Togging CBBT and Light-lining HRBT -- Oct 8, 2011

[ComeOnFish]

hmmm.. I don't see Michael's report. He must be busy

This was the third long distance fishing trip (3+ hours one way) in a row. Michael and I wanted to fish for tautog (blackfish) around the First Island (CBBT). We also wanted to light-line HRBT at night for flounder.

We bought 2 dozens of blue crab for tog bait a day before. We figured the bait store (Ocean East 2) could be out of the bait (fiddler crab and blue crab). We were right. The store was out of tog bait.
We bought more sinkers and hooks because we usually loose a dozen of the tautog rigs.

Tautog were there but not in full force yet. The water temp was still 67F
Redfish caught two tautog. I hooked one but the tog got away. I think tog will be there in full force in two weeks

After dinner, we light-lined HRBT for flounder. Redfish caught one keeper flounder and I caught one keeper striped bass
This is a fishing log:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKLd8DbjG1I

[Shady]

Excellent video as always, thanks for sharing. When using live hard blue crab for bait, do you pop the top shell off and cut it into quarters and put it on the hook or is there more to it than that?

Another question, I've heard that toadfish are actually pretty good to eat, are there any regs for keeping these fish as far as size or amount?

I might be heading down to Va Beach this weekend.

[Grilled]

nice video! haha....i love the wine part

[ictalurus]

Excellent video and report, Joe. Glad to hear from you.

[mytmouse]

Great Vid guys!!! I gotta make my way down to the HRBT one of these days!! I love the celebratory toast!!! LOL!

MYT

[MetroMan]

Nice going!

[Redfish12]

It was definitely a fun trip but it wore me out! I'm not sure I'll get another shot at tog this season so when Joe told me he was going I had to jump on the opportunity. Unfortunately it kept me from fishing the rest of the weekend and I had to cancel some plans, sorry about that guys!

I made a rookie move and forgot not to wear cotton underwear, I ended up cutting them off later in the day and wished I had hours earlier! Wader season is here anyway but mine have holes and for some reason I felt like squeezing in another trip without them instead of patching... learned that lesson! Another rookie move I made was when we were on our way back in and I decided to toss some metal into some breaking fish. I had a good hit and missed and then was jigging very quickly to get the line back in so I could recast. It was dark by this time and I snagged what I thought was a menhaden. When I went to get the hook out I quickly realized my mistake and that little blue chomped down on my palm and wouldn’t let go! I tried to pry it off but it ended up slicing all the way down as its mouth closed. Needless to say, this blue is no longer swimming and was disbursed to some toads and flounder later that evening. You have to remember we woke up around 2:50, well some of us... so I was not exactly firing on all cylinders!

Here are some shots of the larger tog next to the flounder. The flounder was just over 17 3/4" and I measured it about 20 times when I was out on the water. I caught a ton of small flounder at the HRBT all on a Pinch jighead with a 7/0 gami octopus trailer. Gulp on the jighead hook then a nice fresh strip of blue (the blues were impossible not to catch!) on top and stinger in the back. It's my go to for flounder now. I also caught about a dozen weakfish and a couple of specs in the 8-11" range which was really cool. I hope this is a good sign of things to come for weakfish!!! I saw a few pods of rock but the boats kept zooming down the light line and put them down every time. It was pretty annoying so I went back to flounder fishing.







We also met the Mid-Atlantic host of Kayak Fishing Radio (I believe that is the name) which was cool since he helped advertise our tournament. He was looking for rock and having a tough go of it also, hopefully he found them after we left!

I have some video and other pictures that I'll put together tomorrow hopefully!

[jsquare]

What an awesome trip. Thanks for sharing.

[robchoi]

Nice report Joe!

[ComeOnFish]

Excellent video as always, thanks for sharing. When using live hard blue crab for bait, do you pop the top shell off and cut it into quarters and put it on the hook or is there more to it than that?

Another question, I've heard that toadfish are actually pretty good to eat, are there any regs for keeping these fish as far as size or amount?

I might be heading down to Va Beach this weekend.

Yap. Pop the top shell off and cut it into quarters. I think blue crab is the better bait than fiddler crab in hook ups and price. A dozen of blue crab is actually 5-6 dozens of fiddler crab. because blue crab stays on the hook much longer. But it takes more time to prepare the blue crab. I paid $10.00 for 2+ dozens of female blue crab at a large Asian Super market a day before becaue some times the bait store was out of the bait. I should have picked smaller ones (they sell by pound). I iced them up in a large cooler until launch. Right before the launch, I break off the claws so that they can't bite when they are warmed up. Oh, you must have a good kitchen scissors to cut the crab

If I can take off saturday, I may drive down there. Let me know if you are heading for VA Beach. I have an extra kayak, Tarpon 140, if you want to fish CBBT first Island

joe

[Redfish12]

Excellent video as always, thanks for sharing. When using live hard blue crab for bait, do you pop the top shell off and cut it into quarters and put it on the hook or is there more to it than that?

Another question, I've heard that toadfish are actually pretty good to eat, are there any regs for keeping these fish as far as size or amount?

I might be heading down to Va Beach this weekend.

No regs on toadfish, please eat them all!

[Shady]

Alright, if I get a water gremlin big enough to mess with cleaning, he's going in the cooler!

[robchoi]

Depending on the time of year or simply the mood of the togs for the day, blue crab may work better than fiddlers. Or it could be the other way around. Sometimes green crab is best. Other times, they may want clams more than any crab.

[Redfish12]

Fiddlers were working for the guys on boats. Due to supply issues all we had to offer was blue crab. I hear green is outlawed from being sold in VA unfortunately!

[ComeOnFish]

Rob,
Are you talking about the clam in a plastic container or live one? I can buy a small live clam (bite size for tog) at an Asian super market/sea food market. Seriously, I thought about buying a cordless Dremel to put a hole on a small clam for a hook. Or I can pre-drill small holes on small clam before I leave home. This sounds ridicules but we live far away and we want to make sure we have the bait.

I will always thank you for taking me to the tog fishing last year. I love tog fishing because tog fishing is very intensive. There is no time to relax. I hold one rod, waiting for a particular subtle double taps, for hours sometimes. To me, there is no such thing like luck - unintended catch
joe