Jig for Bottom Fish on the Edge of Structures

Traditional tautog fishing in Eastern Long Island Sound is done with a single or double Virginia-style blackfish chicken bottom fishing rig, but Capt. John Marino has helped develop the light-tackle jig craze for blackfish. “It’s taken the fun of blackfish fishing up a notch,” says Marino. He uses Tidaltails ½-ounce “craggy”-colored jigs with whole or split green and Asian crabs pinned through the leg sockets. Typically, he finds that the outlying edges of rock piles or broken-up edges of wrecks are the best areas to find bigger blackfish.