ReeferRob Posted November 18 Report Share Posted November 18 2 hours ago, gellfex said: I like it, but it's freaking weird sometimes bailing through dozens and dozens of shorts in some places looking for a keeper. Worse than fluking! At least fluking you're not running through expensive crabs feeding the bait stealers. Maybe my view would be different if I were out on the offshore wrecks and reefs where there are real monsters. Plus my local B&T gave me a ridiculously large proportion of crabs too small to cut in my 3 doz this week. Get yourself a sandflea rake and get your fall bait while the weather is warm and freeze them. Down here they love a big ole fat sandflea. I will hook 2-3 if they're small. "The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat." Jacques Cousteau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gellfex Posted November 18 Author Report Share Posted November 18 22 mins ago, ReeferRob said: Get yourself a sandflea rake and get your fall bait while the weather is warm and freeze them. Down here they love a big ole fat sandflea. I will hook 2-3 if they're small. No sand here! There's some spots where you can get asian crabs at low tide, but I'm still learning. Tried to find them in the spring without luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeferRob Posted November 18 Report Share Posted November 18 6 mins ago, gellfex said: No sand here! There's some spots where you can get asian crabs at low tide, but I'm still learning. Tried to find them in the spring without luck. I'm trying to find a picture of the traps they use for them. If I find one or you see one, let me know. I have a 500' bolt of 3/8" mesh cloth that I can make traps with. "The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat." Jacques Cousteau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gellfex Posted November 18 Author Report Share Posted November 18 1 min ago, ReeferRob said: I'm trying to find a picture of the traps they use for them. If I find one or you see one, let me know. I have a 500' bolt of 3/8" mesh cloth that I can make traps with. I think I saw someone say you can use a standard minnow trap if you open the holes a bit. I've been meaning to try it, but I don't have anyplace nearby where I could leave it unattended. There's a guy on Staten Island making traps of all varieties, maybe you can steal some ideas. There's more traps on the site. ReeferRob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeferRob Posted November 18 Report Share Posted November 18 That's great, now I have a template for the traps. "The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat." Jacques Cousteau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gellfex Posted November 19 Author Report Share Posted November 19 1 hour ago, ReeferRob said: That's great, now I have a template for the traps. Glad to help! Keep us updated on what you make... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squidder 329 Posted November 19 Report Share Posted November 19 Fishing with a friend I was using green crab he showed up with fleas. I had bites but hadn't landed a fish, he started with the fleas and I lost the crab bite. We were +- 15' apart. I've heard of the same happening with green and asian crabs, something different . Fished another day with 1/2 & 3/4 oz bottom sweepers after a slow bite, bam! fish on. Next day the single hook rig was hot. That's the charm of togging you have to figure out what they want. ReeferRob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeferRob Posted November 19 Report Share Posted November 19 4 mins ago, squidder 329 said: Fishing with a friend I was using green crab he showed up with fleas. I had bites but hadn't landed a fish, he started with the fleas and I lost the crab bite. We were +- 15' apart. I've heard of the same happening with green and asian crabs, something different . Fished another day with 1/2 & 3/4 oz bottom sweepers after a slow bite, bam! fish on. Next day the single hook rig was hot. That's the charm of togging you have to figure out what they want. I caught some sort of little green crab at the Ocean City Md dock. My wife hooked it on first and immediately caught a 14" Tog. We kept fishing with sandfleas and caught a bunch of shorts. I switched it up and added a small piece of shrimp behind the sandflea on the hook and the bite really picked up. They wanted nothing to do with the shrimp heads which look more crab like than a sandflea. Now a Sheepshead will MAUL a shrimp head, I caught no end of them in NC on shrimp heads, Tog, not so much. squidder 329 and gellfex 2 "The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat." Jacques Cousteau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeferRob Posted November 19 Report Share Posted November 19 16 mins ago, gellfex said: Glad to help! Keep us updated on what you make... I found a guy that makes them like Stone crab traps and I think that's what I'm going to make. If you're going to put pots in, use a dark colored cord on them to attract less attention and hide the shore attachment as best you can. Apparently herring or any oily fish is the best bait for them short of Razor clams which is their preferred food here. I wonder is a regular clam would be good just split open. I ordered the Stone crab funnels, hopefully they'll show up this week. squidder 329 1 "The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat." Jacques Cousteau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squidder 329 Posted November 19 Report Share Posted November 19 If conditions allow a small green crab with a light weight is the ticket. Supposedly chewing crab is a noisy event underwater missed hook ups are building the bite with larger fish investigating. Good info on the sheepshead with shrimp, I briefly hooked a sheepshead early this fall so I'll be after them this summer. ReeferRob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeferRob Posted November 19 Report Share Posted November 19 29 mins ago, squidder 329 said: If conditions allow a small green crab with a light weight is the ticket. Supposedly chewing crab is a noisy event underwater missed hook ups are building the bite with larger fish investigating. Good info on the sheepshead with shrimp, I briefly hooked a sheepshead early this fall so I'll be after them this summer. They REALLY love a sandflea. squidder 329 1 "The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat." Jacques Cousteau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gellfex Posted November 19 Author Report Share Posted November 19 2 hours ago, squidder 329 said: Supposedly chewing crab is a noisy event underwater missed hook ups are building the bite with larger fish investigating. I dunno, I've had a number of bites in the past month where it was just drop and they were on it immediately, but it was just short after short after short. And these were not like a specific spot that might get fished out. I'm just not convinced that building the bike brings in the big ones. I guess it's good for the fishery that there's a butt ton of fish coming up! ReeferRob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeferRob Posted November 19 Report Share Posted November 19 2 hours ago, gellfex said: I dunno, I've had a number of bites in the past month where it was just drop and they were on it immediately, but it was just short after short after short. And these were not like a specific spot that might get fished out. I'm just not convinced that building the bike brings in the big ones. I guess it's good for the fishery that there's a butt ton of fish coming up! We got over 30 throwbacks yesterday. I contacted a colleague with your question hoping she can put me in touch with someone doing research on Tog. I suspect they think that Tog spawn a lot longer than other fish, hence the later season start. ExcessiveAngler 1 "The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat." Jacques Cousteau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squidder 329 Posted November 19 Report Share Posted November 19 I recall reading about spawning tog which is done in the backwaters in the spring, hence that closed season. Where I fish they were repairing a finger pier when they put the floats on the dock baby tog fell out. They were living in the heavy growth which accumulated there and according to what I read tog under 10" don't migrate offshore. As far as building the bite it seems you feel the tog should accommodate your expectations. It also seems they have a home base to which they return when not foraging. It makes sense they would consume their immediate food source requiring them to forage. Fiddler crabs for instance a favorite when does a tog interact with fiddlers? A local fly fisherman catches a tog or two every year on a clouser fly, shrimp confusion . I filleted a tog and couldn't id the stomach contents a member of SOL did for me. They were slipper limpets which I had to look up, all I had to do was look at my trim tabs. They are such a fun fish to catch and figure out, what tide, what stage of the tide, what bait, hook or jig, still or jig the bait and on and on. Catching all shorts, maybe you should make the meal worthwhile a whole crab with a cracked shell for scent. You won't get the little bites or maybe no bites as the small tog can't readily tear up a whole crab. A large tog may take interest if they're around, it's a game sometimes you win and sometimes not. rocco 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWitek Posted November 19 Report Share Posted November 19 On 11/18/2023 at 11:04 AM, squidder 329 said: Fished Cape May reef for flounder our regs were 2 fish 17" to 17.99" and 1 over 18". The Katie D a charter boat out Lewes DE fished right next to us. Their regulations for fluke 4 fish over 16" that's pisses you off. Are NJ regs reflecting favoritism for the commercial fleet who have lobbyist, I would think so. Not for the commercial fleet, but for the for-hires, The party and charter boat industry is the single biggest influence on New Jersey fishery management. ReeferRob 1 "I have always believed that outdoor writers who come out against fish and wildlife conservation are in the wrong business. To me, it makes as much sense golf writers coming out against grass.." -- Ted Williams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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