Mid-Winter Tautog
By Captain Andy Snyder

It got downright scary. For years, it was the same thing over and over. You know, the definition of insanity: repeating the same action, expecting a different outcome each time. That was me to the core, and I had no clue it was happening.

Every year, right around Groundhog Day, the whole country starts talking of spring. It gets me excited for a fresh year of fishing. When the local weatherman can display the daily high by just using the fingers on his hands, it does not take much talk of spring to get me jittery and anxious.

When I was sickest, all Mother Nature would have to do is toss one slightly-warmer-than-usual day (Statisticians call them outliers. Foolish anglers call them an early spring.) at us and I was in the garage digging through boxes of fishing gear like I had lost my wedding ring in one of them and my wife was pulling up the driveway.

By the time I got through the boxes of imitation shad bodies, fluorescent bucktails, and pencil poppers, the barometric pressure would undoubtedly plummet and the weatherman was using his fingers again. And there I was, standing in a pile of fishing gear on the garage floor with nothing but snow on the horizon. I put up with the situation for a long time. Then I simply quit. I went tautog fishing. And boy am I glad I did.

I could not take the pain of shoving everything back into its box and piling it on a shelf for another six weeks (if the groundhog was right). So I put on a few layers of wool, put my truck in four-wheel-drive and headed towards saltwater.

When I got to the dock, I found at least two dozen other anglers just like me. They too, were duped into Mother Nature’s trap. We all gathered at a local headboat – one of a few not on blocks that time of the year – and shared the odd symptoms of our wintertime insanity for the next twelve hours. Even better, we caught fish one after the other. The weather may have been in the single digits, but the fishing was hot.

The secret is out
Mid-winter tautog fishing is the perfect way to beat the wintertime blues. Unfortunately, too few anglers are even aware of this great fishery right off our Mid-Atlantic coast. Within a few miles of the beach, seasoned skippers are guiding anglers to great catches of a very tasty and hard-fighting fish. I do not know how it has remained quiet all this time.

The fishing itself is straightforward, requiring no advanced techniques or complicated tackle. The captain does all the hard work. He must get the boat anchored directly over a wreck, reef, rock pile, or any other underwater obstruction.

Tautog live in and around heavy structure. So if you are not fishing directly over this structure, your catch will diminish greatly. Unfortunately, dropping a line on a reef or wreck means occasionally losing tackle, but that is par for the course. Bring lots of extra sinkers and hooks.

By far, the easiest (and cheapest) way to take advantage of this great mid-winter fishery is to hop on a local headboat. Delaware and Maryland have a handful of boats that run all winter long just to take advantage of the great tautog fishing. These boats leave ports like Lewes and Indian River in Delaware, and from Ocean City in Maryland.

In fact, the fishing has been so good over the past few years, captains have been bringing their boats from neighboring states to the north and south to catch some of our Mid-Atlantic tautog.

Most headboats charge somewhere around $50 for a full day of fishing. During the winter, it is a good idea to call ahead and make a reservation. That way the captain knows you are coming and will reserve you a spot. On a nice winter day, these boats fill up fast.

If headboats are not your thing, the area has plenty of smaller charter boats that will take you to prime tautog structure. These boats are more expensive, but because they are typically limited to six passengers, your group of anglers can have the whole boat to itself. Do a quick search of the Internet, and you will find plenty of charter captains willing to brave the cold weather.

Tackle any situation
No matter what kind of boat you fish from, the tackle and techniques are the same. A six- to seven- foot medium to heavy rod paired up with a mid-sized conventional baitcasting reel will work just fine. For instance, when I am on the rail fishing for tautog, I use a Penn 320 GTI attached to a medium/heavy six-foot rod.

At first glance, the setup appears overkill for a fish that is barely over a foot long. But it is not the fish you are battling, it is the structure the fish lives in you must conquer.

A hooked tautog will desperately run for the protection of hole in the reef or wreck it lives in. If you want any hope of landing the fish, you need to pull the fish away from the structure the instant you feel a bite. If you are using tackle that is too light, this will prove an impossible task and you will lose a lot of good fish, not to mention a lot of tackle.

Since tautog fishing takes place over deep ocean or bay wrecks, I spool my tautog reels with any of the high-tech braids available on the market (like Spiderwire or PowerPro) in 50-pound test, topped off with a few yards of 30-pound monofilament for abrasion resistance.

Braided lines, with little to no stretch, offer much greater sensitivity than traditional monofilament. When quick reflexes and strong hooksets are the key to catching fish, the advantage afforded by braided line may be all it takes to make you the high hook for the day.

Unfortunately, some headboats do not allow anglers to use braided line. When fishing in a crowd of inexperienced anglers, tangles are a frequent occurrence. Braided lines, and their ultra-thin diameter, make fixing these tangles a major, time-consuming chore. If you want to use braided line, call ahead and see if the captain allows it.

All charterboats and many headboats will provide you with tackle if you do not bring your own. A headboat may charge you for it, but the fee is reasonable and it eliminates the hassle of lugging your own gear to the dock.

Rigged and ready
The rigs used for catching tautog are simple and straightforward. If you are losing a lot of rigs to a wreck, you do not want to spend any extra time tying complicated rigs. Many captains use a simple top-and-bottom rig with two three- to four-inch dropper loops used to attach the hooks.

To tie this rig, start with a four-foot long piece of 30- to 50- pound test monofilament, and tie a double surgeon’s loop at each end. Then simply tie two large dropper knots about 18 inches apart in between these loops. All you have to do is attach a sinker to the bottom surgeon’s loop and thread your hooks onto the droppers. You will need anywhere from four to eight ounces of lead to hold the bottom.

As for hooks, I like to use heavy-gauge 3/0 or 4/0 J-hooks. Because tautog have a set of heavy-duty chompers to help them break through the shells of clams, crabs, and a variety of other crustaceans, a hook made from heavy-gauge wire is a must.

This rig is quick and easy to tie and even easier to fish. Simply drop it down into the structure and hang on. It will not take long for a hungry tautog to take your bait.

Speaking of bait, most boats will provide you with all the bait you could possibly need. Green crabs, sand fleas, and salted sea clams are the usual baits, but do not be surprised if the mate hands you something else to use. When tautog get picky, their food choice can be rather limited. But don’t worry, the captain of the boat will know exactly what to use.

You may be wondering if you can use your own boat to chase wintertime tautog. You certainly could, but I do not recommend it. The waters of the Mid-Atlantic can get quite cold and testy during the winter months. It is best to head out with a captain and crew that know the water well and have all of the necessary experience and safety gear to tackle a cold-weather trip.

Every year, more and more anglers are finding out about a great, mid-winter fishing secret. Tautog fishing off the Delaware or Maryland coast is a great way to beat the winter doldrums and get back on the water.

Do not get sucked into the trap of thinking spring will be just around the corner. If you never put your gear away, you never have to dig it back out in the spring. When everybody else is waiting to see if an over-dressed groundhog sees its shadow, you can be on the water loading your cooler with great-tasting fish.