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Tog Tactics - Your Ways to bewitch those Thieving Thugs


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On 10/29/2017 at 6:20 PM, TimS said:

That's something I have never seen. But looking at the area being fished in the video below, it looks to be very near shore, very shallow water, surrounded by shallow rocky water...these are the areas that Asian shore crabs have taken over in the past 20 years. The vast majority of blackfish I catch are at least 300 yards from shore...and the shore is sandy...there are zero Asian shore crabs on the bottom or very near where I'm fishing. If anything, in the places I fish, the Asian crabs would honestly be my last choice -  this time of year, if I had access to all the various crab types, I'd choose, in this general order: small green crabs - small white crabs - calico crabs - pieces of large, orange green crab - fiddler crabs - Asian shore crabs. Small green crabs are not to be confused with 1/2 of a large, orange green crab...the tog view them very differently in my opinion :)

 

This is where experience will become your friend...blackfishing is something best done without the thinnest, most sensitive graphite rod. You do not want to feel all the scratching and clawing and picking going on...until you are experienced enough to ignore that stuff, a softer rod would be better than some hyper sensitive rod. One of the guys on the site who used to fish all our blackfish charters on the site, Scotty - the poor guy struggled and struggled to catch nice blackfish...he would catch lots of little ones, he'd snag a bunch...but no big ones. After fishing with him a bunch of times - and because he's such a super nice guy who yah can't help but want to help - I told him I was going to give him my first honey Lami tog rod...I had recently wrapped it's twin...and the original had caught so many tog and been on so many trips...I was retiring it...the sun had baked the finish off the back of the rod from all the long trips it spent on top of my truck. I told Scooter (my nickname for him) that the rod had tons of mojo and would help him catch some big blackfish :) The truth was, it's a fiberglass rod (SMB1143F blank cut from the tip a little bit) - when a little blackfish is chewing on your crab...it feels like a scratch...on a super sensitive rod, it feels like a jolting hit. Once you can let go of the scratchy bites...you can wait for the "right" bite. Scooter went on, almost immediately, to catch numerous double digit blackfish on that rod...something he had never been able to do on graphite rods :th:  That's the very long way of telling you - you are better off with a rod that's not hyper sensitive. It's natural to want to swing at every bite - with blackfishing, you have to learn to let those bites go...they aren't the fish you are trying to catch. They'll sometimes take your bait...and that's ok...wait for the right guy to come along. The "right" bite doesn't feel like an assault...that's small blackfish trying to break the crab up into pieces they can swallow...the "right" guy will swim up, inhale the bait and go back about his business. Big blackfish don't "nibble", they attempt to consume the bait. Their bite moves the rod tip a few inches up and down...but much slower than a little guy trying to grind up the crab on the rocky bottom...you are looking for the "chomp...chomp....chomp"...you have to ignore the machine gunners and peckers :read:  Slower, bigger movements of the rod tip - the controlled consumption of a bait that fits in their mouth...not the panicked peckers trying to make off with a piece of the bait before the landlord catches them eating something they shouldn't :idea:

 

 

 

Thanks Tim for this great stuff particularly this part.   I predominantly fish the jigs with light spinning tackle and when I go to conventional it is a thin graphite/sensitive rods I use.  Now what struck me as odd is that I usually catch a decent amount of fish usually outfishing the guys I fish with but I never catch big fish.  There are days I have gone out and caught 20-30 fish mostly short with either 2-4 keepers mixed in. But all 16- 20 inch fish. In fact I have yet to catch a double digit fish yet.  Plenty of 5-7lb fish but nothing bigger. I went out on a charter a few years ago with a few guys from work and this guy with far less experience was using a noodle type rod and caught way less than me but won our little pool for the biggest fish.  I invited that same coworker on my boat and outfished him three to one easy and yet again he had the bigger fish.   Now I don't get too wrapped up in who catches more or the biggest , but I would like to catch some brutes from time to time.  I actually think that's why I prefer light spinning outfits because even the 5 pound fish feel like monsters.   So what you say makes perfect sense to me now.   Unfortunately for wife  I may have to go out and buy new rods !!!!!

 

Thanks again

You know what they say about common sense right...it ain't so common

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1 hour ago, buddha162 said:

Haha...honestly I would not have devoted a decade of my fishing life to fluking if I had to drag bait.

If I had to drag bait for fluke - ever - I wouldn’t fish for them :) I’ve been using bucktails for fluke for much longer than Spro has been in business...I poured my own jigs for them...same jigs I’d use for bass but smaller hooks. Even back when I used to fish on party boats, I’d use a sinker...and a small bucktail...I don’t like dragging bait...I’d rather anchor and cast bucktails around :)

 

I wonder what people would do if they didn’t have Spro jigs and gulp :eek: I’m glad tog don’t seem to care for the stuff ;)

 

Show someone how to catch striped bass and they'll be ready to fish anywhere.
Show someone where to go striped bass fishing and you'll have a desperate report chaser with loose lips.

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38 mins ago, TimS said:

If I had to drag bait for fluke - ever - I wouldn’t fish for them :) I’ve been using bucktails for fluke for much longer than Spro has been in business...I poured my own jigs for them...same jigs I’d use for bass but smaller hooks. Even back when I used to fish on party boats, I’d use a sinker...and a small bucktail...I don’t like dragging bait...I’d rather anchor and cast bucktails around :)

 

I spent my childhood summers on a canoe in shark river, used 1/8 - 1/4oz freshwater ballhead jigs tipped with small killies. That was a ton of fun...caught some nice fish too. Would tie up to the rail pilings and catch/release giant bergals, then float over to the submerged reef at high tide in the middle to catch a couple of eels for my grandma. Dad would drop me off on his way to work and pick me up around dusk. 

 

Now if someone sees a 10yo kid on a canoe by himself, no PFD, no supervision, they'd call the cops (and I don't blame them!)

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40 mins ago, buddha162 said:

 

I spent my childhood summers on a canoe in shark river, used 1/8 - 1/4oz freshwater ballhead jigs tipped with small killies. That was a ton of fun...caught some nice fish too. Would tie up to the rail pilings and catch/release giant bergals, then float over to the submerged reef at high tide in the middle to catch a couple of eels for my grandma. Dad would drop me off on his way to work and pick me up around dusk. 

 

Now if someone sees a 10yo kid on a canoe by himself, no PFD, no supervision, they'd call the cops (and I don't blame them!)

That's awesome! We used to "borrow" a shopping cart from the A&P in Spring Lake to bring a canoe down to Shark River and fish for fluke...or flounder...depending on the season :th: I think I've caught fluke on every kinda lure I owned...they still eat Rapalas on the flats in front of the tennis courts :) I was 10 in 1976...I don't think I started dragging a canoe down there until maybe '78 :)

 

TimS

Show someone how to catch striped bass and they'll be ready to fish anywhere.
Show someone where to go striped bass fishing and you'll have a desperate report chaser with loose lips.

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1 hour ago, puff tentacle said:

Unfortunately for wife  I may have to go out and buy new rods !!!!!

The good news is...this new rod, it can be a slow action "cheap" rod and not some new fangled over priced ultra sensitive carbon fiber thing :)

 

Show someone how to catch striped bass and they'll be ready to fish anywhere.
Show someone where to go striped bass fishing and you'll have a desperate report chaser with loose lips.

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18 mins ago, gellfex said:

Tim, a lot of us on kayaks have Ugly Tiger lites, do you think the Heavy is a good tog rod? Last time out I was using a Tsunami Classic MH (Skinners fave shallow water fluke rod) and trying to ignore the mini hits. Hooked very little.

I don't know the Ugly Tiger lites...I'm a cranky old man at 51 years old...I use a 5' 4" Loomis SJR642 spinning rod (I have three..all with black Taurus 2000 spinning reels) and a few Lamiglas SMB1143F blanks I cut the tip to about a 10 1/2 and wrapped myself...one of them is S-glass - with a PENN Torque 12 or Fathom 15 or red Newell. I'm a creature of habit :) 

 

Do you guys mostly fish conventional...or spinning gear? 

Show someone how to catch striped bass and they'll be ready to fish anywhere.
Show someone where to go striped bass fishing and you'll have a desperate report chaser with loose lips.

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17 mins ago, TimS said:

I don't know the Ugly Tiger lites...I'm a cranky old man at 51 years old...I use a 5' 4" Loomis SJR642 spinning rod (I have three..all with black Taurus 2000 spinning reels) and a few Lamiglas SMB1143F blanks I cut the tip to about a 10 1/2 and wrapped myself...one of them is S-glass - with a PENN Torque 12 or Fathom 15 or red Newell. I'm a creature of habit :) 

 

Have you ever tried to Lami BL series? Seems like a good composite blank for deep togging. I'll have to "borrow" back the one I gave my uncle years ago...just for testing purposes ofc. 

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6 mins ago, buddha162 said:

Have you ever tried to Lami BL series? Seems like a good composite blank for deep togging. I'll have to "borrow" back the one I gave my uncle years ago...just for testing purposes ofc. 

I have a few Lamiglas factory rods that are good for toggin' when you need real backbone...I think they are from the "Big fish" series...definitely composite...and real good deep/heavy tog rods. I'll get the model numbers next time I get to the garage :)

 

Show someone how to catch striped bass and they'll be ready to fish anywhere.
Show someone where to go striped bass fishing and you'll have a desperate report chaser with loose lips.

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I carry 2 conventionals (Abu 4X00 on Shimano Sojourns) and 2 spinning (Battle 2 4000 on Shimano Sojourns) .... and didn't pack the epoxys when the Albies were where they weren't meant to be, what the hell!

Any society that charges it's own children for knowledge, is doomed to fail.

Whilst intelligence is not affected by geography, it is influenced by education, opportunity and drive.   

Now is the time to change our attitude towards blues, next year may well be too late (Somebody listened :th: )
Member of the Yellow Eyed Devils
May you never have to fish to live, rather live to fish.

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17 hours ago, TimS said:

The good news is...this new rod, it can be a slow action "cheap" rod and not some new fangled over priced ultra sensitive carbon fiber thing :)

 

Hey Tim or anyone else for that matter, I realized that I had an old fiberglass rod in my garage that I bought used on Craigslist about 10 years ago but never fished it.  An SOL member on the rodbuilders forum told me that it was a Honey  Lami looks to him like BT842M.   I know absolutely nothing about these rods ,any input with this model would be appreciated.  Especially if it could turn out to be a rod for Blacks.  Thanks

You know what they say about common sense right...it ain't so common

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18 mins ago, puff tentacle said:

BT842M

From Lamiglas that would be a Boat Trolling 84 inch 2 power moderate taper rod.  It might be very good for tog scrimmages...probably make a spectacular spinning rod for toggin' near shore :)    The BT1083M is a blank I'm very familiar with...I don't know how much lighter the 2M would be...but I promise it would be a fun rod to catch tog on. :th:

 

Show someone how to catch striped bass and they'll be ready to fish anywhere.
Show someone where to go striped bass fishing and you'll have a desperate report chaser with loose lips.

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1 hour ago, TimS said:

From Lamiglas that would be a Boat Trolling 84 inch 2 power moderate taper rod.  It might be very good for tog scrimmages...probably make a spectacular spinning rod for toggin' near shore :)    The BT1083M is a blank I'm very familiar with...I don't know how much lighter the 2M would be...but I promise it would be a fun rod to catch tog on. :th:

 

This one is about 7ft and it's a conventional rod.  

You know what they say about common sense right...it ain't so common

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