captmike28
Well-Known Angler
Just finished back-to-back Tog trips run Monday and Tuesday with the weather almost polar opposites!
Monday was a small crew of just Chef Nader his good friend Larry. Although the strong NW wind from Sunday was supposed to back off it held on through most of the day. In fact, crossing Plum Gut with a very powerful wind vs. tide scenario was quite the adventure…white water everywhere! But as we got over to the CT side of the Sound at least the sea conditions improved to a fishable level. First drop in 35 ‘ found lots of short action and only 1 small keeper Tog. Moved on to my favorite reef in 50’ and had much better action for the balance of the flood tide. Still lots of shorts but some better fish were now mixed in. In true Nader style he managed to catch both a 6# and 7# Tog on this drop while Larry landed a nice fat 4# fish. Lost the tide and the bite outside so we headed over to my jigging spot close by for the ebb. Bites here were again very scratchy and non-committal as they were last week. But the Chef’s skill and Larry’s persistence managed to cull 4 more keepers to 4.5# out of many shorts. So, we finished the trip just one shy of a 3-man limit.
Tuesday I had the Steve party of 4 and the sea conditions could not have been any better. Started on a shallow drop near Fishers where my crew from last Thursday did well. Once again very solid action here but many, many shorts. In 2.5 hours’ time the guys managed to cull 5 keepers to 3.5# for the box. Next drop in 55’ of water saw several short Sea Bass and small Tog as the extremely calm conditions made it tough for me to properly anchor on the piece I really wanted. Slid over to a much rockier spot in 40’ nearby but action was still all smalls. So, we wound up finishing the day with 2 hours on my prime jig spot in the vicinity and finally found a couple of quality fish. Dan, who made his first ever Tog trip today, took top honors with a 5.5# beauty and Tom took second place with a fat 4# fish. Final tally again, just one fish shy of a limit at 11 keepers and a single Sea Bass for the table. Cruised home on a very comfortable flat calm sea, quite the treat after Monday’s choppy conditions.
Typical Tog season as far as weather goes. Water temps still a bit high but now coming down to near 60 degrees. I am confident that when we finally hit the 50’s the bigger fish will start to show with more regularity in my area.
Monday was a small crew of just Chef Nader his good friend Larry. Although the strong NW wind from Sunday was supposed to back off it held on through most of the day. In fact, crossing Plum Gut with a very powerful wind vs. tide scenario was quite the adventure…white water everywhere! But as we got over to the CT side of the Sound at least the sea conditions improved to a fishable level. First drop in 35 ‘ found lots of short action and only 1 small keeper Tog. Moved on to my favorite reef in 50’ and had much better action for the balance of the flood tide. Still lots of shorts but some better fish were now mixed in. In true Nader style he managed to catch both a 6# and 7# Tog on this drop while Larry landed a nice fat 4# fish. Lost the tide and the bite outside so we headed over to my jigging spot close by for the ebb. Bites here were again very scratchy and non-committal as they were last week. But the Chef’s skill and Larry’s persistence managed to cull 4 more keepers to 4.5# out of many shorts. So, we finished the trip just one shy of a 3-man limit.
Tuesday I had the Steve party of 4 and the sea conditions could not have been any better. Started on a shallow drop near Fishers where my crew from last Thursday did well. Once again very solid action here but many, many shorts. In 2.5 hours’ time the guys managed to cull 5 keepers to 3.5# for the box. Next drop in 55’ of water saw several short Sea Bass and small Tog as the extremely calm conditions made it tough for me to properly anchor on the piece I really wanted. Slid over to a much rockier spot in 40’ nearby but action was still all smalls. So, we wound up finishing the day with 2 hours on my prime jig spot in the vicinity and finally found a couple of quality fish. Dan, who made his first ever Tog trip today, took top honors with a 5.5# beauty and Tom took second place with a fat 4# fish. Final tally again, just one fish shy of a limit at 11 keepers and a single Sea Bass for the table. Cruised home on a very comfortable flat calm sea, quite the treat after Monday’s choppy conditions.
Typical Tog season as far as weather goes. Water temps still a bit high but now coming down to near 60 degrees. I am confident that when we finally hit the 50’s the bigger fish will start to show with more regularity in my area.
