captmike28
Well-Known Angler
A string of 4 days of great weather translated into 4 straight Tog charters with a solid bite in most cases, many happy anglers, and one very weary Captain!
Stepping back to last Thursday I had the Al party of 3 join me for a full day outing at Fishers. First drop in a favorite spot at about 40’ depths gave up many shorts but only 2 small keepers for an hour’s effort. Moved a little deeper to 55’ and it was game on. The next 3 hours found a steady bite with a nice bunch of keepers in the 4-6# class and an easy boat limit. Al enjoyed top honors with his 6.5# beauty.
Friday found the James party of 4 aboard and we started in a more open location off Fishers for the last hour of flood tide. The bite was savage for the entire time on this drop and the group culled 8 nice keepers to 4.5# on this drop. Next move to the scene of Thursday’s action and the bite was a little slower than the previous day. Still the guys managed to put another 5 keepers in the box, same size as before. Finished up with an hour in a nearby jigging spot where the guys finished the boat limit and broke off one really good one while I was cleaning the catch.
Saturday with the Chris party joining me we hit the same two drops as Friday. First stop the approaching full moon end of flood tide was still screaming fast and my anchor didn’t bite on the first try. Second attempt she began to bite, then slid a bit before taking hold in a bit shallower location that I like. However, I also had to deal with a huge knot of anchor rode in my locker so I let the guys start fishing while I took care of the necessary repairs. The bite was just as savage as the day b before, but the size of the fish were much smaller and we only managed 2 small keepers here. No worries as the next drop a bit to the north was all we needed to cap a very solid day of togging. The bite started out a little slow but as the ebb tide began to slow the better fish started chewing. In about 90 minutes time the guys limited the boat including 6 real fat fish between 5-6.5#.
Sunday Matt, his lovely wife Jen, neighbor George, and my long-time customer Frank made up the crew for my split charter. Steady and fairly brisk Southerly winds were predicted so I passed on the more exposed drops at Fishers and opted for my favorite CT reef. Sea conditions and the tide for the latter part of the flood were tolerable although getting situated on the piece in the wind vs. tide conditions as a little tough. We did enjoy solid action there and after a lot of sorting managed to put 5 keepers to 5# in the box. Tried my shallow water jig spot nearby as the wind started to freshen but the combination of a very fast tide and broadside waves made fishing this drop very difficult.
So, we headed back across the Sound looking for some shelter from the wind and tried a drop in only 22’. Although there were fish on this spot the super hard running ebb tide made working this location also too challenging. So, I finally moved out to the east side of Plum and tucked in close to the Island to “hide from the tide”. Finally got to a location where the crew could enjoy jig fishing for the last 90 minutes of the trip. Once again, a lot of sorting but the persistent anglers managed to add 4 more keepers to 4# to the box. Although this was the toughest trip of the stretch, the balmy temperatures and good-natured fun aboard still made it a great day!
Hoping that the next round of cooler weather really brings out the big fish as surface water temps are still close to 60 degrees…in early November!!
Stepping back to last Thursday I had the Al party of 3 join me for a full day outing at Fishers. First drop in a favorite spot at about 40’ depths gave up many shorts but only 2 small keepers for an hour’s effort. Moved a little deeper to 55’ and it was game on. The next 3 hours found a steady bite with a nice bunch of keepers in the 4-6# class and an easy boat limit. Al enjoyed top honors with his 6.5# beauty.
Friday found the James party of 4 aboard and we started in a more open location off Fishers for the last hour of flood tide. The bite was savage for the entire time on this drop and the group culled 8 nice keepers to 4.5# on this drop. Next move to the scene of Thursday’s action and the bite was a little slower than the previous day. Still the guys managed to put another 5 keepers in the box, same size as before. Finished up with an hour in a nearby jigging spot where the guys finished the boat limit and broke off one really good one while I was cleaning the catch.
Saturday with the Chris party joining me we hit the same two drops as Friday. First stop the approaching full moon end of flood tide was still screaming fast and my anchor didn’t bite on the first try. Second attempt she began to bite, then slid a bit before taking hold in a bit shallower location that I like. However, I also had to deal with a huge knot of anchor rode in my locker so I let the guys start fishing while I took care of the necessary repairs. The bite was just as savage as the day b before, but the size of the fish were much smaller and we only managed 2 small keepers here. No worries as the next drop a bit to the north was all we needed to cap a very solid day of togging. The bite started out a little slow but as the ebb tide began to slow the better fish started chewing. In about 90 minutes time the guys limited the boat including 6 real fat fish between 5-6.5#.
Sunday Matt, his lovely wife Jen, neighbor George, and my long-time customer Frank made up the crew for my split charter. Steady and fairly brisk Southerly winds were predicted so I passed on the more exposed drops at Fishers and opted for my favorite CT reef. Sea conditions and the tide for the latter part of the flood were tolerable although getting situated on the piece in the wind vs. tide conditions as a little tough. We did enjoy solid action there and after a lot of sorting managed to put 5 keepers to 5# in the box. Tried my shallow water jig spot nearby as the wind started to freshen but the combination of a very fast tide and broadside waves made fishing this drop very difficult.
So, we headed back across the Sound looking for some shelter from the wind and tried a drop in only 22’. Although there were fish on this spot the super hard running ebb tide made working this location also too challenging. So, I finally moved out to the east side of Plum and tucked in close to the Island to “hide from the tide”. Finally got to a location where the crew could enjoy jig fishing for the last 90 minutes of the trip. Once again, a lot of sorting but the persistent anglers managed to add 4 more keepers to 4# to the box. Although this was the toughest trip of the stretch, the balmy temperatures and good-natured fun aboard still made it a great day!
Hoping that the next round of cooler weather really brings out the big fish as surface water temps are still close to 60 degrees…in early November!!