The Best Winter Headboat Trips

Deep-Water Wrecks for Black Sea Bass and Porgies

When: December

Boats:
Voyager
Point Pleasant, NJ

The winter wrecking-crew trips, departing from New Jersey and Long Island ports, involve long runs with big payoffs as the largest models of each species are caught on these trips. The state record black sea bass, Steve Singler’s 9-pounder, was caught on one of these trips aboard the Voayager in December 2015.

Captains will anchor over wrecks in 150 to 250 feet of water, where sea bass and porgies dominate the catch, while bluefish, cod, weakfish, and pollock add some extra spice to the winter variety.

Pool-Winning Tip:
Skip the clams and send down a diamond jig (with a bulky teaser). The largest sea bass can be the most aggressive, and while the clam-soakers are culling through scup and shorts, you’ll be bailing knothead sea bass.

Tautog

Timing: November to February
Boats:

Norma-K III
Point Pleasant, NJ

Depending on the port of call, tog season ends as early as January or as late as March. Headboat togging can be tricky business, with the large vessels forced to focus on heavily pressured, well-known reefs and wrecks in 40 to 60 feet of water—not to mention the 30 or so other crab-baited rigs on board vying for a tautog’s attention. However, saltwater-starved anglers in the depths of winter cannot afford to be choosy beggars.

Board the boat with plenty of pre-snelled hooks on short leaders and an ample supply of lead. The easy-to-tie “Belmar Rig” was made for this type of fishing and is the fastest way to get back in the game after an inevitable hangup.

If the boat offers white-legger crabs at an upcharge, get them. These baits can provide an advantage over green crabs. Experiment with the presentation and see what’s getting the right bites—half-crab, whole crab, shell on, shell off, legs on (burger and fries), or legs off (just the burger). If short tog and bergalls are stripping your crab of the tasty vittles before a keeper can find it, try going with a whole crab. If that doesn’t get bites on a couple of drops, try cracking the shell with the sinker and sending it back down.

For your sake, and the sake of the other anglers on board, do your best to avoid bouncing your sinker. On heavily-fished structures, tog can be wary of the sound of sinkings clicking over the structure.

You may get only one shot to convert the right bite into a scales-of-justice-tipping white-chinner, so anytime your crab is on the bottom, it’s important to remain focused on feeling what’s happening with your bait and choosing the opportune time to swing the rod.

Pool-Winning Tip:
Find the edge. Most of the anglers on board will drop their rigs straight to the bottom, though there’s nothing wrong with this tactic. The captains and mates on headboats go to great lengths to double-anchor over the structure so everyone on board is over some hard, tog-holding bottom. Still, you can give yourself an edge by casting your rig (underhand, of course) away from the boat and feeling for the edge of the structure or some high points. This can help your crab stand alone among the 30 or 40 other rigs on board and put you in front of some fresh fish; however, casting away from the boat increases the likelihood of snagging

Cod

Timing: November to April

Boats:

Miss Montauk II
Montauk, NY

Frances Fleet
Galilee, RI

The waters around Block Island hold schools of cod during the winter, and headboats sail for them as the weather allows. The fishing runs hot and cold, with fish simply not feeding on some days, but most trips provide a good shot at a keeper codfish or three. Clam-baited high-low rigs and jigs work equally well, though jigs outperform clams early in the winter, when there are large schools of baitfish on the ground.

Many of the cod will be right around the 23-inch minimum size, and any fish pushing 30 inches will be in heavy contention for the pool money.

Sea bass (when in season) and some super-sized bergalls are the primary bycatch on winter cod trips. Bergalls, when large enough to yield a hearty fillet, are excellent eating, and well worth keeping.

Pool-Winning Tip:
Bundle up and stay at the rail. Winter codfishing can be a grind, but the more time your bait is soaking or your jig is jigging, the better the odds of a pool-winning cod finding your bait. Good gloves, proper layering, and a comfortable pair of waterproof bibs will keep the chill out so you can keep your line in.

Source: https://onthewater.com/the-best-winter-headboat-trips

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