Get Reel

You ain't kidding....hell I haven't even been toggin yet this fall!

Scup

Went out again today (Lord's Point area) and the bite was slow. Strange, but for such a beautiful morning there was nobody out there but me. Could not see anyone at Red Reef, nor at White Rock, or anywhere else for that matter. Current was very slow (moon half phase) but typically that does not matter much when fishing in-close rock piles since there is never much current in the protected Lord's Point area. A massive school of very small baitfish keep swimming about my boat. They looked to be spearing that probably were hatched this season. Had my cast net, but they were so small they would be useless for anything but cast net practice. Was thinking if I should give it a shot but decided not to since they would gill themselves in my 1/4" mesh. I love to catch togs in waters averaging about six feet deep. To be sure, the risks are much higher than when fishing the usual moderate to deep, well known, Tog fishing areas. It is almost a sure bet that you will limit out if you fish the Dumplings because that is what I would consider to be a massive Tog area. Fishing rock piles can be quite fluky at best. To be sure, the size and rapid hits can match and even sometimes exceed the best of the normal tog fishing areas but the risk of striking out completely also looms high. Fishing the shallows for togs is so different from fishing for togs in the usual areas it is almost like fishing for a different species. Let me explain! When hooked, the Tog really has no place to go other than to make a lateral run. A few days ago, I had a ten pounder skim along the surface, something for which Togs are not known to do. The over the rail to hookup ratio is horrible; most of the togs hooked will be lost. Several reasons for this: shallow waters contains debris that deep waters do not have. Eel grass does not grow in more than about ten feet of water and kelp seems to abound everywhere. Many times a landed tog would have picked up almost his own weight in garbage. Since you are fishing near a dangerous pile of rocks, prudence will be advised in double anchoring and a watchful eye to the wind for if it shifts, or an anchor breaks free you would not want to end up on top of the rock pile. Hence, short casts with a fish finder rig are usually mandatory for safety sake. This is the world for small craft, large boats would not dare venture here. Whenever you have your line at a low angle to the surface in a shallow area (such as after a short cast) you are giving the Tog a definite advantage. He will have a second or two of his own way before you can get him under control. How they know that to swim around to the far side of the rock pile to gain their freedom beats me, but they sure as hell do it quite often. Just how shallow will Togs go; as I have said in a previous post "I have seen the backs of blacks in less than a foot water". To be sure, they will not venture into these areas when the sun is about. This is strictly dawn, dusk, or a day with much cloud cover business. We all know how spot orientated Togs can be; well you have not seen anything until you fish shallow rock piles. A few days ago, I was hooking up in seconds when I placed my cast in the area no bigger than the back of a full sized pickup truck. Anything more than seven or eight feet off the mark would produce nothing. I found myself intentionally hitting the near side of the rock (top of rock was above the surface) and letting my bait slide down the rock into the water. Before it would hit bottom, the Togs would be on it. What was happening is the Togs are going to their favorite restaurant for supper. They know where to find green crabs and were picking them off the rock pile. Next day I went back to the same rock pile and zippo. Again, high risk, but high rewards as well. One has to be willing to adapt to the Tog movements, and move from rock pile to rock pile. I would think that this type of fishing is for the more advance angler as one would have to be willing to take risks of being skunked rather than going with the sure thing big fishing grounds.

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

Bob & Mag

Nice Catch there......Lots O Chowda.

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Smoke free 9+ Months!

tunalovr

Its nice to hear stories from diehard fishermen who don't wimp out like powerpuff girls just because the wind blows a little. Great job. Looks like you got rewarded well for your hard efforts. It makes those togs taste even better knowing what you had to do to get them. Keep up the fight.

74Formula233

Hey Jonathan, if you think you could sneak away for some toggin' down here, let me know

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