It's Bulldog Time

The leaves have turned and the nights are getting cooler. The farms on the North Fork are jammed with tourists shopping for the fall harvest and their Holloween pumpkins.

This is the time I wait for all season. While the striped bass and bluefish are chasing anything that moves, my focus from the end of October until Christmas is on catching bulldog blackfish.

I tell my fishing buddies that I have fished for just about anything that swims in saltwater in the northeast. I love them all. However, when it's blackfish season, I go a little nuts and weak in the knees. There is something special about this bucktooth beauty. Matt Ahern, a great fisherman and writer, could not have said it better. If you can learn to catch blackfish consistently, you are in the elite class of bottom fishermen. I couldn't agree more.

Time and again, I have seen would-be fishermen separated from the real sharpies. On party boats especially, where novice and expert stand side by side, this is evident. Fishing for blackfish is a humbling experience.

I blackfish mostly on the east end of Long Island, in the area between Orient Point, Fishers Island, Montauk and Block Island. Toward the end of the run in December I fish 17 Fathom Bank off the south shore of Long Island. These particular areas hold some very large blackfish, but there are many other great spots to fish throughout Long Island. Any clump of rocks or wreck has the potential of producing a trophy fish over ten pounds.

Fishing technique, tackle selection and rigging are very important. These fish are very strong and live in areas that play havoc with your tackle. I believe more big blackfish that are hooked, are lost rather than put in the boat.

Let's first start with the rod, reel and line. I have been using spectra line for about five or six years. I think it is the only way to go for blackfishing. The bite detection is phenomenal. However, that is my own opinion and many of my friends still use mono. It is your choice. Use 30 lb test line with good abrasion resistance.

The rod should be a medium heavy boat rod from 6 1/2 to 7 feet long capable of handling from 10-16 ounce sinkers. You will want a relatively firm tip to be able to set the hook in deep water. The reel should have a smooth drag and a minimum capacity of 200 yards of 30 lb test line. I am always concerned about line abrasion due to the rough bottom structure. Therefore, I rig up as follows:

Attach to your 30 lb main line approximately 20 feet of 50 lb mono line. I like to use Ande, but any good abrasion resistant line will do. Join the two lines with a double uni-knot.

Attach a medium black barrel swivel to the end of the 50 lb shock leader.

Learn to snell your own hooks. The hook snell should be about 12 inches long. I use 50 lb leader material and prefer a 3/0 Octopus hook, like Gamakatsu or Owner, instead of the traditional #4 Virginia hook. However, that is your choice. The important thing to remember is to keep that hook sharp. Check it after each fish and when you re-bait your hook. Sharpen with a plain emery board or hook sharpener.

Take another 4 foot piece of leader material and make a 2 inch dropper loop about 8 inches from one end. Make a sinker loop on the short end below the dropper loop and then tie a single overhand knot between the dropper loop and the sinker loop. This is a breakaway knot. Should you snag the rig, you can break off the sinker and save the rest of the rig.

Use only one hook. Attach the snelled hook to the dropper loop and tie the other end of the 4 foot leader to the barrel swivel. You are ready to fish.

When it comes to trophy blackfish, the bait of choice is green crabs. My preference is whole half dollar size crabs with the shell slightly cracked. For larger crabs, cut them if half or quarter them. Another top bait for trophy blackfish is the hermit crab. Not readily available in bait and tackle shops, they are the premier of all baits for really big blackfish.

Now let's get down to the nitty gritty. You have the right tackle, rigging and bait. You are on a promising blackfish spot and you are waiting for that first bite. If you are on a productive piece of bottom, usually the first bite you will feel are small blackfish or bergalls. Most fishermen swing at those bites. Don't do it!!! Wait.

A big blackfish is usually very cautious. When the smaller fish start responding to the bait the bigger blackfish hang back and watch. They will swim up and watch the activity, and if interested will muscle out the smaller fish to get to the bait. At this point the bites you were feeling will stop. Either your hook has been stripped or a big blackfish is looking over your bait. Continue to wait for about a minute. If there is no bite, then reel up and check your bait. If a bite comes, continue to wait. These first bites will be little nips as the blackfish is biting with his front teeth. Point the tip off the rod at the water and take up all the slack in the line. He will then pass the bait back to his crusher teeth and attempt to swim away with the bait. At this point you will feel a pronounced tug. At that moment strike hard and hold the tip of the rod up while reeling like mad to get him off the bottom. This is a very critical time, since it is here that many blackfish are lost. If the fish gets his head down he will scoot right under a rock and he is history.

If you are lucky enough to get him off the bottom, reel him up slowly and let the action of the rod absorb his dives for the bottom. When you get him close to the boat be prepared for him to make another dive for the bottom and freedom. Let him take drag and work him back to the boat. Make sure you have a good net on board and bring the fish to the net. Don't try to bring the net to the fish.

It takes patience and practice to consistently score well with trophy blackfish, but it is worth it. Give it a try and I am sure you will not be disappointed.