New Jersey · Tautog (blackfish)
Can you keep a tautog (blackfish) in New Jersey?
Yes, with limits
Jan 1 – Feb 28 window
Closed todayOpen only January 1 through February 28 in this window Reopens after December 31. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
15 inches throughout the year; the bag changes across four separate windows. This first one: 4 a day, January and February.
Apr 1 – Apr 30 window
Closed todayOpen only April 1 through April 30 in this window Reopens after March 31. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
Same 4-a-day bag as January–February, open only in April. Closed entirely in March, and again from May through July.
Aug 1 – Nov 15 window
Open todayCloses each year Open only August 1 through November 15 in this window
The tightest window: just 1 a day, August 1 through November 15.
Nov 16 – Dec 31 window
Closed todayOpen only November 16 through December 31 in this window Reopens after November 15. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
The most generous window of the year: 5 a day, November 16 through December 31.
What we left out on purpose
- This page carries the seven species on NJDEP's own 'Attention Anglers' quick-reference card — the document the agency itself hands anglers first. The full 'Marine Digest' (a much longer document) covers further species — scup, sheepshead, black drum, spot and others among them — that are not carried here. The card explicitly calls itself a summary and not the full law.
- Shark is left out. NJDEP's own card gives only a vessel limit (1 fish per vessel) and defers size, season and gear entirely to NMFS federal rules — no state-published size exists to carry.
- Hard clam and blue crab appear on the same official card but are shellfish and crustaceans, not fish, and are left out along with every other state on this site.
- dep.nj.gov sits behind an Imperva bot-check that blocks direct fetches (curl, WebFetch) even with a live session's cookies. The PDF here was retrieved through a same-origin fetch() executed inside an authenticated browser tab — the same technique would work for the full Marine Digest if a future session wants to expand this state's coverage.
