CHSP 11/5 - Pillaged

[Romo]

The walls are officially pillaged. Went out to CHSP last Thursday and went right to the outer wall. Conditions were close to ideal with 61 degree water, high visibility and light south winds that meant I could comfortably fish the ocean side of the outer wall. I didn't even get a nibble out there in my first 2 hours. I moved to the bay side for an hour or so and had similar results. Only saw two other boats out there and one keeper tog caught between dozens of toads.

Demoralized, I moved to the inner wall as the tide was getting to be slack low and the toads were getting too thick. Had a tiny bit of action at the inner wall. Got one about 15.1 inches and a few at 13." There was rain forecast for the morning that never materialized but it showed up right when I started to get a chew going. It was cold, cold rain and even with dry pants and a dry top it was uncomfortable and the fishing was not good enough to stick it out. My next tog trip will be on a boat.

[daolai]

Sorry about that Romo - will it get better as the water temp drops? Also no signs of blues/stripers yet?

[HokieDJ]

I see tons of pictures from Lewes fishing Facebook from katydid. I figured they plundered it all.

Thanks for the report.

[Romo]

There was more bait around both walls than I've ever seen there. The outer wall literally had a 5 foot thick carpet of silversides/spearing on the bottom anywhere I went and streams of bait were swimming along the rocks the whole time. I marked a couple schools of what I assume were stripers or blues. Also had micro stripes (12 inchers) popping around me for a couple hours. Nothing big enough to target.

[Romo]

My buddy was out there Tuesday and Wednesday and said the katydid anchored up right next to him at both the inner and outer walls and caught a few but not much. They use big yellow ropes so if you see those in the rocks don't bother fishing in front of them the bottom has already been scoured. My only bites came from places that had no fresh ropes up in the rocks.

I see tons of pictures from Lewes fishing Facebook from katydid. I figured they plundered it all.

Thanks for the report.

[ComeOnFish]

Romo,
Thanks for the report. I am not sure why there haven't been many togs. I guess I skip togging this weekend and fish for stripers.

Joe

[Romo]

If you "like" Lewes Harbor Marina on Facebook you'll see why there aren't many togs out there Joe

Romo,
Thanks for the report. I am not sure why there haven't been many togs. I guess I skip togging this weekend and fish for stripers.

Joe

[ComeOnFish]

If you "like" Lewes Harbor Marina on Facebook you'll see why there aren't many togs out there Joe

Hmm... They will be out of business soon.

Joe

[tufnik]

I've been wondering about the walls. Can't imagine the walls can continue to yield keepers with all those anglers. You got that right, "pillaged" is the right word. On the other hand, let's wait for cooler water to see if the bite picks up. Thanks for the report.

Oh, I think yakers were out there this past Sat. Where are the reports? Usually, when nobody catches anything, they don't report.

[ComeOnFish]

Oh, I think yakers were out there this past Sat. Where are the reports? Usually, when nobody catches anything, they don't report.

I revisited the Marina's FaceBook site. I am now somewhat optimistic. It seems that not all togs were caught at the Wall. The site made me feel everyone was catching any given day. When I looked at the date posted, I could tell when they fished. It seems that they posted only when they caught a good number of togs. And I assume that Kitydid didn't do well many days (assuming the prime fishing days are Thursday - Sunday)

Joe

[dasher]

I understand the concept but once the fish are caught & removed don't other fish occupy those spots, aren't there more fish than perfect tog holes? Especially as the fishing will get better when temps start to drop?

[Romo]

Tog are an extremely slow growing fish. It's just not that easy for them to replenish.

[ComeOnFish]

In my experience, togs don't replenish.
We found some new holes. After 10-25 keeper togs, the holes don't produce keepers even juveniles even after a year. I guess juveniles ran away from the holes instinctively. So finding new holes is the key for every outing.

Joe

[Slobber Bob]

Prime spots should be prime spots assuming the habitat or other environmental factors haven't changed. If keepers are removed from the spot then other tog that were relegated to less than prime spots should move in to fill the void left at the prime spot. Yes, tog are slow growing and you might not find keepers every outing, especially inshore waters since most tog move offshore when they mature and get bigger from the literature I've read. But there still should be plenty of short tog along those walls since they aren't being kept and removed from the system.

A few bad trips wouldn't convince me that there are NO tog there anymore. In my limited experience tog fishing (last 3 -4 years), I have seen the bite on some days go from hours of not sniffing a nibble to it going absolutely can't hardly get the bait to sit on the bottom 5 seconds without getting a bite. Or one day is hot and the very next day it absolutely sucked. And anybody that tog fishes knows that even moving your bait just a mere 3 ft on the bottom can mean the difference between getting bites or not.

Joe, I'm curious...in your experience diving... can you recall having days when dropping bait produced little only to dive down and find tog in the area? Or anybody else that dives on here? (Pinch, maybe?)
I feel like there are environmental factors that just give them lockjaw for some reason no matter what bait is dropped in front of their face. Tog are structure oriented fish; they don't just disappear one day completely off a piece of structure then reappear the next.

[ComeOnFish]

There were many togs and sharks. When the water is clear we see more sharks and togs. I believe the same number of togs and sharks are there. They see us regardless the water clarity. We feel better in the cloudy water because we see less shark in the cloudy water.

I saw togs at outer wall up to 22-23 inch in summer. The rocks and structures look alike. But more togs were in the cold water. When I dive, I like cold water. When I feel the water in certain area (possibly every 20-30' snorkeling) is colder by 4-6 F. I dive and see more and larger togs. So the water temp is the key.

The water temp changes often when I snorkel to rest for the next dive.
Usually the water becomes colder from 15' down in summer. I think in winter the water temp on the bottom may be warmer. For example even though top water temp is 43F. We caught togs in 30-35' down at CBBT. I thought the water temp on the bottom was 50F.

To me, Togs like bottom of a vertical cliff. I saw many togs on the bottom of vertical cliff 5-10' high. So You will see me always fishing CHSP wall where rocks are stacked nicely, not the area where rocks were randomly dumped.

There are environments around the bridge pillars at CBBT. The pillars themselves alone may not host togs. Togs are in the environments near certain pillars. And togs come to the bait under the pillars close to the environments I think

Joe