RI RECORD TAUTOG

It was a beautiful November day with cool waters and sunny skies. The tautog bite was really heating up in Newport, RI. Our last 4 or 5 trips all saw fish over 11 pounds, with the biggest going just under 16. I had a full boat of enthusiastic anglers from New Jersey. These guys were experienced togger’s and ready to put their skills to the test. It was a crew of father and sons looking to make some memories, plus a 17-year-old kid named Paul Newman. Paul was the quietest and humblest of the group, but his modest nature was about to be tested.

Paul’s commitment to the cause was proven the day before the trip. The primary charter client, Markez Zella had been in contact with me for a few weeks leading up to the trip. Markez had asked me several times about the likelihood of getting white crabs as bait for their trip. I told him I had been catching some in my traps, but it had been inconsistent. The boys called around to their local Jersey tackle shops with that news until they had tracked some down. Being the youngest of the bunch, Paul drew the short stick and was tasked with making the 4-hour round trip journey to acquire the essential white crabs. Young Paul’s efforts are soon to be highly rewarded.

The morning of our trip had a comical start. The guys carried down about 5-6 rods each. I told the men that I applauded their enthusiasm and preparedness, but we couldn’t take that many rods. Paul had his heart stuck on bringing an ultralight, trout rod exclaiming it would be “so fun.” After reasoning with him, Paul went with the much heavier and sturdier rod in place of the freshwater toy. This would prove to be a sagacious decision by Paul. With the boat loaded and spirits high, we pushed off the dock and made our way to the tautog grounds.

The ride out was filled with excitement. Everyone was anxious to drop baits down. We started our morning just after slack tide. I had to “false anchor” the boat by powering into the anchor line until the tide was strong enough to hold us. We had life right away and were on a fast track to another easy limit. As bigger fish started coming over the rail, I advised the guys to gradually introduce rigs to the spread while slowly increasing the size of the baits. The group listened and began using whole green crabs and the occasional whole white crab. The bigger, more territorial tog will be more apt to strike by slowly introducing higher prized baits.

At this point, the tide is starting to increase, as is the size of the fish we were catching. We’ve now boated back-to-back fish near 12 pounds and lost two monsters into the rocks. I could tell we were in the middle of a sizeable fish-feeding frenzy. Paul switched from his lighter jigging rod to his heavier conventional rod. I tied him a new snafu rig, using 5/0 VMC hooks and a 60-pound Cortland line fluorocarbon leader. Paul attached a silver dollar-sized white crab with both hooks impaled and dropped it down to the 75′ rocky bottom. I could see that Paul thought he was hung up immediately, but I wasn’t convinced. I’ve seen this act before. My eyes were glued to the rod tip, and sure enough, it began to twitch. REEL! REEL! REEL! Paul did not have the bottom hooked; he had a dinosaur of a fish on the other end. The fish took 4-5 big runs back to the rocks, but Paul kept steady pressure and turned the big fish each time. The fish finally reached the surface, and everyone was in absolute disbelief.

The substantial male tautog filled my oversized striped bass net. This was indeed the largest tautog I’d ever seen. I knew right away this could be a historic fish. I grabbed my trusty Rapala digital hand scale and carefully attached the fish, and began to lift. Shockingly, the scale is bouncing between 21.4 and 21.8 pounds. I knew we had a potential state record fish sitting on the deck if those numbers were correct. The crew and I talked it over and decided to head in with the big fish and take our chances at breaking a record. We placed the fish in a large cooler filled with seawater with hopes of releasing it. The crew is now giddy and as excited as ever. Everyone is googling the current record, how to officially weigh in a fish, and several other record-related queries.

After making several phone calls, we drove the fish to stop and shop grocery store in Middletown, RI. On the deli scale, there was an official RI state-recognized scale. After proper documentation and following close instructions, we hoisted the behemoth fish onto the scale. The scale started low and slowly began to climb. After what seemed like an eternity, it finally settled at 21.57 pounds, a new RI state record after 67 years! The guys were ecstatic, screaming and hollering behind the deli counter. I reminded the guys we still had a shot at releasing the big fish, so we hurried back to the boat. Unfortunately, after 15 minutes of revival efforts, the big tog didn’t make it. I never want to kill a big fish, but it’s times like these where anglers have a chance at a record, an actual fish of a lifetime, that may mark the only exception to harvesting such an incredible catch.

With plenty of time left in our charter, plus some bonus time, we headed back to the grounds. We anchored back on our piece of structure and continued filing our limit. We even managed a few more double-digit tog. While the fishing was still excellent, the energy and focus of that day were solely on breaking the record. Paul has since had a skin-on replica mount made as well as several gyotaku prints made of the big fish. November 7, 2021, was a day my crew and I will certainly never forget. I know a bigger fish is swimming along Rhode Island’s rocky coastline. I will continue to fish every day I can, trying to break that record someday again.