Oyster Toadfish

Opsanus tau

1 min read Year-round

Sooner or later something ugly comes over the rail, and it is probably an oyster toadfish. Flat wide head, warty mottled skin, enormous mouth, and a genuine willingness to bite the hand that unhooks it.

They deserve better than their reputation. Toadfish are tough, long-lived residents of oyster bottom and hard structure, and they are among the most studied fish in the world — their sonic muscles, the fastest-contracting muscle tissue in any vertebrate, have taught researchers a great deal about how muscle works. Some have even been to space, aboard NASA missions studying balance and vestibular systems.

Male toadfish guard nests in crevices and hum to attract females, a foghorn note audible through a boat hull on a summer night. Handle them with pliers, admire the jaws, and put them back.

Gear for this fish

Plano EDGE 3700 Terminal

The hardware the rig is built from.

$74.99

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Morone saxatilis

2 min read Spring and fall

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Lower Bay, around buoys and structure

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Open Bay, warm clear water

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American Shad

Alosa sapidissima

1 min read Spring

Susquehanna and major tributaries

Blue Crab

Callinectes sapidus

2 min read Late spring through fall

Grass beds, shallows, and piers Bay-wide

Oyster Toadfish

Opsanus tau

1 min read Year-round

Oyster bottom, pilings, and rubble

Atlantic Menhaden

Brevoortia tyrannus

1 min read Spring through fall

Open Bay, in vast schools