UTER
Photo: SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory; Collection of Brandi Noble, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps
How to catch Golden tilefish
Golden tilefish feed in 48–60°F water and bite best at 50–56°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 6 waters; in October they are at their peak in Delmarva & Delaware Bay, The Jersey Shore, Long Island & the Sound and 1 more.
60 pts · trophy at 36"Feeds 48–60°FBest 50–56°FIn season nowLedge / hard bottom
About
The deep-drop prize: a gold-spotted fish that lives in burrows in the mud in 500 to 900 feet, tastes like lobster, and comes up on an electric reel. A different kind of day.
How to fish it
A deep-drop rig with big circle hooks, several pounds of lead and squid, dropped to the mud in 600 feet off the shelf edge. Braid, and an electric reel for the winding.
What it eats
squidcut bait
Live bait for it
SquidStrips on a bottom rig for snapper, grunts and porgies; whole on a deep-drop rig.What to fish it with
the sizes that fish itLeader80–150 lb mono
Hook8/0–14/0
Braid65–100 lb
The rule
not confirmed hereManaged within the deep-water grouper and tilefish aggregate — confirm at MyFWC.
The current rule →Where it is, month by month
PPeakSSpawningAArriving·AroundLLeaving
South Atlantic
Mid & North Atlantic