Columbia Sportswear™ Bahama II Long – sleeved Shirt
COLUMBIA
Average Customer Review: (3)

Buy new: $27.99 – $54.95

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Columbia Sportswear Men’s Bonehead Short Sleeve Shirt
Columbia Sportswear
Average Customer Review: (6)

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Reebok Men’s Reflex Tri-Color Reflex Jammer
Reebok

Buy new: $32.00 $22.40

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Columbia Sportswear™ Bahama II Long – sleeved Shirt
COLUMBIA
Average Customer Review: (3)

Buy new: $27.99 – $54.95

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PointMaker Electric Fish Hook Sharpener 115 VAC
by Texas Tackle
Average Customer Review: (2)

Buy new: $129.00

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Reebok Men’s Reflex Tri-Color Reflex Jammer
Reebok

Buy new: $32.00 $22.40

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Columbia Backcast River Shorts
Columbia Sportswear Company
Average Customer Review: (10)

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Sage Performance Taper II Freshwater Fly Line (3-9 wt floating)
by Sage

Buy new: $65.00

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Tautog, also know as Blackfish, are extremely tough fighters and very sneaky fish that can be difficult to catch.   However, they are great on the dinner table.  We will go over some useful information about how to catch these fish.

Anchor Retrieval System
A good anchor system uses two ropes, one attached to the front of the anchor, and the usual anchor rope attached to the back of the anchor.  The rope attached to the front should have a small buoy on it.   When you drop the anchor make sure the ropes don’t wrap each other, as this will defeat the purpose of the second rope.  When it comes time to pull the anchor up, motor up carefully to the buoy, bringing in the other rope as you approach, then grap the buoy and pull the anchor in the rest of the way using the buoy rope.  This pulls the anchor from the front, pulling it right out o the bottom and any rocks it may have been stuck under. 

Boat Handling
It is necessary to anchor the boat over the rocky structure that Tautog prefer.  This can sometimes be very difficult, if you don’t get over the structure you wont be catching any fish.  Once you get the boat anchored, remember that an area can be fished out, so it is necessary to let out anchor line as you fish to cover new ground.  Make sure that you are anchored so that letting out line wll still place you over structure.

Rigging
Tautog like to hide among rock piles and it isn’t unusual to lose a lot of rigs when fishing for them.  We use a very simple rig which helps reduce the loss of tackle to a minimum.  A simple monofilament leader with a loop is tied onto the line and then a hook with a leader is tied to this length of mono leader, with the hook able to hang down to the level of the loop.  Then we tie a small loop with 12lb test mono, these are used to attach the sinker to the leader loop.  This lighter sinker loop will break before the main leader does, and it is the sinker that often gets hung up with this rig, since it hangs down below the hook.  This way you usually only lose sinkers.

 Bait
We use crabs for bait.  It is easy for us to catch them at the dock and is doesn’t matter what kind they are (except for spider crabs, we don’t use them).   Most of the time we remove the legs, claws, and cut the crab in half, then remove the upper shell before placing it on the hook.  If it is a very large crab we will cut the halves in half and use quarters

Fishing
Let your baited rig down to the bottom.  It is necessary to keep the line tight so you may feel the hit, otherwise the bait can be lost with no clue to the fact that there was a bite.  If the boat is swinging back and forth, do not let the rig drag across the bottom, this will hang it up for sure.  Always lift it off the bottom and let it back down as the boat moves.   Banging the sinker on the bottom will make noise which can bring the tautog in to investigate.

The Bite
With Tautog, you will often feel the tap-tap-taps and will want to instantly try to set the hook.  This does not usually work, you need to wait until you feel the taps become tugs, then try setting the hook.  If the fish is hooked, get him away from the bottom as quickly as you can so he can’t get hung up in the rocks.  Remember not to lift the head out of the water as you try to net the fish, this is a good way to lose him.

When to Fish
In the fall when the tautog bite is really on you can catch a lot of fish, and they can be pretty easy to hook.  During the spring and summer, they are not so aggressive and tautog fishing can be somewhat frustrating.  Late October and early November are usually the best times to fish for them.  Time of day is not usually an issue, far more important is tide, which needs to be running for the bite to be on.  Slack tide in not usually very good.

Chris Bell has fished Rhode Island waters for 11 years. Before that he was a writer and PC administrator.   He now guides Tautog fishing charters out of Jim’s Dock in RI on several boats and in the winter writes on various aspects of fishing for stripers, flounder, and other species and fishing techniques.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/fishing-articles/tautog-fishing-tips-794457.html

One of the peculiarities of flounder fishing is that you need to cover ground in order to catch them.  They are aggressive predators that will chase a bait and they expect a bait to run from them when they approach.   When the wind is light and your drift is slow or non-existent, it can become much harder to catch them.

A method you can use to catch these fish under such conditions is the cast and retrieve technique.  As the name implies, it is a much more active fishing technique than most flounder fishierman may be accustomed to.  Read on and learn more about it. 

Preparation.
There is a technique that can be used under these conditions that will allow for catching flounder.  It is the cast/retrieve technique, and can be very productive.   There are a number of items required to do this.  You must be able to cast a good distance with the rod you are using, a spinning reel is best for this.  The reel must be spooled with a braided line, as braid is extremely sensitive and will allow you to feel the hits much easier than with monofilament.  The rod should be at least 7 feet long, and have a light action to it to help feel the hits.  The last consideration is the flounder rig.  Instead of using a standard flounder rig, it must be modified for the conditions.  Since this rig will be cast and worked, the leader between your sinker snap and the hook will be much shorter, on the order of 12-16″ in length and 50 pound test.  It is best to use a green  monofilament like Berkley Trilene big game line.  Your end rig can be rather simple, just one spinner blade and a white bucktail hook, or just a bucktail hook.   This shorter rig is necessary to control your casting and because this is a much more active technique then typical flounder fishing, where the longer rig will tangle repeatedly.  Typically, you don’t want to use more than 2-4 ounce sinkers for this type of fishing. 

The Technique.
Now that you have the right gear, onto the actual jigging retrieve.  Bait the hook with squid or whatever else works, then cast the rig out as far as you can, and wait until it hits the bottom before closing up and taking in the slack.  Reel in the slack until the rod is nearly horizontal, then begin jigging.  Jig upward about 18″ and go back down until you feel the sinker hit the bottom, then do it again, and again, until the rod reaches a point where it is vertical.  Then reel in the slack until the rod is nearly horizontal again, and repeat the pattern.  You do this until you feel a hit and hook a fish or the line itself is nearly vertical, then reel it in and cast out again, repeating the method.   It should be cast it in at a least a slightly different direction each time, covering new ground.  Normally you would cast downdrift or perpendicular to the drift.  If the drift speed is exceptionally slow, then casting updrift is also an option.

The Strike Reaction
Be aware of the hits when they come, there may be just a little more resistence than the sinker alone.  At this point, most people want to jerk back on the rod to set the hook.  This rarely works, as the flounder comes up behind the bait and grabs it at the end, usually not getting the hook but just the end of the bait farthest from the hook.   So your reaction should be to immediately lower the rod tip and take the pressure off the line, waiting for a few seconds to give the fish a chance to take the bait in.  Then lift the rod tip slowly until you think the fish is hooked.  Now reel the fluke in.  If the fish is lost on the way up, open the bail and let the line back down to the bottom right away and begin jigging, often a flounder will come back for it.  If no hits occur within a minute or two, reel the line in and check to see if the bait is gone.  When you lose a fish this way, it’s often a good idea to rebait and cast out in the same area again to get a second chance at that fish.

You may notice that this technique also tends to attract larger fish, which are more aggressive and like a more active bait.  Also, If this technique fails to catch fish, better move to a different area because there are no fish around the boat.

Best Times to Fish for Fluke
When fishing for flounder the best fishing is normally between 5:30am and 11:00am.   This doesn’t mean that they won’t bite at other times and often they do, but most of the fish will be caught during this time range in any given day.    Usually the worst time is from 12:00pm to 3:00pm.   On many days there will be a very active bite for one or two hours while the tide is running, and a slow bite during other times.

Chris Bell has lived in Rhode Island for 35 years and fished. He is a fishing guide and before that was a writer and PC administrator.   Chris now guides flounder fishing charters from Jim’s Dock and in the winter writes on various aspects of fishing for flounder and other species.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/fishing-articles/flounder-fishing-how-to-catch-fish-when-the-drift-is-slow-795343.html