I tend to look at my saltwater fishing season as beginning in March searching for schoolie striped bass in tidal rivers and holdover creeks and ending when Connecticut tautog season closes in late November. Yes, November fishing can be rough weather-wise, but I’ve always felt like my best and most consistent tautog bite is in November. And for that reason, I’m going to focus on tautog, aka “blackfish”, “white-chinners”, or most commonly referred to as simply “tog”. But first, let’s touch on freshwater.
Freshwater
As it is for humans, so it is for bass – November is a transitional month. It’s the last of what I tend to think of as “warmer” months of the year, and it’s a bit of a sad month for me simply because I really dislike winter! December, January, and February are the 90 days on the calendar I look forward to the least, holidays aside. And maybe the bass agree, since November is one of the last months to get a solid bass bite going in New England waters.
Now, in the Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and Massachusetts area there is a tremendous variation in the types of water and habits of largemouth bass, so obviously this will be quite the summary rather than a direct instruction on what to do and where to go. Those fishing Rhode Island or Long Island ponds are going to find a different pattern than those fishing the Connecticut River and its tributaries.
Overall, largemouth bass are going to continue to bulk up this time of year. But they’re also starting to really feel that cooling water. So, to remedy the cold and find the food, you’ll want to try and identify the likely location for two variables in your local water – warmth and bait. I’d also not shy away from transitional areas too – points, vegetation-to-sand edges, rock-to-sand edges, drop-offs, things of that nature. But my focus tends to be more towards parts of my local waters that will hold warmth when hit with sun. This includes areas of rip-rap, shallow sandy flats, shallow boulder fields, logs, and things of that nature.
There are a couple lure choices you can go for this time of year. The one I tend to prefer is a slow-moving jig, jerkbait, or soft-plastic. This achieves both the goal of imitating forage like alewives, herring, or other baitfish and also slows things down to account for bass that will be moving a bit more slowly than they would in warmer water.
The other option for lure choice is to throw something larger that presents an easy meal to bulking bass. This can be a larger profile swimbait, soft-plastic, or jerkbait that closely resembles the coloration of the forage you’re trying to imitate.
Lastly, I also tend to do better later in the day when the fish have had time to warm up a bit under the late fall sun. It’s certainly not a requirement to fish later in the day, but if there’s sun in the forecast and you’ve got the time, it might give you a better bite. Overall, late fall bass fishing can be tough, but can yield some really big bass with full bellies and an eye for pre-winter forage. So, if you put in the time, identify likely target zones, and dial in what your local bass are eating, November can be a solid month for largemouth bass.
Saltwater
Let’s move over to tog. A decade ago, these fish, which are actually part of the wrasse family, weren’t targeted much. Despite being plentiful, fighting very well, easy to target, and catchable with only a few simple items, tog was just not that popular. Fast-forward to 2025 and Connecticut’s 6-week season is one of the most fun and exciting of the whole year. Aside from the rogue albie pods that may be around, tog provide a ton of action on their own, and can be caught in depths from 10 feet to 80 feet. Many anglers, myself included, will also posit that tog, pound for pound, are the hardest fighting fish in New England’s inshore waters.
Tog primarily eat crabs and shellfish. So, to target them all you need to bring for bait is a bucket of crabs. Green crabs are the most commonly available at your local tackle shop, but Asian shore crabs, hermit crabs, fiddler crabs, and Jonah crabs aka “white-leggers” are all great options and tend to perform better in particular locations. But for now, let’s keep it simple and say you go to your local tackle shop and get a gallon or two of green crabs. Other than a rod and reel, all you’ll need are scissors to cut the crabs and a jig or rig to put them on, along with lead if you do go the route of the tog rig.
Opinions on great tog rods and reels vary widely. In the shop this year I’ve seen a bunch of guys moving from heavier conventional setups to more sensitive spinning setups. Personally, I’ve used both for multiple seasons and I ended up going back to a spinning setup. I like a 7H or 7MH rod, great options for which include Jigging World Night Ranger or Tsunami SaltX. For reels, anything from the 3000 to 5000 range will work, but if you’re trophy hunting, you’ll want something with strong drag, since tog can pull hard.
No matter the depth you’re in, you’ll want to use the lightest jig or rig possible to hold bottom and still look natural. That said, tog are not line shy, so don’t worry too much about being really dialed in if you’re fist starting out. To prepare your crab, you’ll hear many different preferred styles, but the general starting point is to cut off their claws and then cut them long ways. Then, hook them in one leg socket and out the other. Make sure your hook point is somewhat showing, although it does not need to be sticking out far.
For target locations, start somewhere rocky. Beyond that, finding the “spot within the spot” is the key. Not every pile of rocks holds tog. Not every corner of every pile of rocks hold tog. I’ve fished boulders the size of child’s swimming pools and one side will be dead and as soon as you move your jig 8 feet to the other side, you’ll start getting whacked. Large breakwalls and jetties are awesome starting points, since tog will have both residential areas within those walls but will also travel up and down them, so the action on the right day can be limitless and you’ll only have to anchor once.
Learning the bite of a tog takes a little practice, and early in the season you’ll be re-baiting your hook quite often. Cunner, small seabass, porgy/scup, and small tog will all be pecking away at your bait, but the bite of a large tog is unmistakable. They have what look like molars for teeth, and when one of those crunches down on your hook, you’ll know. Bigger tog can sometimes quite literally almost pull the rod from your hands if you’re not holding tightly, as the best tog bites are when the big ones literally pick up your jig and start swimming with it. Your rod tip will go light, and you can wind up for a big hookset.
If tog fishing sounds easy to do, that’s because it is. It’s very easy to do and challenging to do very well. But even novices will find success early on with a bit of coaching and adjustments. Don’t hesitate to experiment with whole crabs once you get a bite going or to toss your bait a bit further from the rocks once the sun gets high. There are many nuances to tog fishing that separate the casual tog angler from the pros, and figuring them out on your own often involves willful experimentation and lots of fresh bait.