New York · Tautog (blackfish)
Can you keep a tautog (blackfish) in New York?
Closed to harvest today
Long Island Sound Region, spring window
Closed todayOpen only April 1 to April 30 in this spring window — see the fall window below for October-December Reopens after March 31. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
16 inches, 2 a day, open only April 1-30 in the Long Island Sound Region (east of the Throgs Neck Bridge). The fall window on the same water carries a bigger bag — see the region below.
Long Island Sound Region, fall window
Closed todayOpen only October 11 to December 9 in this fall window Reopens after October 10. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
Same 16-inch minimum as the spring window, 3 a day, October 11 through December 9.
NY Bight Region, spring window
Closed todayOpen only April 1 to April 30 in this spring window — see the fall window below for October-December Reopens after March 31. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
16 inches, 2 a day, open only April 1-30 in the NY Bight Region (all marine waters outside Long Island Sound). The fall window carries a bigger bag — see the region below.
NY Bight Region, fall window
Closed todayOpen only October 15 to December 22 in this fall window Reopens after October 14. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
Same 16-inch minimum as the spring window, 4 a day, October 15 through December 22 — one more fish a day than the Long Island Sound fall window.
What we left out on purpose
- dec.ny.gov itself could not be reached for this state — every path we tried (direct fetch, browser render, the 2026 PDF at a different path) hit the same Cloudflare Managed Challenge. Everything here comes from two older official documents plus dated press coverage, cross-checked against each other rather than against the live page.
- Summer flounder, Atlantic cod, cobia and the boat-based tier of scup are left unsettled: the 2023 DEC summary PDF and the codified 6 NYCRR §40.1 table describe structurally different rules for each, not just different numbers, and neither could be confirmed as the newer one without reaching dec.ny.gov directly.
- Everything else on this page matched exactly between the 2023 DEC summary and the codified NYCRR table, or — for striped bass specifically — was confirmed through two dated DEC press releases (2023 for the marine slot, 2024 for the Hudson River slot) that postdate both documents.
- NYSDEC regulates fish differently depending on how an angler is fishing (shore, private boat, or licensed party/charter boat) more often than most states on this site. Where that split changes the number, it is carried here as separate regions rather than folded into one line.
- This page covers New York's marine and coastal district only. New York also publishes an entirely separate freshwater fishing guide (bass, trout, walleye, pike and panfish in lakes, ponds and inland streams) that is not carried here.
Other species in New York
- Striped bass
- Summer flounder (fluke)
- Scup (porgy)
- Black sea bass
- Winter flounder
- Weakfish
- Bluefish
- American eel
- Oyster toadfish
- Atlantic cod
- Cobia
- Red drum
- Anadromous river herring (alewife and blueback herring)
- American shad
- Atlantic sturgeon
- Yellowtail flounder
- Haddock
- Pollock
- Monkfish (goosefish)
- King mackerel
- Spanish mackerel
- Atlantic menhaden (bunker)
- Hickory shad
Where to try today
- Salmon River 6/10 · Decent