Tautog  ( tautoga  onitis), also referred to as blackfish, are members of the wrasse family that live along the Atlantic  coast from Nova Scotia down to northern Florida, but generally tend to be most prevalent between Cape Cod and Virginia. They prefer habitats that are adjacent to rocky bottoms, wrecks and other structure, they can be fairly easy to locate, but for the same reason, can be challenging to land. The tautog feed primarily upon crustaceans, mollusks and invertebrates ,
possessing large teeth in front of their mouth and flat teeth in the back for crushing and grinding.
Its body color ranges from a mottled dark green to black, with larger specimens often  displaying a white chin. While they can exceed 20 pounds in weight,, the ones most often taken by sport anglers weigh between 3 and 10 pounds.  The tautog's  firm, white and mild  fillets, make it a favorite at the table as well..

Finally opening day for Blackfish, we had a nice crowd. Some of the group had the right touch or were in the right place on the boat, and went home with  blackfish in their coolers, some others went home with empty coolers.. Jimmy the watchman won the pool with a 6 1/2 lb. tog  and had five keepers, others  had with 1-3 keepers  togs.  See you in the morning..