State by state
Each block is one rule as the agency writes it, with the calendar band underneath. Where a state runs the same species on two different calendars — inshore against offshore, one peninsula against the other — both are here, because that is exactly the distinction people get wrong.
New Jersey NJ Fish and Wildlife
Marine waters
Blackfish. Closed through March and for all of May, June and July, then open for most of the rest of the year at wildly different limits. The generous window is the fortnight before Christmas.
- Size
- 15 inches.
Read on 2026-09-14 from New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife.
Connecticut CT DEEP
Marine waters
Blackfish, and the answer people are actually looking for. Three windows: a month in spring at two fish, two months in high summer at two fish, and the autumn run from October 10 to November 28 at three. The rest of the year it is closed outright.
- Size
- 16 inches.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Massachusetts MassWildlife / DMF
Marine waters
Four windows and four limits, and the best of them is the last: five fish from October 15 to the end of the year, when the tautog feed hardest. January to March is closed outright. The one-over-twenty-one rule caps the trophy rather than the catch.
- Size
- 16 inches, and only one fish may exceed 21 inches.
Read on 2026-09-14 from MassWildlife and the Division of Marine Fisheries. Freshwater from the MassWildlife regulations page; saltwater from the Division of Marine Fisheries table, which DMF describes as an unofficial copy of 322 CMR and last updated April 28, 2026.
How to read these dates
A season date is one of four things, and confusing them is how people end up on the water on the wrong day. Some are fixed and will be the same next year. Some are written as a rule — a weekday rather than a date — and we calculate those for 2026 from the regulation instead of copying a figure that goes stale. Some do not exist until the agency announces them, and no amount of searching will produce next season's date early. And some states simply do not close a season for this species, managing it with sizes and limits instead.
Every rule on this page has a published date, which is unusual: most species in this section have at least one state that sets the season annually.
Questions
When is tautog season?
It depends entirely on the state: New Jersey is january 1–february 28, april 1–april 30, august 1–november 15, november 16–december 31, Connecticut is april 1–april 30, july 1–august 31, october 10–november 28, Massachusetts is april 1–may 31, june 1–july 31, august 1–october 14, october 15–december 31. There is no national tautog season, and the dates below are the ones each agency publishes.
Can I keep tautog outside the season?
No. Where a season is closed, harvest is closed, and in several states the water stays open for catch-and-release. Sizes and bag limits apply on top of the season and are listed per state above.
Compiled from the agency’s regulations with AI assistance and checked by automated verification, overseen by Pablo Ruiz Quintero. Dates move: tell us if one has and it goes in the verification log.