By Captain Jason Sawicki
The traditional method for catching blackfish here in southern New England is to anchor up and send down a chum pot full of crushed crabs or mussels to draw these grouper like fish under your boat. While certainly effective, there are situations and reasons why I will often forgo sitting on the hook and use a controlled drift to generate an increase in bites that result in more fish on the deck.
I always start my drift upwind of the targeted bottom structure and always place my stern into the wind. Since most of the rock piles are small, my drifts are short and there is no need for a drift sock –– which is best utilized for longer drift situations. By bumping my engine into reverse, I control the boat movement over the structure and hopefully the fish, allowing us to cover the bottom both quickly and effectively. Within several drifts, I will have covered the target structure and will generally know if the ground is holding fish or not. If not, I’m off to my next stop. This approach ultimately results in saving time that is better spent on finding and fishing on productive bottom, rather than sitting on anchor hoping that the chum or change in tide will result in caught tog.
As soon as the cold weather starts, the hunt for big tautog gets underway.
The key to making the short drift approach work is to do some homework and identify a dozen or so rock piles that might hold fish. The majority of these will be within a depth range that I feel is right per reports I have or from my own prior trips. A few others will be both shallower and deeper, just in case the initial targeted depth is not producing for me and we have to venture a bit to locate fish.
For tackle, 50lb braid on conventional gear is what I prefer. I am using the new Fin-Nor Lethal Star Drag reels. They are compact, strong, and pick up line quickly with a fast 6.2:1 ratio needed for hauling those chunky white chins out of the rocks. Terminal gear can be a single or tandem high-low rig with 4/0 – 5/0 Octopus hooks. Sinkers should be rigged on a surgeons loop, and you should have a variety of weight from 2-8 oz. to hold bottom pending drift and current speed. The Jonny blackfish jigs can also be effective when tipped with a fresh quarter or half crab. They also provide a direct connection to your bait for feeling the most subtle of bites. Both the traditional bottom rigs and jigs work well, but the jigs work best in shallower areas less than 20 ft. Having several dozen live green crabs at hand is a must, as you will go through a lot of bait.
The fall blackfish season has grown in popularity, as it’s a great way to end our fishing year. Most of the better known hard bottom areas seem to get hit hard during the first week, but it’s important to know that even the smallest piece of structure can hold fish and often times, it is very close to the dock. These spots are plentiful, frequently overlooked by the masses, and can lead to some great catches for the few in the know. Give the short drift method a try over some of these areas and you might be surprised at how productive it can be.
FORECAST BY: Jason Sawicki is a USCG licensed captain who pursues many of the great fisheries that exist in the North East. He trailers his Mako CC “Megabite” throughout southern New England, targeting multiple fisheries with light tackle – knowing that being mobile is a huge advantage towards being consistently successful.