[ComeOnFish]

It is extremely difficult to get tautog bites in the water below 45F.
I didn't fish for 3 weeks. There were holiday parties to attend, and most importantly, we needed a vacation completely isolated from the civilization.
I came back home after "Bomb Cyclone 2022".
When I hit the water for CBBT tautog, the water temp was 40 F. I never caught a tautog below 43F water temp in the past.
Though I had two bites. I caught a 14" tautog and an oyster toadfish.

When I saw the water temp rose by 2 F, I hit CBBT again on Jan 1, new year.

In 42 F water, I managed to landed 3 tautog @ 13", 16" and 16.5" out of 7 bites.

Fishing log:

Thanks
Joe

 

[poppop1]

you put a lot of effort into sharing with us, it's truly appreciated, thank you,...pop.

 

[cducer]

It's that time of the year unfortunately ... air Temps get unseasonably warm but someone forgot to tell the water gods to join in.
Hopefully it won't be too long

 

[Papa-T]

Thanks for sharing Joe.

 

[dboyd]

Thanks Joe
I have noticed the same thing Scientific studies done in Rhode Island show that tautog go into a sort of semi-hibernation when water temps fall into the low 40s
They just lay on the bottom and get covered with silt until the water warms up some This was documented by scuba divers
I guess there are no predators when it gets that cold so they are not in danger of getting eaten

I have fished the Lesner Bridge years ago and you could catch some togs there in the early winter but once the temp dropped into the low 40s the bites stopped even though you could see fish marks on the depthfinder

Thanks for your reports

 

[ComeOnFish]

Thanks Joe
I have noticed the same thing Scientific studies done in Rhode Island show that tautog go into a sort of semi-hibernation when water temps fall into the low 40s
They just lay on the bottom and get covered with silt until the water warms up some This was documented by scuba divers
I guess there are no predators when it gets that cold so they are not in danger of getting eaten

I have fished the Lesner Bridge years ago and you could catch some togs there in the early winter but once the temp dropped into the low 40s the bites stopped even though you could see fish marks on the depthfinder

Thanks for your reports

Yes, the water temp is definitely the major factor. In my opinion, Fish don't like a sudden drop or rise of water temp. Gradual drop or rise is better in catching.
The next is the speed of the current. Even tautog, mild current is requirement for biting. The complete slack and fast current won't help in the cold water.
Anyway, I monitor the water temp daily at night to see the trend of the water temp changes. a 4-5 days, not a sudden spike of water temp rise will help in catching.

Thanks
Joe