Just when most anglers in New Jersey have given up their rods for Christmas shopping, there is a great fishery that is actually just heating up. Those who can brave the frigid temps and the stinging winds are usually rewarded with a freezer full of dense white fillets from a species known as either blackfish or tog.

   The debate continues over what to call these members of the wrasse family. As is usually the case in New Jersey, there is a general geographic division. From about the Route 72 Bridge south they are usually known as tog. North of that, they are almost exclusively referred to as blackfish. Either way they are a great but often frustrating fish to catch.

  The blackfish is a wreck dweller, and that may even be an understatement. They live deep in the most knarled of obstructions feeding on crabs, mussels and other crustaceans. They are biologically designed to crunch crabs and mussels, and then to pass the shells right through their digestive tracts. Their mouths consist of oversized rubbery lips, no doubt to withstand a pinch from their favorite prey, and their squared off teeth are designed to crush and eat.

   What these fish lack in speed they make up in sheer power. The muscles of a blackfish extend right to the near end of their tail, making them very powerful swimmers. In fact, real fight with a tog is to get it away from the wreck as quickly as possible, which is easier said than done! Having a fish power back into the wreck and snag your line in the process is know as being “wrecked”. Big togs are famous for this. In fact, hooking a tog and pulling it away from the wreck is truly an art form. Many sharpies have honed their skills for years before obtaining proficiency. The bites can be very subtle, and your crab bait gone in a fraction of a second. In fact if you miss a strike it probably is time for new bait.

   On this December morning, we had to spend the better part of an hour just getting the 4 inches of snow out of the boat! The first snowfall of the season happened a few days prior, and with temps in the 20s it never melted at all. So, after our humorous intro, we were off and running toward the Cape May Reef. We started out with a grapple anchor on the wreck of an old buoy tender on the northern portion of the reef. This particular wreck has a fairly high profile, and usually holds good numbers of fish for us. As soon as the cut green crabs hit the bottom is was game on! We had “drop and reel” tog fishing for the better part of an hour, but they all were 13 ½-inch clones of one another, leading Bill to refer to it as the “grammar school wreck”.

 After letting some line out on the grapple and repositioning on the wreck, we began to get bigger fish in the 14 to 15-inch range. Not huge, but keepers, and with the way blackfish tastes breaded and fried, a keeper was a keeper! We continued to pick though shorts, until we pulled the grapple and headed to a different wreck. Once on a different piece, we did get into some bigger fish, but never got the togzilla we were looking for.

   By late morning, a front came through and shut the bite shut off completely on the entire reef. We jogged around to several different pieces, including some subway cars and barges that often produce well for us, but we couldn’t buy a single additional fish. Blackfishing is sometimes like that!  

   As mentioned on the show, we feel that it is very important to use fairly heavy tackle for blackfish (see the Tackle Locker above for specifics). Again the fight is not what drives tackle choice, but the ability to pull a big fish out of the wreck surely is. We spool up with 50-pound Power Pro; if you are not using braid for tog, then you are missing most of your hits - we promise!

   We had a great day fishing out there, and dinner the next night of fried tog and hushpuppies was simply out of this world.