 80-pound test depending if I’m fishing nearshore waters, or if we are on a trophy hunt.
| FALL TAUTOG REGULATIONS |
| New York: The New York Bight fall season is open from October 15 to December 22 (four fish bag) with a 16-inch minimum size. On the Long Island Sound side, tautog is open from October 11 to December 9 (three fish bag) with a 16-inch minimum size.
Connecticut: On the Connecticut side of Long Island Sound, the fall tog season opens on October 10 and closes November 28, under a 3 fish bag limit with a minimum size of 16 inches. Rhode Island: In Rhode Island the fall season really begins when bag limits increase to 5 fish per angler on October 15. Rhody’s minimum size is 16 inches, but the state pioneered the trophy slot in 2023, with only one fish per limit allowed to exceed 21 inches. And there’s a 10 fish limit per vessel as well. |
I use an FG knot to smooth out this connection. Thirty Fathoms makes a superior quality knot puller tool that has made my FG knot seat perfectly without cutting my hands (even when using heavy braid and mono). During a test, I have broken 50-pound braid while using these line pullers. It’s amazing how the correct pressure will properly seat an FG Knot. I have not had an FG knot fail since I’ve begun using this tool.
Good line cutters are also a necessary tool for our rigging. AnglerCo makes some nice fishing tools to help you on deck. Line clippers, hook removers and fish venting tools are all helpful to us staying up to code on some of the best gear innovations available to us.
When considering new equipment or gear, don’t ask the fluke fisherman that works at the tackle shop. Ask a friend who catches some really big tog for their opinions if you are considering buying some gear that they own. When sharing a deck, most fellow anglers will gladly let you use their rod for a bit. If you really want to try a rod, use it while fishing. Feel the bottom, get the bite and set the hook!
Watching skilled toggers will often reveal what do they do that enables them to catch these big fish.
