1st tog trip on Frances Fleet RI and knot/hook question

[kenyee]

Took my first tog trip this weekend on the Frances fleet out of Narragansett and learned a few things that might help other newbies:

- you pay for the tix inside the office opposite the boat and if you want a specific spot on the boat, you'd have to be as dedicated as the ones who get there hours before it starts

- the back of the boat has less wind but it's pretty smokey (smoker smoke drifts back there and the captain backs you into diesel smog pretty often)

- if you rent a rod for $7, they give you free hooks/sinkers and the mates help you out w/ unsnagging and rerigging (they even helped people re-rig who brought their own gear) so it's the recommended thing for a 1st trip; the rods are Daiwa beefsticks w/ penn seaboy 175 reels w/ 40# mono (and a 30# mono leader)

- don't wear sneakers...waterproof boots and pants are helpful when the guys next to you wearing grundens/galoshes are hosing down the coolers, their fish, themselves, etc. and flooding the deck

- the Frances fleet allows braid if it's on your own gear...I saw a lot just use a leader (no mono topshot) for better sensitivity

- the mates cut crabs up for you, so you don't have to do it (most of the regulars seem to do it though)

- you can bring a cooler to put the fish in; when you get fish, put some water in and they'll live until you're ready to bleed them

- tog are pretty slimy, so boga grips don't grip too well (doesn't help that their lips and jaws aren't as solid as bluefish/striper lips)

- if you snag, try tightening your line and rotating the rod pointed at the snag (the mates did that for me twice) and try to put slack in the line...there might be a fish on the other end of it, so spend a few minutes getting it loose

- you can horse legal sized tog (mine were 17-18" and 4#) w/ the rental rods w/o problems

- tog seem to bite differently at every spot...the Frances stopped at 6 spots and 4 had fish and only the last spot had fish that fought as hard as the stories I've read and the others the fish barely nibbled and some came up like a dead log

- bring a spare rag/shirt to wipe your hands on from handling the craps and slimy fish

- if you bring a rod, an Ugly Stik Tiger is fine but use a conventional reel (some of the regulars brought on $300 Lami rods w/ $400 Saltiga reels but that's probably overkill)

- no real need to bring lunch...prices are fairly reasonable at $4 for a hot dog and $2 for soda

- don't be afraid to chat w/ your neighbors...a nice russian guy gave us lots of tips

 

Tally for me was 2 keepers and 2 shorts with 1 probably big one lost. One keeper was the dumb luck kind when I thought I snagged bottom and a fish was on the end after I unsnagged when I couldn't find a mate for a while. Took most of the morning before I could figure out what a tog nibble felt like.

 

The big one I lost is the one I have a hook tying question on. I pulled it off the bottom and was doing a big tug of war with it when it managed to rip the line at the hook. The tog rigs the mates were tying consisted of a single big dropper loop and a big surgeon's loop for the sinker, directly into the leader. To connect them, they'd push the end of the loop through the eye hole of the sinker/hook, then open the loop and push the sinker/hook tip through it (much like connecting a teaser except the eye is the loop of the teaser). When the big tog ripped the hook off, I had what looked two identical lines because the dropper loop had snapped at the hook. Is there a stronger way to put the hook on to prevent this from happening? Would tying the hook via a palomar and then putting a perfection loop on the other end to go through the dropper loop be stronger?

 

Funniest moment of the trip: me horsing the tog up and wanting to make sure I made it over the handrail, so I pulled it up so hard, it and the 8oz sinker flew over the head of a guy walking by and landed 6' back. Luckily, it was a keeper or I'd be bummed about abusing the fish

 

Cooked the tog two styles and wasn't as impressed as I thought I'd be (people keep saying it's one of the best tasting fish). Tried it steamed ginger/scallion chinese style (tasted good but the flesh wasn't as smooth/sweet as sea bass), and also tried it baked w/ herb butter as in this recipe:

http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/20957/tautog-(blackfish)-baked-with-herb-butter.html

Can someone describe the taste of it? Or have a better recipe that highlights the taste of the fish (some of the other recipes I've found seem to use really strong flavors like cajun or blackening that would mask the taste of the fish)?

[mickrazz]

Every so often, check for abrasion on your mono leader and change it if you find any nicks. That might be a reason you broke off.

 

Smaller tog taste better. Breaded fillets, deep fried is a good way to prepare tog.

[kenyee]

Thanks, Mick. What I'm puzzled by is it didn't snap the leader. The rest of the leader including the sinker was still there...only the dropper loop part of the leader that the hook was on ripped in half. Only guess I had was the Tog's teeth on the hook shank must have cut the dropper loop off the hook. That's why I was thinking a palomar'd or snell'd hook on a short stronger leader w/ a perfection loop linked to the dropper might have survived.

[mickrazz]

Thanks, Mick. What I'm puzzled by is it didn't snap the leader. The rest of the leader including the sinker was still there...only the dropper loop part of the leader that the hook was on ripped in half. Only guess I had was the Tog's teeth on the hook shank must have cut the dropper loop off the hook. That's why I was thinking a palomar'd or snell'd hook on a short stronger leader w/ a perfection loop linked to the dropper might have survived.

 

 

Tog teeth aren't sharp. I snell my hooks and use the perfection loop. Total length can be 10-12 inches.

I'll try to explain. Make a 12" loop in the end of your topshot.

Sinker on the end of this loop.

About 3" up from the sinker,form a small loop with the doubled line of the loop that the sinker is on.

Make a loop to loop connection from your snelled hook with the perfection loop to the loop your holding.

This connection will slip after its snugged up so now take the sinker and make a half hitch at the junction where your perfection loop is. Some use 2 half hitches, I only use one cause its easier to take apart when a hook breaks off.

It takes 5 minutes to type the directions and 15 seconds to tie the rig. When you see it it is simple and it works.

[kenyee]

T

About 3" up from the sinker,form a small loop with the doubled line of the loop that the sinker is on.

 

This small loop isn't a dropper loop?

 

I think that probably confirms the simpler rig the mates put on it easier to break. They did this:

 

main line------>long dropper loop----->end loop->sinker

 

On the long dropper loop in the middle, they just put it through the eye of the hook, then pull the loop open end around the tip of the hook, then pull it back.

Quick and easy for them but probably not the strongest of connections...

[mickrazz]

This small loop isn't a dropper loop?

 

No. just make a loop with the doubled line and hold it with your finger, then loop to loop with your snelled leader.

 

I think that probably confirms the simpler rig the mates put on it easier to break. They did this:

 

main line------>long dropper loop----->end loop->sinker

 

On the long dropper loop in the middle, they just put it through the eye of the hook, then pull the loop open end around the tip of the hook, then pull it back.

 

This will work but it forces you to use the lb test of your leader. I snell with 60-80 mono for abrasion resistance.

Quick and easy for them but probably not the strongest of connections...

 

 

See above

[DaveTats]

Check out this thread.

 

http://www.stripersonline.com/surfta...=tale+tog+rigs

[kenyee]

Thanks, Dave. I read that thread before going

 

The ship's setup (tied by 3 different mates, so it was probably a ship standard) was most like the one on the left but use the sinker connection technique for both hook and sinker; also swap hook and sinker positions.

 

Mick's setup sounds exactly like the picture on the right. Doesn't that make the sinker hard to rip off? It looks like the sinker connection is stronger than the hook connection...

[mickrazz]

Thanks, Dave. I read that thread before going

 

Mick's setup sounds exactly like the picture on the right. Doesn't that make the sinker hard to rip off? It looks like the sinker connection is stronger than the hook connection...

 

 

The beauty of this rig is that if the sinker comes off with a fish on the hook, you're still able to land the fish.

A dropper loop is a very weak knot and if it breaks at the junction where it it tied you lose everything. There are heated debates on this. Try them both and use what you're confident with.

[TJL65]

If you're going to go the dropper loop way, make sure that you use at least 8 twists before cinching the knot down. Also make sure that when you do tighten the knot that you moisten it well and pull it tight in one shot.

 

For togging tie the loop bigger then needed and then cut one end of the loop close to the knot. Snell your hook onto the tag end and add crab.