Middle Ground

Tackle & technique

Winter flounder

Winter flounder spend late winter and spring on mud and sand bottom in harbors, coves and tidal channels, often in 5 to 30 feet. Anchor, chum with crushed clams or mussels, and fish small long-shank hooks with worm or clam on the bottom, tapping the rig to stir up mud. The bite is light, so use a sensitive rod.

Tautog

Tautog live in rocks, wrecks, bridge pilings and jetties and rarely stray from cover, usually in 10 to 60 feet inshore and deeper in late fall. Anchor so the bait sits in the structure, fish crab on a short rig or a tog jig, and set hard on the second tap before the fish pulls into the rocks. Clams and worms work better in cold spring water; hard crabs are the standard in fall.

Atlantic cod

Cod hold near coarse, rocky bottom on ledges, banks and wrecks, commonly from 80 to 300 feet in the Gulf of Maine. Drift over the structure with a diamond or cod jig and a teaser fly above it, keeping the jig within a few feet of bottom, or fish clams on a high-low rig. Check the stock area and season before keeping one, because most of the year cod must be released.