New York Saltwater Rules for Montauk Anglers: The Registry, the Two Tautog Zones and Where to Check Limits

Read this first: This is a guide to how New York's rules are organized. It isn't the rules. The only authority is the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). Its Recreational Saltwater Fishing Regulations page said on Sept. 27, 2026 that its limits "were last changed on May 12, 2026 and are subject to change at any time." Every number below was copied from NYSDEC's pages on that date. Check the live page before you keep a fish.

Montauk anglers face a few questions that anglers elsewhere in the state don't. The boats cross into Rhode Island waters around Block Island. Offshore trips run beyond state waters. And the east end sits right at the boundary NYSDEC uses to split its blackfish rules. This primer walks through those, then lists the fall limits most relevant here.

1. The Recreational Marine Fishing Registry

For saltwater fishing, New York uses a Recreational Marine Fishing Registry in place of a license. Per NYSDEC:

• Who must enroll: anyone 16 and older "fishing for saltwater fish species in the marine and coastal district." NYSDEC defines that district to include "ocean waters that are within three miles from the state's coastline, including the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island Sound and embayments."
• How: at a license-issuing agent, online through NYSDEC's DECALS system, or by phone at 1-866-933-2257.
• Cost: NYSDEC's page lists only optional fees. License-issuing agents may charge $1 for a printed transaction, and printed-and-mailed online or phone transactions cost $2. You avoid both by having the registration emailed.
• How long it lasts: "one full year (365 days) from the date you register. There is no lifetime registration."

Who doesn't need to enroll, per the same page:

• Anyone "fishing aboard an appropriately licensed party or charter boat in the marine and coastal district." This covers most visitors on Montauk's open boats. The exemption depends on the boat holding NYSDEC's Marine District Party & Charter Boat License. NYSDEC says a list of current license holders is published on Open Data NY.
• Connecticut and Rhode Island residents with a valid marine fishing license from their home state.
• People fishing only for lobsters, crabs, clams, mussels, scallops or oysters (other permits and limits apply to some of these).

Why the registry exists: NYSDEC says the registry's data feeds the National Marine Fisheries Service's database of recreational anglers. That database "helps in efficiently obtaining fishing activity information, which is vital in setting quotas, size and bag limits, and fishing seasons each year."

2. Block Island Sound, Rhode Island waters and federal waters

A Montauk trip can cross several jurisdictions in one day, and NYSDEC's registry page addresses this directly. Its table says a New York marine registration is accepted in:

• federal waters (the Exclusive Economic Zone, which it defines as "ocean waters that are 3 to 200 miles from shore"),
• Connecticut waters, and
• Rhode Island waters, "i.e. Block Island Sound."

It is not accepted in New Jersey waters or in the waters of states that don't border New York.

That table speaks only to registration. This guide doesn't cover the size, season and bag limits for Rhode Island or federal waters, so check with the agency that manages the water you'll fish. On a party boat, the captain is responsible for knowing where the boat is fishing. If you're on your own boat, find out before you go.

Tuna and sharks need an extra federal permit. NYSDEC says anglers fishing for shark and tuna "must also apply for NOAA Fisheries Highly Migratory Species permit," and that tuna fishing in state waters requires that permit on top of the registry.

3. Montauk and the two tautog (blackfish) regions

NYSDEC splits its tautog rules into two regions:

• The Long Island Sound Region: "waters lying east of the Throgs Neck Bridge and west of a line that runs from Orient Point, NY to Watch Hill, RI."
• The NY Bight Region: "Marine and coastal district waters lying outside of the Long Island Sound Region."

Montauk's ocean beaches, and Block Island Sound east of that Orient Point–Watch Hill line, lie outside the Sound region. So the NY Bight Region rules are the ones Montauk boats post. Viking Fleet's and Miss Montauk II's regulation listings both show the NY Bight dates. If you fish farther west, toward Orient or into the Sound, check which side of the line you're on.

As of Sept. 27, 2026, NYSDEC listed:

4. Fall limits most relevant at Montauk

From NYSDEC's saltwater limits table as it read on Sept. 27, 2026. All sizes are total length unless noted.

Fine print that trips people up (all from NYSDEC's footnotes):

• Circle hooks for stripers. "Non-offset (inline) circle hooks must be used when recreationally fishing for striped bass using bait." Artificial lures are exempt, "whether or not they are tipped with bait."
• No filleting fluke at sea. Summer flounder "may not have heads or tails removed or be otherwise cleaned, cut, filleted, or skinned until brought to shore." The one exception is that the white-side fillet or skin of a legal fish may be used as bait, as long as the carcass is kept for inspection and counted toward the limit.
• Keep your fare receipt for porgies. "A party/charter boat customer who lands and possesses more than 30 scup during September 1 - October 31 must obtain a dated original fare receipt from the licensed vessel."
• How to measure. Total length is measured "from the tip of the snout, with the mouth closed, to the longest lobe of the tail, with the lobes squeezed together, and the fish laid flat." Black sea bass are measured to the tail tip "not including the tail filament."

5. Sharks: know the prohibited list

Big-game boats and some shore anglers at Montauk encounter sharks, and NYSDEC's shark table is strict. It lists species that are prohibited from take or possession, including sand tiger, sandbar, dusky, shortfin mako, white, basking and others. Its rule is: "Do not fish for or target prohibited sharks in New York waters. If captured, prohibited sharks must remain in the water and must be released immediately." Baited-hook shark fishing requires non-stainless-steel, non-offset circle hooks (spiny dogfish excepted). NYSDEC says that shark table was last changed Aug. 27, 2025. Read the whole list on NYSDEC's page before you fish for sharks.

6. Where to get answers

NYSDEC's Division of Marine Resources lists this contact on its regulations page: 123 Kings Park Blvd., Kings Park, NY 11754; 631-444-0430; fw.marine@dec.ny.gov. For questions about a specific trip, ask the captain. Montauk's party boats also post the current state limits on their sites. Viking Fleet's regulations page and Miss Montauk II's schedule page both carried 2026 limits when we checked. Treat those as convenient copies and NYSDEC as the authority.

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How we reported this. We compiled this primer on Sept. 27, 2026 from NYSDEC's Recreational Marine Fishing Registry page, its Recreational Saltwater Fishing Regulations page and its party and charter boat license page. We compared NYSDEC's limits with the regulation listings two Montauk operators post. We found no differences for the species above, but only NYSDEC's numbers are used here. This is a summary, not legal advice. We'll update this page when NYSDEC changes its rules, and we'll note the date of each update.

Sources (all accessed Sept. 27, 2026)

• NYSDEC, Recreational Marine Fishing Registry: https://dec.ny.gov/regulatory/permits-licenses/sporting-and-use/sporting/recreational-marine-fishing-registry
• NYSDEC, Recreational Saltwater Fishing Regulations (saltwater limits last changed May 12, 2026; shark limits last changed Aug. 27, 2025): https://dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/saltwater-fishing/recreational-fishing-regulations
• NYSDEC, Marine District Party & Charter Boat License: https://dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/saltwater-fishing/marine-permits-licenses/marine-district-party-charter-boat-license
• For comparison only: Viking Fleet, Regulations https://vikingfleet.com/regulations/ ; Miss Montauk II, Schedule https://missmontauk.com/schedule