captmike28
Well-Known Angler
Yesterday’s charter for 3 NY Angler members was one for the record books. Anthony brought together Matt and Mitch while I added Chef Nader to fill out the 4-man crew who were blessed with not only fantastic weather but a very special day of Blackfshing.
With the nearly flat seas I headed straight to my favorite jig spot off Fishers Island for the start of the ebb tide. After assessing what direction, the boat would lay in the slight breeze and tide I dropped the anchor and perfectly positioned us right on my chosen numbers. From there we spent the entire ebb tide on this one spot enjoying a steady Tog bite for the next 6 hours!
Anthony got us started with a nice 17” keeper on his spinning rod and the Chef quickly answered with one of his own. As is common for many years now we did a great deal of sorting through the short fish but every so often a nice keeper in the 17-19” range would attack the crew’s baits. The most excitement of the day, and perhaps for a long while to come, happened about 30 minutes into the trip when the Chef, using one of his super light conventional set ups ties into what was clearly an outsized Tog. The fish put up an epic battle with many long drag stripping runs but ultimately the Chef’s skill won out. I could hardly believe my eyes when I went to slip the net under a Tog with a head so massive, I was praying my net would not fail. Fortunately, everything went according to plan and soon a huge 13.5# Tog was flopping on the deck! A special fish to be sure as it was Nader’s personal best, the largest Tog ever caught by one of my charter customers, and the second largest Tog to ever hit the deck of my boat! I did my best with the camera but none of the photos really do this enormous fish justice.
Once everyone’s excitement level calmed down a bit the crew went back to work and steadily built up the catch in the box with nice healthy keepers to 4# mixed in with many shorts just to keep things interesting. And, as is typical for these trips each crew member broke off other large Tog that were just too powerful to stop! By the time I had cleaned about half of the catch the guys had reached a full boat limit for the 4-man crew, plus my share, and even through back 2 or 3 more keepers. A truly epic day I believe we will all remember for a time. A hearty congratulations to Chef Nader for landing the Tog of a lifetime!
Capt. Mike
With the nearly flat seas I headed straight to my favorite jig spot off Fishers Island for the start of the ebb tide. After assessing what direction, the boat would lay in the slight breeze and tide I dropped the anchor and perfectly positioned us right on my chosen numbers. From there we spent the entire ebb tide on this one spot enjoying a steady Tog bite for the next 6 hours!
Anthony got us started with a nice 17” keeper on his spinning rod and the Chef quickly answered with one of his own. As is common for many years now we did a great deal of sorting through the short fish but every so often a nice keeper in the 17-19” range would attack the crew’s baits. The most excitement of the day, and perhaps for a long while to come, happened about 30 minutes into the trip when the Chef, using one of his super light conventional set ups ties into what was clearly an outsized Tog. The fish put up an epic battle with many long drag stripping runs but ultimately the Chef’s skill won out. I could hardly believe my eyes when I went to slip the net under a Tog with a head so massive, I was praying my net would not fail. Fortunately, everything went according to plan and soon a huge 13.5# Tog was flopping on the deck! A special fish to be sure as it was Nader’s personal best, the largest Tog ever caught by one of my charter customers, and the second largest Tog to ever hit the deck of my boat! I did my best with the camera but none of the photos really do this enormous fish justice.
Once everyone’s excitement level calmed down a bit the crew went back to work and steadily built up the catch in the box with nice healthy keepers to 4# mixed in with many shorts just to keep things interesting. And, as is typical for these trips each crew member broke off other large Tog that were just too powerful to stop! By the time I had cleaned about half of the catch the guys had reached a full boat limit for the 4-man crew, plus my share, and even through back 2 or 3 more keepers. A truly epic day I believe we will all remember for a time. A hearty congratulations to Chef Nader for landing the Tog of a lifetime!
Capt. Mike
