Record Tautog
Caught Off Ocean City
Large fish drawn to
artificial reef habitat
ANNAPOLIS— A new Maryland record tautog (TAW-tog) recently
caught off of Ocean City may be the first of many to come, thanks to
cooperative management between the fishing community and Maryland DNR. The
development of a high quality tautog fishery off the coast of Maryland is
an emerging fisheries management success story, thanks in part to the
development of a network of artificial reefs. Marine habitat enhancement
coupled with sound fishery management is now beginning to yield some of
the best quality tautog fishing on the Atlantic Coast.
Sam Beauchamp of Brooklyn, NY, was fishing aboard Captain Monty Hawkins's
charter boat Morning Star on March 11 when he landed the new record fish,
which weighed in at an impressive 20 pounds, 11 ounces and measured 31.75
inches in length. The tog easily eclipsed the previous 27-year record of
19 pounds, 8 ounces held by Noah King. The world record is 25 pounds.
Underwater video shot by Captain Hawkins along with DNR staff has
documented additional large tautog around artificial reefs in Maryland’s
coastal waters.
“Artificial reefs established by the State of Maryland and maintained by
the non-profit Ocean City Reef Foundation also provide habitat for other
species including black sea bass, summer flounder, croaker, spot,
weakfish, bluefish and even American lobster,” said DNR Fisheries
Ecologist Martin L. Gary. “These species are drawn to reefs for shelter
and food; structures such as concrete and old vessels are quickly
colonized by invertebrate, encrusting growth such as blue mussels,
anemones, barnacles and myriad other marine organisms.”
Because tautog and other species exhibit strong habitat fidelity — rarely
straying far from where they take up residence and often calling
artificial reefs home — cooperative management between DNR and
stakeholders is essential to providing sustainable, high quality fishing
on these reef sites, which are also frequented by scuba enthusiasts.
