The forecast confirmed a excessive of 28 levels with a gentle 10-knot northeast wind persisting all through the day. “Frozen guides, right here we come,” I assumed, with one hand cupped over the air vent whereas the opposite clutched an icy steering wheel. From Could to October, the 10-mile stretch of highway between Greenport and Orient Level is leaping with anglers, clammers, beachgoers, and farm stands. However, as 6 a.m. approached on November 25, the realm felt abandoned and eerily quiet. Whereas I cruised towards the rising solar, top fishermen have been heading west, sizzling on the tails of what may very well be the ultimate wave of striped bass migrating south for the winter. I used to be becoming a member of a religious bunch of blackfish anglers, some who drove all the way in which from Bayville and Queens for a day of tautog fishing in Lengthy Island Sound with one of many North Fork’s most revered captains, Wealthy Jensen of Nancy Ann Charters.
Tautog, just like the Insane Clown Posse, have a cult following. Nevertheless, tautog fanatics don’t paint their faces or undertake unusual monikers like the juggalos; they reside amongst us, dreaming of ugly however tasty fish that lurk within the shadows of monumental rocks. And, once they discover a good rock, they hold its location near the guts. Between Rhode Island and Maryland, the neighborhood of devoted blackfish anglers and captains is tightknit.
Like surfcasters in pursuit of striped bass, blackfish fanatics share data, methods, and drive lengthy distances in pursuit of their quarry—they’re the rockhoppers of backside fishing. What higher place to be a rock-hopping crab-dropper than within the craggy, cool waters of Lengthy Island Sound?
The Sound
At Exit 73 on the dreadful Lengthy Island Expressway, drivers persevering with east can head inland towards the Most important Highway, which runs by way of the quaint villages of Mattituck, Cutchogue, and Southold, however I at all times go for the scenic route. Sound Avenue and the North Highway give passersby a view of those pebble-laden and boulder-strewn shores. In contrast to the fine-grain sand of Lengthy Island’s Atlantic-facing aspect, the Sound is comprised of bigger, extra everlasting onerous construction ensuing from glacial passage over tens of 1000’s of years. As we speak, rocks the scale of automobiles peek above the floor at low tide like stationary icebergs, offering a mere glimpse as to what the Sound’s stony sea ground appears like.
With a median depth of 63 ft and a few boulders that stand almost as tall, navigating shallower coves could be treacherous, however these are the rocks that make the Sound a haven for such structure-dependent bottom-dwellers as blackfish.
This late within the Sound’s fall tautog season, which differs from that of the New York Bight season, keeper-class fish are typically hanging in deeper water. So, whereas operating aground on a sneaky boulder is of little concern, snagging rigs and jigs nonetheless spikes a togger’s nervousness. Fortunately for our group, the person on the helm has nearly a half century of fishing in Lengthy Island Sound underneath his belt, and tautog are his bread and butter. I didn’t comprehend it on the time, however I had enrolled in a grasp class in tautog fishing and terminal-tackle loss prevention by the hands of a generational Lengthy Island fishing legend.
A Blackfish Pioneer
Wealthy Jensen’s blood runs deep on the North Fork. Starting at age 18, he reduce his enamel captaining the Wilhelric in Greenport— the family-owned constitution boat named after his grandparents, William and Helen, and his father, Richard. At the moment, winter flounder have been the largest draw for occasion boats on the North Fork and carried them by way of the spring months. Nevertheless, Wealthy’s grandfather was particularly keen on focusing on blackfish in shallow water. In line with Jensen, spring tautog fishing was super in these days as a result of they weren’t but valued as desk fare or as a sportfish.
After studying the ropes as captain of the Wilhelric, Jensen started work for brothers George and Jay Porter, who operated the Model X, one other well-known occasion boat out of Greenport throughout the Nineteen Seventies. “The Porters have been accountable for finding lots of the large wrecks off Lengthy Island, just like the Coimbra, and I grew up fishing with them,” Jensen recalled. They taught him the fundamentals of finding wrecks, a ability that may develop into instrumental in his pursuit of huge tautog.
With almost a decade of expertise, a 27-year-old Jensen determined to get into the household enterprise. He purchased his first boat in 1979 and named it Nancy Ann after his childhood sweetheart (now spouse). “It’s precisely the identical type boat I’ve right now,” stated Jensen, referring to the Nancy Ann IV, presently docked in Duryea’s Orient Level Marina.
“Again then, I docked in Greenport to fish within the Bay throughout the spring and moved to Orient for the summer time and fall.” At the moment, Orient didn’t home the charter-boat fleet it does right now. However Jensen, being the standard trendsetter he’s, made the transfer with a view to save time and gasoline operating to and from The Race and factors within the Sound. Ultimately, the remainder of the boats adopted, and Orient grew to become a small but undeniably fishy hub on the quieter of Lengthy Island’s two forks.
In 2001, after 20 years of Nancy Ann Charters and some completely different boats, Jensen acquired the Nancy Ann IV that he nonetheless runs right now. She’s a 45-foot Burpee—a custom-finished vessel that was inbuilt Florida as a dive boat. “They constructed solely 12 or 15 of them,” stated Jensen “and mine was arrange the identical method, solely I removed the platform and the strict door and turned it right into a fishing boat.” The walkaround Chesapeake-style hull has a deep bow with a flat backside and a single diesel engine, so it rides easily and permits him to pursue a wide range of species. “We’re arrange for backside fishing, however we additionally do loads of drift fishing. It’s versatile sufficient that we will do all of it, and that’s what we’d like out right here.”
On this brisk, late-November day, there’d be no drifting. We have been fishing over rock piles and wrecks in 40 to 120 ft of water, and with a full moon solely two days away, Jensen’s prowess in maneuvering and anchoring us over the fishiest items of construction can be on full show.
Good Firm
It was round 8 a.m. once I heard the unmistakable crack, hiss, pop of a gap beer can. Tautog fishing, as a lot because it calls for an angler’s focus and a spotlight to element, is supposed to be enjoyable and laid-back—even when the potential of a double-digit blackfish is on the road. Plus, everybody is aware of breakfast beers are solely socially acceptable on a fishing boat. An ice-cold Miller Latte? Don’t thoughts if I do.
Because it turned out, the gang on board have been regulars who block out dates to fish with Jensen every autumn. “In the course of the fall, I by no means have a day obtainable as a result of we get the identical individuals yearly, and they’re going to by no means hand over their dates,” Jensen stated. The Nancy Ann’s packed schedule is a testomony not solely to the standard of Lengthy Island Sound’s tautog, however Jensen’s potential and dedication as a captain.
Mike Dunne, the organizer of those journeys, hopped on the boat that morning with a sack of breakfast sandwiches for everybody. In these sub-freezing temperatures, the nice and cozy welcome (and the new egg sandwich) from Mike was particularly appreciated. He would possibly as effectively have been sporting a cape.
One after the other, members of the group launched themselves after greeting the captain with a hug or a handshake, together with a few wiseass getting older remarks in good enjoyable.
Now, totally assured that I used to be in good firm, I settled in on the rail and joined the toast as we approached the primary drop. Our mate Cristina, the fiancée of Wealthy’s son and first mate, Rick Jr., had been slicing inexperienced crabs all morning and handed me a bucket. I discovered it admirable that Jensen maintained the values instilled in him throughout the 70s, using his family members simply as his grandparents did.
Whereas Cristina packed bait buckets with a hodgepodge of inexperienced crabs and the occasional white-legger or mud crab, our different mate, Derek Grattan, rigged up the boat rods. In the course of the peak season, Grattan is the captain of his personal operation, Gratitude Charters, simply down the highway in Southold.
Insider Information
“Get able to drop ‘em, guys,” Jensen hollered from the cabin. Beers have been cracked, bait buckets distributed, and halved inexperienced crabs dangled from the hooks of keen anglers ready for the go-ahead signal. Seventy ft of frigid saltwater separated us from the boulders that bordered a small wreck beneath. In a number of hours, the tide can be falling and we’d haven’t any choice however to fish shallower.
In Jap Lengthy Island Sound, the captain defined, the flood tide is the slower of the 2 tides, and with much less present to battle, it’s extra favorable for tautog fishing.
“We fish loads of deep-water spots, and when the outgoing tide is operating onerous, you simply can’t fish sure wrecks, or everyone is getting hung up. The incoming tide, on common, runs about 2 knots slower than the outgoing tide as a result of we now have so many islands out right here,” Jensen continued. “So, when the flood tide is operating (west), the circulate is inhibited by Fisher’s Island and Plum Island, and we will fish all of the bottom eddies with relative ease. When the water is dashing out (east) on the ebb tide, all of it exits the Sound by way of both The Race, Plum Intestine, or Sluiceway. That funnel impact makes the tides stronger right here than wherever else within the Sound.”
We began our morning fishing the early incoming tide. Having scarfed down breakfast sandwiches, our stomachs have been full and morale was excessive. Quickly after the primary drop, we began selecting away at principally quick tautog, with a number of keepers within the combine.
Spot quantity two was a brief steam away, and with the incoming tide nonetheless on our aspect, the chunk actually fired up. This time, Jensen anchored us over a barge wreck, and we dropped baits 115 ft to the underside. This required between 10 and 12 ounces of lead, and financial institution sinkers have been favored due to their potential to slide out and in of tight pockets between rocks.
It grew to become obvious after two drops that the deeper water was holding larger blackfish. Keepers, and a few good ones at that, came to visit the rail the place they have been met with a mixture of cheers and pleasant jeers by anglers competing for the pool cash. The biggest fish was round 6 kilos—a pleasant tautog, however not the double-digit caliber that the Sound has been identified to provide.
All through his 45 years as a constitution captain, Jensen says many 14- to 15-pound tog have hit the deck of the Nancy Ann. The most important, over 16½ kilos, was caught by veteran out of doors author, Tom Schlichter, on a constitution journey eight years in the past. “A buddy of mine has a ship in Connecticut and has had a pair fish over 20 kilos. A few of these extra-large blackfish reside alongside the sides of their rivers, they usually don’t go very far,” Jensen famous. “However for no matter cause, they not often get above 16 kilos over right here.”
Jensen admits that very large blackfish have been as soon as plentiful within the Sound. “There are nonetheless loads of fish, however not as many jumbos as we used to see,” he stated. Not way back, they’d catch a double-digit fish a few times a day; now, they might see solely a handful all season. “Tautog are very slow-growing fish,” Jensen stated, “and so many individuals are focusing on them now and are good at it,” he added, citing main enhancements in electronics, just like the trolling motors that enable anglers at any expertise degree to “anchor” the boat over construction. “However fishing remains to be good, and we get 7 to eight pounders fairly reliably.”
As extra individuals uncover and pursue tautog within the Sound, the Nancy Ann crew does their half to reduce mortality and protect the fishery. They make small tweaks to their method that come from years of commentary. For instance, Jensen requests that each one the boat rods are rigged with 4/0 hooks and instructs the mates to chop crabs into halves. They used to go for 3/0 hooks, however a 4/0 can deal with a bigger bait, and a bigger bait helps decrease what number of undersized fish are hooked and launched.
“Launch mortality might be decrease than we predict for many of our season,” Jensen stated. “These are robust, hardy fish. It’s solely the late season that’s slightly harder on the launched fish as a result of, at that time, we’re fishing a lot deeper water than we do in October.”
Jensen is a agency believer in maintaining a contemporary crab on the hook. “We inform our anglers to vary out baits each couple of minutes. A contemporary bait will produce extra bites, even when these bites are from smaller fish. Extra bites generate extra chum, so the fishing will usually enhance,” stated the skipper. With that, now I understood why we had a vat of inexperienced crabs on board, greater than I’d ever seen in a single place.
As with every leisure fish species, there are obstacles to beat. Jensen claims one in every of their biggest challenges to at the present time is the division of Lengthy Island’s tautog fishery into two zones. “The rules have much less of an influence on the charters to our west, in areas like Port Jefferson, as a result of it’s unlikely these blackfish ever depart the Sound. However our fish out in Orient may very well be in 2 completely different zones in in the future,” Jensen stated, declaring the 1-fish distinction in bag limits. “It simply complicates issues for us.”
As probably the most skilled captains within the Jap Sound, Jensen makes certain his voice (and the voices of different North Fork captains) are heard. “I’m most likely the oldest member of the North Fork Captains Affiliation, which began again within the 80s,” he stated. Their frequent objective is to self-promote fishing charters within the space and to be acknowledged for having a say in rules as a gaggle. The native boats could compete for enterprise, at instances, however on this shut neighborhood of like-minded captains, their voices are stronger collectively.
Know When to Fold ‘Em
Tautog (Blackfish) Laws – Lengthy Island Sound Area
- 3 fish per angler, 16-inch minimal dimension restrict
- Season: 10/11 – 12/9
Per New York state rules, the season for tautog fishing in Lengthy Island Sound opens in October and lasts into early December, however Jensen concludes his season by November 30 every year.
“The Connecticut River is basically what shuts us down,” stated Jensen. “When the rivers get chilly up north and all that freezing water flows downstream into the Sound, it adjustments our water temperatures drastically.”
In Jap Connecticut, the Niantic and Thames rivers additionally contribute to the speedy cooling of the Sound’s waters. “We will see as a lot as a 5- to 7-degree temperature distinction simply on the tide change,” Jensen added.
For All of the Marbles
By the point we reached our third and last spot, I had misplaced all feeling in my toes, which I noticed when a 12-ounce sinker rolled proper off the fillet desk onto my foot. Even with the solar overhead, it was chilly sufficient that a number of anglers who had already caught their restrict retreated to the cabin. “If we’re gonna catch an enormous one, it’s gonna be right here,” stated Jensen.
This spot was completely different. We had steamed throughout the Sound and have been hugging the Connecticut shoreline. The Cross Sound Ferry, which I’d be catching to New London later that day, cruised proper previous us. I poked my head into the cabin to ask Wealthy what the underside construction appeared like. Relatively than large boulders or the inflexible remnants of a barge, we have been fishing over a gravel and rubble backside in 45 ft of water. Jensen anchored up and we shared the small piece of actual property with a middle console utilizing a trolling motor to carry its place. The northeast wind was hardly an element on this aspect of the Sound, however within the time it took us to run throughout, the tide had flipped. Jensen’s plan was to place us in shallow water throughout the slowest portion of the ebb tide, which might quickly be cranking. The jig window was closing.
I pulled out my fortunate tog jig: a white-legger-patterned S&S White Chin Wrecker, tipped it with a halved crab, and pitched it up-current. After a number of minutes, there was a fragile peck-peck on the bait. Utilizing all my restraint, I waited out a number of extra pecks, prepared the road to maneuver, indicating that the jig had been picked up. The break up second between that line motion and the hookset is stuffed with anticipation. I reared again and upward with the rod. Huge headshakes surged by way of my line, and 20 seconds later, a chunky sea bass confirmed itself on the floor, pinned proper within the roof of its mouth. It was certainly a black fish, however the flawed variety. “That’ll eat,” I heard over my shoulder.
There was another likelihood to drop a jig earlier than we headed for Duryea’s in Orient. This time, I opted for a heavier one, painted vivid inexperienced and blazing orange to match the innards of a inexperienced crab. The tide pulled my jig beneath the boat, the place it bought bit twice earlier than a decisive thump. Prepared for my pool winner, I swung away, however the hook didn’t join. “Final drop, guys, so make it depend,” Jensen stated. “Somebody at all times catches a pool winner on the final drop,” Cristina chuckled. “Who’s it gonna be?”
Certain sufficient, on the final drop of the day, David Velasquez pulled within the largest fish of the journey with an estimated weight of 8 kilos. “See?! I informed ya!” Cristina crowed. I missed my shot at an enormous one, however I had realized extra in six hours of fishing than I had anticipated.
What I realized is that tautog fishing isn’t about catching the largest fish. It’s concerning the likeminded individuals we meet, the relationships we develop with them, and what we will achieve from these relationships. I’ve been out on the Nancy Ann IV a handful of instances now, and fishing with them looks like fishing with family and friends.
In the event you can handle a number of fillets on prime of all that, you’re strolling away from the desk as a winner. An excellent captain results in good fishing, and that’s what retains of us like Mike Dunne and his crew coming again to the North Fork to fish with the identical captain, for a similar fish, on the identical day, 12 months after 12 months.
» Guide a visit on the Nancy Ann IV / nancyanncharters.com
Associated Content material
Catch Huge Tautog
The Finest Bait for Tautog Fishing
Tautog Jigs vs. Rigs
