by Steve “Tuna” Tornovish
Not to divulge big secrets, but when I’m not taking people out beach fishing, I spend some time working with my buddy Mike Ramos. Mike is a master plumber. He often needs a hand while turning on / closing down houses for the seasons. I have a blast working with Mike, playing the role of “plumber’s monkey.” And a real fine monkey I am, if I do say so myself!
Back in late April of this year I was actively engaged in monkey business when I received a call from our buddy Josh Sandsbury. Josh, also a master plumber, had decided that the beautiful and unseasonably warm April day was the perfect day for cutting out of work a bit early to do some tautog fishing. Josh said, “I’m at the Children’s Beach dock with the Whaler ready to launch. I’ve got all the fishing gear. Where are you?” Well, at that moment, I was in the second floor master bathroom of a house that was built back when wigs and wooden teeth were in vogue, putting a toilet back together. Yeah, fishing sounded like a good idea, but I had to finish the job. We agreed that Josh would head out to the end of the Jetties and hit me back up if he was having any luck.
I was intrigued by the idea of catching tautog. They weren’t a species that was frequently targeted by Nantucket anglers, and I had never caught one. That had to change. I also knew that my friend Dr. Frank O’Conner was absolutely obsessed with tog fishing. Frank had spent many years in Newport while in the Navy, and the rocky areas of the Narragansett Bay and Newport harbor were perfect territory for chasing after these tasty blackfish. When you need answers, you ask smart friends, right? Dr. O’Conner did not disappoint:
“Tautog are caught wherever there is structure like rocks, jetties, piers, and wrecks. The usual bait is green crabs, as the tog feed on crabs with a thick jaw and primitive teeth. From a boat, you anchor unless you have an electric motor with GPS that can keep you in the same spot. The tautog nibble with a subtle bite, and you need to let them bite a little before setting the hook. The big boys will often bite once and pretty much set the hook. Tog are muscular and compact fish that will take you into the rocks when hooked. Lots of broken lines if you’re not quick enough or if you tangle in the structure. Fishing is pretty much done by bouncing a heavy jig with bait attached off the bottom. I use a double hook with a weight in the middle, but it’s also common to use a colored weighted single hook. Green crabs are the best bait. I pull the front claws off of the crab and cut the crab body in half. You can fish a whole crab but you won’t get as many bites. However, whole crabs tend to land bigger fish.”
Josh and I had been discussing the possibility of tautog fishing for a couple of weeks. Josh had set some traps in the hope of catching some green crabs. He was marginally successful but did not catch enough for a full fishing trip. We reached out to guys that had experience around the island. Kevin Ramos told us that he did well with heavy gauge tautog jigs baited with shrimp. Nantucket Tackle had the jigs and Stop and Shop had the shrimp. Josh and I figured we were in business!
This entire tautog fishing adventure had a significant plumbing connection. Josh and I had first heard about tautog being around Nantucket from Tyler O’Brien when Tyler was helping us out at Plumber’s Supply. Tyler had caught some off of the docks in the early spring. And Kevin Ramos is a Nantucket firefighter and also a plumber. So it seemed quite natural that Josh would steal me away from the wild world of plumbing to go chase tautog.
“Steven,” (yeah, Josh is the only person out there who calls me Steven) “are you done with that house yet? I’ve caught three tog already, and two are keepers! I’ll swing back and pick you up at the dock. Grab another bag of shrimp.”
That was all the motivation I needed. Mike and I finished double-checking that the house was in good order. He agreed to drop me off in town. We tried to talk Mike into fishing but he had a previous engagement scheduled. He was kind enough to lend me his sweatshirt (thanks, Mike), and I bombed into the downtown supermarket, bought a two-pound bag of frozen shrimp and hiked over to Old North Wharf. Josh was there, as promised. I hopped into his 17-foot Boston Whaler and we headed for the Jetties.
Josh filled me in as we motored out. “These things are great bait stealers. Keep in contact with the jig. When you hit them to set the hook, you’ve got to get them up quickly or they’ll break your line off in the rocks.”
Per usual, Josh had given me good advice. I missed the first couple of bites but finally hooked and boated my first ever tautog. It didn’t quite measure 16 inches, the requirement to keep a tog, so after a quick photo op it was returned to the ocean. Wow, those fish are strong! And slimy. Yeah, tautog are about the slimiest fish that I’ve ever encountered. The next bite was very close to the rocks, and the fish broke me off. “You’ve got to be quicker than that, Steven!”
Josh and I had a blast for about an hour, catching another half dozen fish. Josh kept three to cook and all others were released. As we headed back to the dock, we saw a boat anchored near the western jetty with a dive flag flying. Josh guessed that it may be his friend Matt, who often spearfishes for tog.
A couple of days later, Josh took his nine-year-old daughter Avery down to the docks to see if they could catch some tog off of Straight Wharf, just as Tyler had. They were successful, and Avery had a wonderful time with her dad.
I’m grateful to Josh for introducing me to this fantastic new species. It’s easy to see how tog fishing has become a favorite of so many fishers. Josh reported that the fish was as good to eat as he’d ever had, all the more reason to want to get back after them. Dr. O’Conner told me that the fall tautog fishing is the best. Can’t wait to find out!
Steve “Tuna” Tornovish is a Nantucket native who has spent his life fishing from the beaches of his beloved island. He loves to introduce clients to the joy of fishing with his Nantucket Island Fishing Adventures: stevetuna.com
