The first time I laid eyes on a golden tilefish we were far off the Delmarva coast, somewhere between the Baltimore and Poor Man’s canyons. It was hard to believe something so cool looking, with curious eyes and an alien mouth, lived several hundred feet below the Atlantic’s surface, in a darkened den no less.
On that trip I was accompanied by a couple of other fishing writers, and we watched a rep from Shimano demonstrate their new (at the time) Butterfly Jigging System. The concept, in short, is that the “system”—reel, rod, and lure—more sportingly targets deep-water fish such as groupers and tilefish using a fast, vertical jigging technique. The rod is lightweight but super strong; the reel is geared for high-speed retrieves with insane drag capability. And the Butterfly jig, the pièce de résistance of this arrangement, is a very heavy but compact metal lure featuring an asymmetric 3-D design, with half-mirror finish and glow-in-the-dark colors said to entice deep ocean dwellers to strike.
The drill is this: you drop the jig down to the bottom, then crank it up 25 to 30 feet off or so and repeat. Or vary it, such as letting it fall while in free spool, and then jerk when you feel a strike. Anyway, the Shimano guy nailed one that was huge. Fans say this kind of fishing is more sporting compared to dropping bait on heavy boat rods with conventional or electric reels. I can tell you from personal experience that it is harder than it sounds, but it works.
Other fishermen stick with six-and-a-half to seven-foot boat rods matched to high-speed conventional reels in the 30- to 40-pound class that they load up with braid from 50 to 65 pound test. This option is a simple bottom rig, bait game—clam, crabs, or fish strips—on usually two 6/0 or 8/0 circle hooks with lots of lead, sometimes 24 ounces of it.
Although the golden’s popularity may have waned somewhat among the casual bluewater angler, it still has its devoted fans, especially when other fish have gone south or aren’t biting. Add the fact that tilefish don’t migrate and the season’s open all year round. It’s also true that the better bite is in summer, and in the winter dogfish can ruin your tilefish party.
Dr. Ken Neill, president of the Peninsula Salt Water Sport Fisherman’s Association, who regularly fishes for them and other deep ocean critters, sums up tilefish’s appeal: “They grow big and they are good to eat. If you are using electric reels, that is as far as it goes. For those of us using sport fishing tackle, they grow big, they are good to eat, and they pull very hard. Getting these guys off of the bottom and up to the boat from 600 to 800 feet is a physical challenge.”
A golden tilefish is a pretty fish with an iridescent blue-green dorsal sprinkled with bright yellow/golden spots and a white belly. Though some tilefish can reach three feet or so, they do it slowly. The average size taken on hook-and-line or commercial gear is typically two feet. Tilefish prefer the submarine canyons; some experts say ideally they want to burrow and build large mounds in the Pleistocene clay. They typically live at depths from 250 to more than 1200 feet, depths in which water temperatures consistently range from 49 to 58 degrees.
The golden tilefish fishery is managed by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) from Virginia through Maine. Commercially, the majority of tilefish are caught with longline bottom gear or as incidental by-catch by those dragging otter trawl gear.
In 2001, the MAFMC initially developed a Tilefish Fishery Management Plan, and since 2009, when they implemented Amendment 1, the commercial fishery has operated under an individual fishing quota (IFQ) program.
States have also taken steps to put some limits on recreational anglers, given the fish’s slow growth rate. Smartly, Virginia’s Marine Resources Commission requires any private recreational fishing vessel, charter boat or head boat, to obtain a Tilefish and Grouper Landing Permit for that vessel. The possession limit is seven tilefish (blueline, golden, sand) per person. Maryland has the same creel regulations that extend to a variety of bottom dwellers, but the state does not require sport anglers to get a permit to land them. According to fishery managers, the golden tilefish stock is neither overfished, nor is overfishing occurring.
by Capt. Chris D. Dollar
Thursday, January 12, 2017 - 11:39
The first time I laid eyes on a golden tilefish we were far off the Delmarva coast, somewhere between the Baltimore and Poor Man’s canyons. It was hard to believe something so cool looking, with curious eyes and an alien mouth, lived several hundred feet below the Atlantic’s surface, in a darkened den no less.
On that trip I was accompanied by a couple of other fishing writers, and we watched a rep from Shimano demonstrate their new (at the time) Butterfly Jigging System. The concept, in short, is that the “system”—reel, rod, and lure—more sportingly targets deep-water fish such as groupers and tilefish using a fast, vertical jigging technique. The rod is lightweight but super strong; the reel is geared for high-speed retrieves with insane drag capability. And the Butterfly jig, the pièce de résistance of this arrangement, is a very heavy but compact metal lure featuring an asymmetric 3-D design, with half-mirror finish and glow-in-the-dark colors said to entice deep ocean dwellers to strike.
The drill is this: you drop the jig down to the bottom, then crank it up 25 to 30 feet off or so and repeat. Or vary it, such as letting it fall while in free spool, and then jerk when you feel a strike. Anyway, the Shimano guy nailed one that was huge. Fans say this kind of fishing is more sporting compared to dropping bait on heavy boat rods with conventional or electric reels. I can tell you from personal experience that it is harder than it sounds, but it works.
Other fishermen stick with six-and-a-half to seven-foot boat rods matched to high-speed conventional reels in the 30- to 40-pound class that they load up with braid from 50 to 65 pound test. This option is a simple bottom rig, bait game—clam, crabs, or fish strips—on usually two 6/0 or 8/0 circle hooks with lots of lead, sometimes 24 ounces of it.
Although the golden’s popularity may have waned somewhat among the casual bluewater angler, it still has its devoted fans, especially when other fish have gone south or aren’t biting. Add the fact that tilefish don’t migrate and the season’s open all year round. It’s also true that the better bite is in summer, and in the winter dogfish can ruin your tilefish party.
Dr. Ken Neill, president of the Peninsula Salt Water Sport Fisherman’s Association, who regularly fishes for them and other deep ocean critters, sums up tilefish’s appeal: “They grow big and they are good to eat. If you are using electric reels, that is as far as it goes. For those of us using sport fishing tackle, they grow big, they are good to eat, and they pull very hard. Getting these guys off of the bottom and up to the boat from 600 to 800 feet is a physical challenge.”
A golden tilefish is a pretty fish with an iridescent blue-green dorsal sprinkled with bright yellow/golden spots and a white belly. Though some tilefish can reach three feet or so, they do it slowly. The average size taken on hook-and-line or commercial gear is typically two feet. Tilefish prefer the submarine canyons; some experts say ideally they want to burrow and build large mounds in the Pleistocene clay. They typically live at depths from 250 to more than 1200 feet, depths in which water temperatures consistently range from 49 to 58 degrees.
The golden tilefish fishery is managed by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) from Virginia through Maine. Commercially, the majority of tilefish are caught with longline bottom gear or as incidental by-catch by those dragging otter trawl gear.
In 2001, the MAFMC initially developed a Tilefish Fishery Management Plan, and since 2009, when they implemented Amendment 1, the commercial fishery has operated under an individual fishing quota (IFQ) program.
States have also taken steps to put some limits on recreational anglers, given the fish’s slow growth rate. Smartly, Virginia’s Marine Resources Commission requires any private recreational fishing vessel, charter boat or head boat, to obtain a Tilefish and Grouper Landing Permit for that vessel. The possession limit is seven tilefish (blueline, golden, sand) per person. Maryland has the same creel regulations that extend to a variety of bottom dwellers, but the state does not require sport anglers to get a permit to land them. According to fishery managers, the golden tilefish stock is neither overfished, nor is overfishing occurring.
by Capt. Chris D. Dollar