AllyKat
Angler
Broke the inlet by 8am with daughter Ally, JJ and their friend Paige who has never been toggin. Resisting the urge to try my inclose LI side spot knowing the west winds were going to turn hard NW, I motored to the Sheffield Area in CT.
Crabs went down, and togs came up. Took Paige a while to get the hang of it, but soon enough everyone was catching, but they were all on the small side.
At 10:30 I made the call to try and finish the AM trip on the LI side where we have been lucky. Rode the building waves back across and it wasnt too bad. Set the anchor and instant life of better fish, followed by Paige’s keeper at 18 inches within the 1st 10 mins. She followed it up with another at 17, and Ally got her own at 16 1/2, all the while the wind and waves kept building.
The anchor slipped from our spot, but grabbed again 50 ft later and the machine looked good enough. Ally commented maybe we should just finish these last few cut crabs and head in, which I agreed just as I set the hook.
“Am I stuck? Nope, it’s swimming. Oh boy, please stay on, and someone get the net” Fish had me walking up the side of the boat as it tried to get into the rocks, bouncing the rod tip up and down. Gained some line, only to see it strip back down. Gained again, drag peeling back down. Got it up near the boat, back down in seconds. Back up again, another good run but not as long. One more time and Ally slipped the net under the big fish of the year so far, male at 23 inches @ 7lbs.
Counted our blessings and headed in.
Went again on Sunday with Tmac, supposed to be much nicer but found North winds at 15-20 so my plan to stay close went out the window and we motored across as the waves diminished as we got closer. Tried a different deeper spot at Budds Reef for tiny togs and bait stealers. Got in close at Sheffield again for more shorts, and as the morning wore on and the tide picked up, 2 keepers just over 16”.
As the winds backed off we went back to the LI side and back to the scene of Saturdays big fish. We couldn’t find his brother, but we brought two more keepers in short order as we called it a day @ noon.
Best time of the year.
Crabs went down, and togs came up. Took Paige a while to get the hang of it, but soon enough everyone was catching, but they were all on the small side.
At 10:30 I made the call to try and finish the AM trip on the LI side where we have been lucky. Rode the building waves back across and it wasnt too bad. Set the anchor and instant life of better fish, followed by Paige’s keeper at 18 inches within the 1st 10 mins. She followed it up with another at 17, and Ally got her own at 16 1/2, all the while the wind and waves kept building.
The anchor slipped from our spot, but grabbed again 50 ft later and the machine looked good enough. Ally commented maybe we should just finish these last few cut crabs and head in, which I agreed just as I set the hook.
“Am I stuck? Nope, it’s swimming. Oh boy, please stay on, and someone get the net” Fish had me walking up the side of the boat as it tried to get into the rocks, bouncing the rod tip up and down. Gained some line, only to see it strip back down. Gained again, drag peeling back down. Got it up near the boat, back down in seconds. Back up again, another good run but not as long. One more time and Ally slipped the net under the big fish of the year so far, male at 23 inches @ 7lbs.
Counted our blessings and headed in.
Went again on Sunday with Tmac, supposed to be much nicer but found North winds at 15-20 so my plan to stay close went out the window and we motored across as the waves diminished as we got closer. Tried a different deeper spot at Budds Reef for tiny togs and bait stealers. Got in close at Sheffield again for more shorts, and as the morning wore on and the tide picked up, 2 keepers just over 16”.
As the winds backed off we went back to the LI side and back to the scene of Saturdays big fish. We couldn’t find his brother, but we brought two more keepers in short order as we called it a day @ noon.
Best time of the year.
