The winters on the Outer Banks have become pretty brutal as far as fishing options.  You can go catch a bass in a golf course pond, or drive a couple hours south for some trout in the creeks.  Just not many options right here at home though……. or is there? I think we have an untapped resource that our northern neighbors have really dialed in in recent years.  The ol’ blackfish, or tautog might be the hidden gem of the cold water months.  NC doesn’t recognize them in their citation program. In fact, as far as I know we don’t even have a size or limit restriction on them.

I have recently gained alot of interest in figuring out these fish off our coast, and maybe discovering a fishery worth getting excited about.  We do catch a few taugs when we are targeting sheepshead on structure, but as the water cools most of the structure oriented fish head south.  The taug stays put.  I’ve got alot to learn about these fish, but I’m excited to figure em out.

Today I went to a wreck where a friend of mine told me he caught some there a few years back during the summer.   Sometimes a little bit of confidence like that goes a long way when you’re trying something new.  I’ve been fishing some other structures without success.  Today was different, I caught a couple fish. It was exciting.  Looking forward to the next chase!