Tog Sh!t - A "SERIOUS" Discussion

[captmike28]

I totally agree with Rodprof's statement on the need for really heavy lead when fishing the East End and LI Sound Tog spots especially during the big moon periods. I would also add the following observation. Even during the Full and New Moon periods when the tide screams in these areas there is always a slack water period that can last from 45-90 minutes where you can actually back off to 8 ounces or sometimes even 6 ounces depending upon how many days off the big moon you are fishing.

Also, most experienced Captains know shallower drops, generally 50' or less, where you can "hide from the tide" and fish during some of the strongest tidal flow still using no more than 8-10 ounces. In fact, I have some spots where I do a lot of jig fishing (1.5 oz. jigs) and also use lighter conventional tackle where I can fish an entire tide, even during the big moon cycles, and never have to go above a 6oz. sinker. Just like any other location, the bite could be slow but just as frequently I have enjoyed excellent action for the same sized fish we take in the more open and unprotected spots. So, much of the success you find in fishing stems from putting in the time to thoroughly learn all the ins and outs of the waters you fish.

BTW, Benny we actually had a stretch of 5 straight weekends last fall with winds blowing at Gale force or close to that velocity that effectively wiped out many of the weekend opportunities. Myself and many other Captains lost a lot of business with that horribly bad weather pattern. In most cases the only reprieve came on weekdays when a lot of anglers simply could not fish.

 

[Savvy18]

BennyV, you got that right...We had so much bad weather this tog season, it's hard to accurately determine if it was a success or not. When our "go-to" drops SHOULD have been holding fish, we couldn't get out.

Nothing more frustrating than when bad weather keeps you from the fishing grounds.

 

[Rodprof]

Ditto. Lost 7 out of 10 fall charter trips last fall. The wind out east never relented.

 

[Savvy18]

I'm in a nostalgic mood...

About 20 years ago, I went to one of our local rod builders in Freeport, looking to make my 1st BIG TOG tamer! I asked the advice of the very experienced builder regarding a rod that was soft yet VERY powerful, with a fast taper that I could use to make tog fishing fun while ensuring that when the mother-of-all-tautog hit my bait, I'd be ready for battle.

Well, SHE suggests to me a Shakespeare GBU845 blank and said - "This is the rod you're looking for right here. It's a Shakespeare, it's unbreakable!" I loved the sound of that. Those tog had NO idea what I had in store for them!

So, we went about discussing the various colors, guides, seat, grips - the whole nine yards.

...Getting sleepy, I'll come back to this story at some point this weekend - STAY TUNED.

 

[Leprechaun]

Hey Mr. RodProf! - thanks for the contributions here. I agree that there are some really nice blanks available these days. Two of my favorites are the CTS BS703 (up to 8-or-so oz.) and the BS 704 (any weight needed). Both of mine have 6-7" trimmed from the butt and work perfectly from a low-gunnel boat, like mine.

As much as I like these two, this past season for the majority of my time on the South Shore tog grounds I stuck with a factory-built JW 300gram slow-pitch Ghost Hunter - at only 5'8" long, it was so much fun to use, I couldn't put it down. What a sweet little rod it is. Take a look at it killing (slowly, I'll admit) a nice-sized tuna:

 

[Rodprof]

I have been building on JW blanks for five years now since the owner GAVE ME six blanks to field test when they first came out. The bottom line is that they are extremely popular with my charter boat customers. Love them.

 

[Savvy18]

Hmmm, that's odd he didn't GIVE ME any free blanks when I was there!

 

[Savvy18]

Hey Pete, where'd ya get that JW 300 gram slow pitch rod?

 

[Leprechaun]

Hah, The Salvation Army, of all places!

I guess the previous owner never appreciated the built-in coolness of such a rod.

Too bad. His loss, my gain!

 

[Savvy18]

Nah, I appreciated the rod. It WAS very cool. Had never fished a rod that short before. In my humble opinion, it had TOO MUCH power! I felt like those tog never had a chance.

I think I told you the story already of my first fish caught on that rod. I had been using my CTS BS702 and got hung up on bottom, had to break my line. So, rather than taking the time re-rigging (that's why I bring 3-4 rods every trip), I reached up to the launcher for the GH rod. My first bait dropped to the bottom I get a nice bump, set the hook and I guesstimated a nice 3 or 4 pound tog. Well, this thing came to the surface and it was much closer to 8 or 9 lbs. and I yelled for the net (which I rarely ever do). My buddy Pat Jr, who knows I never yell for a net comes flying over, net in hand and he's thinking it's a 10+ pig! He says to me, "YOU, of all people are yelling for a net for THIS fish?" I said, "YES! I didn't know it was a bigger fish-this is the first time ever using this rod and it fooled me!"

Moral of the story is that the rod is so powerful, when I hit that fish, it moved his head so quickly and effortlessly, I had no way of knowing it was a bigger fish like I do when I have my light sticks in hand. Most times I know if I need a net within the 1st 5 seconds. But that rod really had me fooled.

It's an excellent tog rod. Use it in good health my friend

 

[Savvy18]

...So, back to my story...

I ended up putting the early version of the SIC guides on that rod, which were quite beefy (and expensive). Add to that the EVA grips and a cheapo Pac Bay reel seat (that SHE talked me into-against my better judgement). So, basically I'm building a pretty heavy rod here (but at that point in my custom rod building career-what the hell did I know?) Anyway, at that time (late 90's I'm guessing), this was a pretty sexy rod.

Over the years I caught tons of fish on that stick and it quickly became my "beast slayer." The rod I reached for when I thought there was a "bigger" fish lurking that was gonna require a rod with muscle! I remember one offshore shark trip I made with a friend on his 30+ Contender CC. I brought that rod along in case we ran into some blue demons (bluefish) we could jig for bait. As we set up and began chumming and dropping baits, we started to get inundated with blue dogs, which can get tiresome on the 50's & 80's really quick. So, I rigged up the Shakespeare with a mackerel chunk and in short time I was hooked up to a blue shark! If you've never tried this before, you should. It was a blast. In the span of 2 hours I fought 4 blue dogs. Got 2 to the boat, popped the other 2. Needless to say, that Shakespeare GBU845 was up to the task.

Since the day it was originally built, that rod has been stripped down and re-wrapped. I also changed out the EVA grips for the rubber X-tubing that is fairly popular today. The second time it was done by my buddy Mark Flynn in Wantagh. In fact, it might be one of the last rods he ever built AFTER his rod shop had closed. He wrapped it in his mother's garage! Today he no longer builds rods and I don't think he misses it...

To this day I still take that Shakespeare GBU845 with me on a few trips a year. Still in EXCELLENT condition and still kicks tog butt!

So, my "tog rod evolution" was in full swing, even then. It continues to get worse every year! I visited my rod builder today to "discuss" and design THREE MORE TOG RODS that will be ready when they start chewing again. It's a vicious cycle.

 

[Pete21]

What rods you looking at now and who builds your rods ?

 

[Leprechaun]

Oh boy, and awaaaay we go!

 

[Savvy18]

My rod builder is Rich Zarini aka Capt. Richi who incidentally just joined the ranks of NYAngler.com a few short hours ago...So, welcome to him.

Okay, so nothing "groundbreaking or cutting edge" involved in my newest projects. But nonetheless, I'm looking forward to having them completed and in my hands when the battle starts up again.

1. I heard Calstar might not be in business much longer (could be a rumor - I have no idea). Rather than take a chance, I ordered another of my FAVORITE blanks, the Grafighter 700XL. I already have (2) but I wanted to make sure I'll ALWAYS have one. Having (3) is just fine by me.

2. One of my "other" Calstar 700 XL's was getting a little weathered and needed a facelift. So, Rich did me a solid and sanded down the cork grips to give them a cleaner look and to make them slightly smaller. He'll be re-wrapping the entire rod over the winter.

3. My new EMERALD GREEN CTS BS702 is on the way from New Zealand...Should have it next week. We discussed some grip & color ideas. I'm shipping a Daiwa Lexa 300 out to Texas next week for a SEXY paint job - that reel will be paired to that rod. That is going to be a very cool looking stick.

I saw a purple CTS at Richie's shop today! WOW, that was sweet looking too!!! WHEN WILL IT EVER END!!!???

 

[Flukinit]

Oh boy, and awaaaay we go!

Haha.. LMFAO!!

 

[Savvy18]

Don't encourage him Joe...

 

[Savvy18]

I forgot to mention how impressed I was watching that guy land a beautiful tuna on that JW Ghost Hunter rod...Like I said before, that rod is a beast and I just couldn't justify using it any longer for tog.

 

[Savvy18]

Today I made calls to a few local (tri-state area) tackle shops looking for my newest reel of interest to target tautog. The Abu Garcia Gen4 Revo Beast 40. One was closed, one doesn't carry Abu Garica, one was sold out of the reel. One shop thought I'd be better off with a different reel.

I'm not going to be talked out of this reel. I will be purchasing it very soon, just not sure where from yet. My good buddy Lep has given me a solid on this reel and that's enough for me. Not to mention it weighs only 9.5 ounces...I'M ALL IN!

The plan is to pair it with my new emerald green CTS BS702 that should be built by May (if CTS gets it here before then-I won't hold my breath).

Who else out there has a rod or reel they are looking into for the upcoming tautog season?

 

[Leprechaun]

Not me. I'm good to go . . .

I think.

 

[Capt Richie]

My rod builder is Rich Zarini aka Capt. Richi who incidentally just joined the ranks of NYAngler.com a few short hours ago...So, welcome to him.

Okay, so nothing "groundbreaking or cutting edge" involved in my newest projects. But nonetheless, I'm looking forward to having them completed and in my hands when the battle starts up again.

1. I heard Calstar might not be in business much longer (could be a rumor - I have no idea). Rather than take a chance, I ordered another of my FAVORITE blanks, the Grafighter 700XL. I already have (2) but I wanted to make sure I'll ALWAYS have one. Having (3) is just fine by me.

2. One of my "other" Calstar 700 XL's was getting a little weathered and needed a facelift. So, Rich did me a solid and sanded down the cork grips to give them a cleaner look and to make them slightly smaller. He'll be re-wrapping the entire rod over the winter.

3. My new EMERALD GREEN CTS BS702 is on the way from New Zealand...Should have it next week. We discussed some grip & color ideas. I'm shipping a Daiwa Lexa 300 out to Texas next week for a SEXY paint job - that reel will be paired to that rod. That is going to be a very cool looking stick.

I saw a purple CTS at Richie's shop today! WOW, that was sweet looking too!!! WHEN WILL IT EVER END!!!???

Thanks Eddie ...My take on blankfish rod my differ from the norm...I have fished just about every rod on this thread plus many others...I have moved on from clastar / lamiglas / seeker..Phenix are sweet but the new blanks coming out have had QC issues...Stay away from Black Diamond Hybrid / recon ..The M1's and UMBX still good blanks...

UC have some of the best quality blanks and rods for tog fishing..Take a ride out to Trophy or come see me and pull on them....from the heavy micro jiggers , new CE XL & L Zeus 7' and 7'6" blanks PU & UC 704 705 & 706 to my line of AR's you just cant go wrong...super strong blanks that dont bottom out able to handle all the lead needed & ultra sensitive ..

CTS I been fishing the CTS BJ700 lot for tog from MTK to the west end..both commercial & rec fishing I just love it...Also for tog jigging works great ..I have a new BJ blank I designed for Tog jigging on the way,,very lite tip with strong backbone moderate action ..But with a tip thats sets the hook,,, not a mush tip...I did very well last season with the CTS BJ 700 & 701 never felt under gunned or need a more tip for lead...even in MTK...I was mad fun of for bringing a fresh water rod to to fish..till the end of the day when all I heard was I want one...LOL happy fishing..