Interstate Kayak Fishing Member
In my experience tautog are found in rocks, reefs, and
manmade structures. Places like jetties, bridges, break-walls, etc are all good
places to look for them. If there are other attractants like mussel beds,
oyster bars, or other hard bottom and the structure is close to deeper water
(20+ ft), it is probably a prime habitat for tautog. In other areas I have
fished like Cape May, NJ the tautog seem to roam more and can be caught on hard
bottom (even soft?) away from structure near sod banks, channels, jetties, etc.
For whatever reason, the inshore tautog in VA and DE seem to be far more
structure oriented.
Gear:
Traditional- A stout rod (like a muskie rod) capable of
setting the hook hard with 3-8oz is sufficient for inshore togging. Graphite or
a graphite composite rod is preferred over a softer action rod. The rod should
be able to handle 30-50lb braid and the reel should have a strong smooth drag
(11lbs+). I find conventional rods are better suited for this task than
spinning and if you can find a reel that you can engage free spool with one
hand (and re-engage) then it is even better. I started out using a Shimano
Cardiff 401a and a 7ft MH Bass Pro Graphite Series Muskie rod and I have moved
up to a 6'3" Shimano Trevala S MH and a Diawa LEXA 300 HSPL reel. The
trevala/lexa is light and super sensitive, but also strong enough to catch
anything inshore and probably some things offshore!
Traditional rig- 3-4ft of 40-60lb fluorocarbon (or abrasion
resistant mono) tied with a double surgeon's loop on top and a perfection loop
large enough for looping sinkers onto at the bottom. About 4" up I tie a
fairly large dropper loop that hangs either at or below my sinker. I use a
2/0-4/0 gamakatsu octopus hook which I slide on to the dropper loop.
Light Tackle- A light tackle jigging rod will work fine,
something in M-MH with a fast action. I prefer spinning rods for this, but an
LTJ casting rod will work too.. I used 20lb braid and a 3ft 40lb leader. I tie
a loop knot on the jig so usually the leader breaks at the knot or at a scratch
in the leader and I do not lose the whole thing. My rod of choice is a Shimano
Teramar 6.5ft MH fast action spinning rod and a Quantum Cabo 30 with 20lb
fireline.
Jig heads- I started out using the
TidalTails tautog jig
heads (www.tidaltails.com) I have had
plenty of success with other jig heads that are not as expertly painted. TidalTails
(great guy by the way, give him a call and he’ll hook you up!) has heard some
of the same feedback and they have begun to make more inexpensive options. I
haven’t tried them yet, but they look like they will do the job. Recently, I
have been using the 1/2oz shrimp heads from Bass Pro Shops. These have a small
strong hook compared to the head weight and are fairly inexpensive. I would
recommend carrying a variety of1/4-1oz jig heads with smaller hooks with you,
any heavier and the tautog do not bite the same way in my experience. If you
are using green crabs, cut them in half and leave the legs on, it looks just
like a crab drifting through the rocks!
Bait: Blue crab (quartered), green crab (half or whole),
shrimp, snail, mussels, fiddler crabs, mole crabs, etc. are all good baits to
have. If I had to pick two, I would choose green crab and shrimp. If you are
fishing in VA green crabs are illegal so blue crab would be the choice. I
usually bring blue crab and shrimp because both are readily available at my
international grocery store and they are fairly inexpensive. For starting out,
blue crab and snails are the toughest bait and stay on the hook the longest.
Fishing with green crabs or fiddlers is like fishing with a hardboiled egg and
fishing with shrimp or mussels is like fishing with a cotton swap and come off
the hook even easier!
Fishing:
In this case I'll use Cape Henlopen State Park's inner wall as
the example but the information can be applied to most other environments. The
inner wall is 1 mile long and the depths range from 3ft-35ft (where rocks are
present) and there is a deep cut nearby. The wall can be difficult to fish due
to current, wind, waves, etc. and anchors seem to be a bit dangerous due to
potential snags. I paddle a Hobie Revolution 13 mirage drive kayak and I use
the pedals to stay in position over the structure. When the current allows I
lean against nearby rocks or structure and sometimes I will even slow drift. If
you are fishing a traditional rig, it will be important for you to stay
vertical on your rig, something easier said than done! Bring extra rigs and
lead, you’ll need it. If you are fishing with jig heads it can be a little
easier because you flip your jig and crab out in a likely crevice and sort of
slack bounce it through the cracks. If you are drifting too fast, this can also
be frustrating!
Start out by looking for areas with rocks at different
depths. In some places there seem to be almost shelves in the structure that
taper down to the bottom. Within the shelves you will find cracks and crevices
that the tautog are more likely to be hiding in and for lack of a better term I
choose to call these super drops. For example, I drop my rig down and hit hard
rock about 7ft down (judged by the amount of line out on the reel). Next, I
carefully lift my rod tip and poke around with my sinker until I find a hole 1
foot to the left that drops down another 4 feet. This is probably going to be a
productive tautog hole and I will dedicate some time to see if there are fish
here. If I do not get a bite after the first minute or two, I will poke around
some more. If still I do not get a bite, I will try changing to a different
type of bait before moving on. Cracks next to pilings or other structures are
also great places to poke around in.
When the tautog bites your traditional rig, it will feel
something like a bluegill pecking on a worm or if you are lucky, it will just
feel like a thump. If you feel a thump, set the hook hard! If you feel the tap
tap and you are using blue crab, snail, or something that holds up better, wait
for the second set of tap taps and set the hook hard right after the first tap.
If you’re using one of the more delicate baits, make sure you are ready to set
the hook as soon as the bait hits the bottom. If you’re lucky, you will hook
the tautog and now the fun part begins- getting the fish out of the rocks,
fast! Reel hard and turn the fish from going back into its hole, or you’ll be
saying some things your fishing buddies have probably never heard you say!
Here is where it gets weird. The jig bite is usually
completely different! Every now and then you’ll feel one tapping on it, but
more likely than not when that happens the fish is just sitting there munching
on your crab. The
rest of the time the bites feel more like the fish picked your jig up and
started to swim back to its lair. You do not need to set the hook, instead just
slowly lift up on the rod tip and if you feel weight, reel hard – you’ll know
if you’re hooked up! Getting the fish from the rocks can be even more difficult
with light tackle (I lost a big one on my last trip out there) but the
increased challenge adds to the entertainment! I can fish the same areas I would traditionally fish with 3-4 oz with a half ouunc jighead. The tactic is to cast out up current of the structure and let the jig fall on a slack line down into the rocks. After it hits, slowly lift the rod tip and guide the jig over and down into more nooks and crannies where the tog are. Be ready when you lift the jig to reel down on the fish!
Good luck with the tautog fishing! Be warned, it may inspire
long road trips, strange grocery purchases, hours pre-tying rigs, expensive
gear purchases, expensive gear failures, colorful language, expensive gear
purchases, ADD, cut hands, leaky waders, and big grins.
Interstate Kayak Fishing Member Matt with a nice Maryland Speck
