East Hampton - If you are not fishing for them you certainly should be at the fish market buying blackfish, for it is one of the few fish that can rival winter flounder for taste and the striped bass for a challenge in hooking one.

The fall months offer some of the best blackfishing of the season and they are targets of both charter and party boats from Montauk, Shinnecock and the North Fork. In the waters around the East End of Long Island they can be found off Montauk Point, in Shinnecock Bay at the Ponquogue Bridge, Fishers Island, Orient Point and Block Island. If you're fishing for them in New England they're known by their Indian name tautog and south of Cape May as oysterfish because of their shell grinding teeth.

Blackfish season carries until December 20 on the East End, with Montauk Point and Shinnecock Bay among the more prominent spots.

Blackfish are stout, heavy bodied fish with large scales. Their thick lips make them easy to recognize, but they don't hide their protruding teeth that they use to pick mussels off a rock. And blackfish do grow large. The current rod and reel record is a 25-pounder caught off Ocean City, NJ, in 1998. Blackfish to 10 pounds are fairly common especially off Montauk and the North Fork, but most fish you'll catch range from 3-6 pounds.

Unlike many marine fish, blackfish do not make long migrations up and down the coast, rather they move inshore and offshore following changes in water temperature. They move inshore in April making local rock piles and wrecks their home because their primary food, barnacles, clams, mussels and crabs live in these same areas.

Of all the places that they can be caught, it is the East End, especially the waters around Montauk and Orient Point that are prime fishing grounds. The beaches around Plum Island are a mass of boulders, large and small and the same is true for Great and Little Gull islands and the south side of Fishers Island. These areas hold blackfish all season long.

Blackfish don't school as such, but will cluster in small areas. It's important to note the location of fish when they're caught, so you can place your bait back in the same spot. Being off just a few feet can result in not catching any more fish.

These fish are tough fighters that will dive for rocks when they are hooked. Although the average fish weighs only 3-5 pounds, fairly stout boat rods with a long handle are used to keep them from digging in behind rocks and in wrecks. A strong conventional reel is needed armed with a large handle and a start drag. Load as much 15- to 20-pound test mono onto the reel as possible, then tie on a good quality snap and swivel with 50-pound test break load.

Even with the toughest line you're going to loose a lot of terminal tackle as these fish drag you into the rocks or wrap your line around structure - it is to be expected.

It is the fall months that these fish are their biggest and tastiest after having fed all summer long. The flaky white meat of a blackfish makes for a mouth-watering meal, whether in a salad, grilled, baked or fried.

The blackfish season in New York runs through December 20 with a 14-inch minimum and four fish per day limit. There are boats now out of Montauk and along the North Fork that are targeting these fish so grab the opportunity when the weather allows.