[bighead]

I understand these fish are in about 50 fathoms what kind of bottom structure are they associated with wreck, dropoffs? Any info on helping locating these fish would be appreciated . thanks joe

 

[ocnslr]

We have found them in flat bottom. No structure. I believe they prefer a clay or sediment mix, and they do burrow into the bottom.

If you Google tilefish burrows, or tilefish habitat, you will find plenty of reading material.

Brian

 

[gus]

it will be flat bottom. go to 300ish feet and drop, if u come up with tilefish keep fishing. if u reel up 8 dogfish, move.

 

[lmontagnaj]

Like Gus said, 300'-400', flat bottom, look for the marks, make longer drifts and if the DOGGIES are there Definitely MOVE. You seldom have to move too far.

 

[Mike Avery]

On an unzoomed FF, the bottom appears to be flat, unremarkable. But if you zoom in, 3x or 4x you will see the bottom is actually jagged. The bottom is actually rocky which is what holds the small crabs and other bottom stuff the tiles feed on. Google maps now has a 3D feature of the continental shelf and canyons. You can't zoom in very tight but what you can see is what appears to be this bottom structure around 50 fathoms that looks rocky. Inside 50 fathoms is smooth which represents sand or muddy bottom which won't hold fish unless there is a wreck or other structure there. Sometimes you can mark the tiles on the FF but sometimes they are so tight feeding on the bottom you don't mark anything. You will have to deal with dogs until around April when the water temps rise and dogs go back to yankee territory.

Google Maps

 

[bighead]

thanks for sharing, hopefully i can use the info soon

 

[JROCK]

I agree with all the other posts, good info. Another asset to the tilefish fishery is a quality crew that can drops those baits on a moments notice. Good Luck!