Kipto tomorrow (March 31)?

[ComeOnFish]

My work schedule changed this morning. I can fish this weekend.
I bought 6 good crabs from Lotte in Chantilly and a 4lb box of good frozen shrimp from Grand Mart in Centerville during lunch hour.

The wind is a bit too strong on Saturday at Kipto. But if someone is heading, I will be there. I can go to Lotte (5 min drive, and I think they receive crab on Saturday) and buy more crab. So I will cover the bait department if someone is coming.

Otherwise, I am hitting Delaware, CBBT, or Kipto on Sunday.

My goal is to confirm that shrimp is better than or at least the same as Blue crab and other tiny crab

Joe

[SaltyWon]

Hey comeonfish!!

This is Won, we fished late last fall for togs on my maiden voyage.
I will be at kipto Sunday...hope to see you out there,

[SaltyWon]

Oh, and shrimp works best during springtime, and the for rest of the year....CRABS!! are their main source of food. As for you and I, RICE!!! hahaha I may be speaking for myself....
The theory is...coming in from deep water, with hardly anything to feed on...their stomach and outting end is bit vulnerable, so, shrimp, sand flea, un-shelled clam and etc would work, but once their normal feeding habit comes along with the normal habitat, you will find they will pick crabs over softer baits.
As far as best crabs? of course locals work the best!!!
NY and Jersy, they have white leggers, Ocean city and Delaware holds these small black crabs found in jetties on low tide, w/ green crabs(not local, I dont think), and In VA beach, fiddlers and white tip mud crab(some locals call it rock crab).
Mud crab over fiddlers, and fiddlers over blue. All of this is from my years of fishing togs and all IMHO.
Hope this helps.

Won

[ComeOnFish]

Hey Won,
It is nice to hear from you. If you are heading for Kipto on Sunday, I will go to Kipto on Sunday.

The reason I try to get the bait before the trip is that many times in the past I couldn't get the Fiddler/Blue crab in the early morning at the bait store after driving 3+ HOURS. D*** locals cleaned up baits at 5:00am. Then I found blue crab are better than fiddler (to me), I am getting blue crab a day before the trip for sure.

The blue crab at Grand Mart in Centerville was almost dead today. But they had boxes of 4 and 5 lb frozen shrimp.

Also I am going to test if a 2/0 - 3/0 circle hook works with a slip sinker. I think Tog-fishing is do-able with two rods in at the ships, one regular, and the other with a circle hook and a slip sinker when the Bay is calm.

Joe

[SaltyWon]

Nice!! sounds like you've got a plan, let make it happen!!
Look forward to see you out there.

Won

[tufnik]

Joe,

I bought blue from Grand Mart Centerville last week. They looked kind of dead, but the best ones I picked survived two days. Survival rate was not as high as lively ones.

I went to CBBT yesterday. Water was too rough so I went to HRBT instead. Forecast for Saturday is worst. If you go, the rips will be bad. To keep the rig down, I've used as much as seven ounces. More would have been better.

I have always bought blue crabs the day before fishing. So far, survival rate for the next day has been 90-100%. I don't use all the crabs so I keep them for dinner the following day after fishing. Survival rate is then about 50%.

I don't depend on getting bait at Norfolk - Virginia Beach. I prefer buying them locally, and I always seem to find crabs somewhere here:
Grand Mart Centerville
Grand Mart Merrifield
Lotte Chantilly
Lotte Fairfax
Super H Fairfax

Good luck on the togs!

[robchoi]

So did the shrimp work?

[ComeOnFish]

Rob,
Sorry for the late response.

I put the answer on the main forum. The thread is titled "Shrimp VS Blue Crab in Togging"

Joe