captmike28
Well-Known Angler
After a full week of really challenging conditions, I finally ran my first Tog charter of the season today. Vince and his crew of Matt, Wes, and Anthony really personify persistence from many different angles. First, they sailed with me for the first time 3 years ago, had a great trip on a nasty rainy day, then got blown out on at least 2 tries each the last 2 years. Then they are such dedicated Tog fisherman that they drove all the way from Philly to fish with me. Finally, although we finally hit a 4-man limit most of the keepers were all bunched up at the beginning and the end of the trip!
With beautiful sea conditions and nice temperatures, we headed straight to one of my favorite jig drops by Fishers Island. Within the first 45 minutes we had solid action, and the guys boxed 4 nice keepers to 5.2# on the end of the flood tide. I thought it was going to be a slam dunk day but as the tide started to ebb the bite continued at a very fast pace but nearly all short Tog and Sea Bass for nearly an hour. Made a few shifts in the same area but only pulled one more 17” Tog and a couple of keeper Sea Bass.
So, just before noon I make a larger shift west to a nice 55’ drop where the ebb was running moderately hard and we had to break out the conventional gear. Once again lots of bites and short Tog and biscuits but slowly a few more keepers started to show. A couple more 17” fish find the box then Matt gets a solid hit and a really nice fight out of the top fish of the day tipping the scales at 6.3#. Back to the short pattern again for another half hour then as my mate is almost finished cleaning the catch the keeper biter picks up again and the guys finished off the day with 4 last keeper Tog all around 16.5-18” plus 3 more nice sized Sea Bass. Overall, my tally sheet showed over 60 Tog and 45 Sea Bass landed, so the keeper ratio was certainly tough. But a limit is a limit, and the guys were smiling all through the flat calm ride back to port.
I sure hope there will be some more stability to the upcoming weather pattern as I have a ton of trips on the books and it looks like the best Tog bite is about to explode any day. I also just received a surprise cancellation for next Saturday 10/26 so if you are free this is prime time to hit the Tog grounds. I will also post this opening in the Charter section of the board.
Tight lines to all.
Capt. Mike
516-317-5423
With beautiful sea conditions and nice temperatures, we headed straight to one of my favorite jig drops by Fishers Island. Within the first 45 minutes we had solid action, and the guys boxed 4 nice keepers to 5.2# on the end of the flood tide. I thought it was going to be a slam dunk day but as the tide started to ebb the bite continued at a very fast pace but nearly all short Tog and Sea Bass for nearly an hour. Made a few shifts in the same area but only pulled one more 17” Tog and a couple of keeper Sea Bass.
So, just before noon I make a larger shift west to a nice 55’ drop where the ebb was running moderately hard and we had to break out the conventional gear. Once again lots of bites and short Tog and biscuits but slowly a few more keepers started to show. A couple more 17” fish find the box then Matt gets a solid hit and a really nice fight out of the top fish of the day tipping the scales at 6.3#. Back to the short pattern again for another half hour then as my mate is almost finished cleaning the catch the keeper biter picks up again and the guys finished off the day with 4 last keeper Tog all around 16.5-18” plus 3 more nice sized Sea Bass. Overall, my tally sheet showed over 60 Tog and 45 Sea Bass landed, so the keeper ratio was certainly tough. But a limit is a limit, and the guys were smiling all through the flat calm ride back to port.
I sure hope there will be some more stability to the upcoming weather pattern as I have a ton of trips on the books and it looks like the best Tog bite is about to explode any day. I also just received a surprise cancellation for next Saturday 10/26 so if you are free this is prime time to hit the Tog grounds. I will also post this opening in the Charter section of the board.
Tight lines to all.
Capt. Mike
516-317-5423
