This Wednesday, October 5th is the day many blackfish fans have been anxiously waiting for all season long. With no winter or spring season to target tog, many anglers will cram as much blackfishing into the next ten weeks as their schedules and the weather will allow. The blackfish season in New York runs from October 5th through December 14th. The bag limit is four fish with a minimum size limit of 16 inches.
The first three or four weeks of the season will provide shore bound and small boat anglers, including kayakers, with the best opportunities for connecting with some tog as the fish will be found in shallow inshore areas before falling water temperatures drive them off to deeper water. Bay bridges, inlet jetties, rocky beaches and even places like the shallows around Fishers Island will host good numbers of tautog during October. This shallow water fishing is also a perfect time to apply light tackle and blackfish jigs tipped with crab. This highly effective approach to the blackfish game is ideal for shallow water situations and it will often out-produce standard blackfish techniques.
Many party and charter boats targeting porgies and sea bass will also be setting their sights on blackfish in the coming weeks, and they will be a welcome addition to the mixed bag action already being enjoyed by anglers fishing Long Island Sound, the South Shore reefs and wrecks and off of the East End. Soft baits like clams are often an effective bait in the early going, but you don’t want to leave the dock without a supply of green crabs, which most tackle shops will have in stock this week.
