CBBT (Searching for togs) Sat, 6 Dec

[tufnik]

With the exception of rain expected in the afternoon, wx forecast looked pretty good. So, I made a last minute decision to give it a go.

I was on the water after 8 am, and headed for the 1st island with frozen green crab. The launch was smooth. Water was flat.

I searched for togs piling after piling, and got nothing. After nearly six hours of searching, I had only one credit to my name: a toad.

Was feeling a little disappointed that I was not going to get any tog. It was after 2 pm when I decided to head back in because I could see the rain in the distance. Then I found THE HOLE. I dropped the rig, and bingo! Caught a keeper tog. I went on to catch four more togs in the same hole. The rain came down after 3 pm, but I stayed. I caught another tog at another spot.

No other yakers were out, but many boaters were out. I talked to some boaters; no stripers caught. I had a few marks, but I didn’t even try jigging because I was after togs.

It was still raining when I loaded up the car, but it was still a pretty good day of yaking. Temp was over 50 deg, light (maybe 5 kts) winds, near flat water and water temp about 50 deg. Yeah, I got rained on, but I took home fish.

Total:
1 toad
5 togs (3 keepers @ 16, 16.5, 19.5”); I don’t catch many males, but the 19.5 incher is)

[AbuMasgouf]

Beautiful fish Efrin! The environment looks perfect even with the last rainy picture... If I had to pick rain, that would be it!
Were you using the bucktail as your sinker?

[tufnik]

That last pic was a temporary lull. The rain came back to make sure I was wet before I left..lol...

I used 2 oz lead bank sinker with a hook/bait hanging about level with that. You can see it on the 2nd pic.

[AbuMasgouf]

Got ya. That third pic threw me off. I can see the bucktail in the second pic in your deck.

Talked to a friend who was out with a fishing buddy who uses a double snafu rig for Tog. Interestingly he has a dropper loop above the snafu hooks where he puts his weight. Which I imagine in the water puts the hooks about level with the weight instead of above. Do you have any experience or thoughts on that?

I see you have different line colors and multiple knots so I thought maybe you've tried different styles and have some thoughts...

[tufnik]

When I was fishing I snagged this yellow-green mono line. Pulled it up; it had that big chartruse striper lure you see in the pic. I kept it.

I wanted a non-kinky line, and Redfish (Mike) told me about Hi-Seas Quattro mono. I bought a 1/4 lb spool of 60 lb. As you can see it's multicolor. I like it; use it for deep drop leaders too. Abrasion-resistant, ties well, and has much less memory than other mono.

My tog leader is about 3 ft long. At bottom, there's a loop for the sinker. About 6" above that, I have a dropper. About 18" above the sinker, I have another dropper. Depending on fishing conditions, I have options of attaching one or two hooks (each with 4-5" mono) to either or both droppers. For example: At CHSP, I mostly use the bottom dropper so that the hook is at level or below the sinker. Sometimes I use the higher dropper depending on the bite.

When I fished the head boats for tog, many anglers use that double snufu hook method. They claim better hook-up. The hook/bait is also below the sinker. I think the idea is that it allows the bait to slip into the holes when the sinker sits on the rock. I don't really know. I catch tog with a single hook. In fact, I caught my biggest tog (26.5") on a single hook, and the hook was level with the sinker.

[ComeOnFish]

Efrin,
What a great news! I couldn't check the report because I was working onsite until last night.
It seem the weather forecast was correct, and stripers weren't active at all this year.
Anyway I am going to try the next weekend. I hope you still fish throughout December.

Joe

[dson05]

Efrin,
What a great news! I couldn't check the report because I was working onsite until last night.
It seem the weather forecast was correct, and stripers weren't active at all this year.
Anyway I am going to try the next weekend. I hope you still fish throughout December.

Joe

Joe. If you are fishing saturday can I meet you down there? It would be my first trip. I was thinking of going to fish Saturday and sunday. Kipto and CBBT. I was hoping to get into togs during the day and stripers in the evening soaking some eels. What are your plans?

[ComeOnFish]

Daniel,
I am fishing this coming weekend (Sat or Sun depending on the wind). Sure I will meet you there CBBT or Kipto depending on the wind/wind direction.

Joe

[dson05]

Daniel,
I am fishing this coming weekend (Sat or Sun depending on the wind). Sure I will meet you there CBBT or Kipto depending on the wind/wind direction.

Joe

Sounds Great. Where will you be leaving from and what time do you plan on heading out to go? I am leaving from Rockville, MD so was wondering which way it was better to go. Maybe we can caravan? Also, is there a bait shop near there that I could go to to get bait?

[ComeOnFish]

Daniel,
A PM with my phone number sent. call me.

Anyway,
The wind is too strong for the cold water/air temp for CBBT Fri-Sun. CBBT is out.

The NW wind won't help Kipto ship fishing either. The Western sides of the ships are out. This will limit the fishing spots significantly. The wind has been blowing since the last Sunday. I think the water won't be clear.

I think some waves will be very high because the NE of the ships are very wide and there is 90' drop 1.5-2 miles from the ship. The NE wind (even mild one) and the deep drop create huge waves. I am expecting 4-6' waves on the top of 2-3', randomly hit the ships.

There is a good chance that the forecast is wrong. If the wind is stronger than forecast, I don't think it's kayak-able in winter.

Now, there aren't good backup waters. Rudee and Lynhaven aren't producing much. Elizabeth River is the only good back up for speck and puppy drum.

I will wait and try Dec 20-21 weekend for Kipto/CBBT. But Catching tog/striper will be tough.

Joe