Still toggin'

[fishnfetch]

Originally Posted by Road King Cole

nice fish.

just surprised you are not using steel leaders...

the bite was pretty hot and heavy for me saturday so i had some time to do some experimentation with leader material. one of my rigs had 50lb mono (momoi diamond) and my other rig had 40lb pink yozuri hd flourocarbon. flourocarbon outfishes mono at least 3 to 1 and maybe 5 to 1. you wouldnt think it would matter with reef fish in shallow water but it does. if mono vs flouro goes like that then a steel leader is a guaranteed way to get skunked. just sayin

[Road King Cole]

Just to set things straight, so you know, I pretty much suck at catching. Fishing I think I am OK at, just need to work on the catching part...

I always thought you would need steel leaders for tatoug and blues (fish w teeth).

May I also ask what size hook you use and if you cut\open the crabs?

Thanks,

rkc

[fishnfetch]

they dont really have sharp teeth. i prefer a fairly small hook, gamakatsu 3/0 octupus seems to work best for me. i fish one hook on a pretty simple dropper loop rig. if im fishing green crabs i do cut them in half and cut the claws and legs off. if im fishing hermits i fish them whole. hope this helps

[willy]

Nice job DB, looks like you got the spot dialed in

[Road King Cole]

Thank you very much FnF and DB!!!!!

rkc

[awthacker]

Is tog similar to black sea bass? Looks alot alike. If it is, that's definitely one of the best tasting fish... usually gotta catch a bunch of them, though, because they're definitely smaller down here.

[dbetterred]

They are similar in that they are also black (they can also be bronzey colored, I've been told, but have never seen it). But that's about it. We have black sea bass up here also and they don't' get as big as tautog.

Tog eat crabs, lobster, mussels, and oysters, so their meat is light tasting and sweet (it's the old "you are what you eat" thing). They have a firm white flesh which is good in chowder type stuff. I usually grill or fry them.

Black sea bass like to hang around structure. Tog hang IN the structure. You need to drop the bite directly down in the holes in the rock to get to the Tog. They often will not come out to take a bait. This is why you can drift fish for black sea bass, but must anchor accurately for Tog. Otherwise when you try to get down between the rocks you will get hung up and lose all your rigs.

Pound for pound a tautog will out pull anything else I have caught, for the first 20 seconds anyway. Which is just long enough for them to wrap your line around a rock, than you're screwed. They bite very light, just a little tap tap. if you miss a couple taps. just pull up and rebait. a very sensitive rod is very helpful. I use a St. Croix muskie rod, rated at 36-80 lb line. It has some serious back bone, but is super sensitive. (it's also my go to rod for live lining eels for stripers). The old saying is you must set the hook before the fish bites.

[bassarama]

Nice, you're putting a hurt on the Tog again. Good pics, thanks for sharing.

Soon, It'll be fluke time right?

[dbetterred]

Went out today. Picked up about 10 or 11 shorts with only one keeper. The sizes are getting smaller. I think it's time to shift to my second choice spot, I think the light house is fished out for a while. At least for anything of size.

I might be fluking tomorrow! Looking to go out, just don't know what for yet.

[dbetterred]

Just say NO to steel with tog. They are very temperamental biters to begin with, so the more obvious the line is, the less apt you are to catch. And I don't think I have ever caught one that had the whole hook in its mouth. they are always caught in the lips. They bite very shallow on the bait, so no need for steel.

This is all you need:

gamakatsu #3 live bait hooks (expensive but worth every penny)

some people think they are too small, but they are plenty big to hook the little mouth of a tog and they fit a crab well. They are way strong. So no worries about a big tog breaking a hook, which I have had happen multiple times with lesser hooks.

40 - 60 lbs fluorocarbon (your choice of brand)

They live in holes between rocks and the Flouro is MUCH more cut and abrasion resistant to defend against the rocks, mussels, and who know what the heck else is down there. It is also much harder to see in the water than mono and a thousand times harder to see than steel.
I know some guys use mono, but I have more break off problems with it.

And of course lead, lots of it! Start at two or three ounces and work your way up from there depending on the tide.

I use the flouro to tie, what is essentially, a shock leader on my main line (I have braid for main line, so I use a very long leader, 10-15 ft, NEVER let braid get anywhere near a tog habitat. The rocks will cut it like butter).
If you start with a long leader, when you have to break it off (and you will), you still have enough to retie a new rig a few times. Some guys tie up rigs ahead of time and tie on to the main line, I find I can just tie a whole new rig in the time it takes me to find the pretied rigs and set them up.

I use a simple high-low rig with a surgeons knot at bottom for lead and two (sometime only one) dropper loops, one at about ten inches above lead and one about a foot above that.

I cut the crabs in half (use scissors, super easy!), after taking the back shell and legs off. Hook through leg hole and gently through bottom shell. If the crabs are really small I just take the back off and use whole.