AlloyToy

Bob,
We've used pieces of spider crabs for tog and have done quite well in past years

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"First The Bite Then The Fight"

Bob & Mag

Thanks I'll have to try that because I think I've caught everyone in the sound at least twice.

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Smoke free 9+ Months!

JackC

Bob - YES, my trap was loaded with spiders this morning. Not sure what is going on. Fiddlers do exist at my marina but you would need to make a big mess in trying to catch them and it would be frowned upon. My hunch is that pesticides do them in (just a guess).

Asian crabs are vegetarians, while I have caught a few in my trap its better to flip rocks at low tide and move fast (put some cut resistant gloves on). They are mighty fast.

Today the togs where hammering the asians at slack tide.

Happy togging.

Scup

I have went through the process of evaluating spider crabs against green crabs. When the bite was very hot, I switched back and forth between them to see if the spiders were viable. For every tog I caught on spiders I caught three on green crabs. I considered using spider crabs because for some strange reason I was not catching green crabs by the hundreds that year. However, do not toss your spiders away. They fit the bill perfectly for chum. When chopped up the parts sink, they will attract the Togs very well, and you are getting rid of one hell of a big nuisance. Finally they fit Scup's first law of chumming: "when chumming, always save your best bait for your hook". When a tog swims by, attracted by the chopped up spider crabs, and he sees a mix of spider crabs and the green crab on your hook, three out four times he goes for your hook. Right now, I have never seen so many green crabs about so there is no reason to go to a poorer bait. If you are not catching several hundred green crabs in a night, you are doing something wrong.

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"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go" by William Feather

SwordMan

Nice... RI is the best Toggin on EARTH!!! Setting off the 08 season with a special trip this Sat under the Verrazano Bridge. I haven’t fished there since before 9/11. The USCG kicks ever boat off NOW, Fishing with a Homeland security agent on there boat (38' Donzi). Fishing should be very good. let you know how we do. Will be there in 2 or 3 weeks so get your game tight.

Nov 1 is my lucky day.

Swordie

Scup

The last time I fished under that bridge it was still under construction! In fact, I participated in a traffic survey conducted by New York City at South Ferry to determine if a tunnel or a bridge should be built, obviously the bridge won out.

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"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go" by William Feather

Albatross

Swordie.....why dont you tell the group what happened on Novemeber 1st back in oh...1999 I believe it was..... ......what a fish that was Get your ass up here bro. Cant wait to tog with you this year.

Scup

I have received a request to contact my associate friend for him to make up some green crab traps. Right now he is up to his ears in orders, including a big one from me for a bunch of tog pots which has to be given top priority. He will be making them again when he catches up, but his work load is just too great right now for him to take any new orders. I will let this form know when he has caught up. To give you an example of the work he does, I have included a picture of one of his designs for a non-conforming holding car for green crabs ,or mummies, or eels, or just about anything else you would wish to put in there. What is shown is 18 inches high and has at least 400 green crabs in it without overcrowding.

Attached Images

greencarr.jpg (611.0 KB, 5 views)

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"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go" by William Feather

AlloyToy

Looks good Scup

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"First The Bite Then The Fight"

Scup

When Bob mentioned "mud crabs", I became curious if they were the same animal that I would call "Mud Fiddlers". I did some research on it and found there are several species of crabs called mud crabs including one hell of a nasty monster crab from Australia. I did find the following flick: These crabs look like, move like, and have holes exactly like the critters I use to chase down. It is hard to determine if they are fiddlers since the clarity of the flick is not that great. Male fiddlers have one semi-useless large claw to bluff his way out of a jam, and one smaller claw to feed himself while a female needs more food so she has two small claws. That is why it is hard to tell if the crabs shown are mud fiddlers. If you look closely, you can see other crabs in their holes; mud fiddlers would like to peek out to see what is happening and if threaten then they would dive deep down into their hole. Nevertheless, no matter what they are, if I had a batch of the larger ones I sure would put them on a hook intended for a Tog.

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"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go" by William Feather