Fish Friendly Rig is the best Tautog Rig???

[ComeOnFish]

I finally figured out how to eliminate the dangling sinker and jig in the mouths of a big tautog that broke the line. I felt bad whenever a big tautog broke the line.
The new rig is a simple way to utilizing a bank sinker and a hook. It is better than jigs and better than the fish finder rig in every aspect in fishing.

I made two videos, one for rigging and the other for test result. Please watch both videos,

Here is the first part, rigging - I included my rigs in addition. My rigging methods aren't conventional in a way. I developed them for tautog fishing in deep cracks in deep water.

Thanks
Joe

[ComeOnFish]

Here is the second part, test report and fishing report together.

I caught about 20 tautog @15 - 22 ". I got limited out at 09:20 AM.

I will test more to find out if the colors of sinkers make differences. I thought all 5 colors performed about the same. But, big tautog bit the orange and red sinkers.
I am very curious about the big tautog and the orange/red sinkers.

Thanks
Joe

[Hobiewanknowb]

Wow Joe nice haul! What type of cold weather gear do you use?

[ComeOnFish]

3mm neoprene jacket and waist-high wader are the basic gear for me. I have a dry top. But I don't wear it. Too hot. I got dunked in 46 F water in Chesapeake Bay, in 34 F water in Lake Anna. It is not bad for 10 min.

I can re-enter within a minute. Though, I took time to see how long I could be in the water.. Without a wind breaker, I would be very cold during coming back to the shore.
Warm up in the truck for 30 min, then wear a new set of wader and cloths and resume fishing. I drive long distance to fish. So, I carry a complete set of extra cloths and wader to fish again.

Wind breaker is the must once dunked.

Besides clothing,

I always tether myself to kayak. It is mandatory at CBBT because of the strong current and the wind. Couple of times I would be in danger if i hadn't tethered myself to the kayak. Current and I move to one direction, and the kayak was moving to opposite direction - pushed by the wind. I was so glad that I was tethered.

Also, my kayak is filled with pool noodles so that I can use the kayak as big float. hopefully the cost guard can find my kayak. I don't think they can see me easily in the water when I am separated from the kayak. At CBBT in December, my friend almost got killed because his Hobie sank. There were none fishing around him.
A lone boater spot him while he was drifted toward ocean. Lesson I learned is that keep the marine radio fully charged and keep it with me, not in the tackle bag or in the hull.

I fish alone often. I know it is a bad idea in winter.

Thanks for reminding me of the safety. I will practice reentry before it gets too cold.

Joe

[Slobber Bob]

It seems like you have a solution to your problem. It's like a cannonball rig for surf fishing, except for tog. Good thinking!

Out of curiosity though, do you have a lot of tog break you off? I assume since your fishing vertical structure that they're cutting you off on the pilings?

I tend to fish jetties or underwater rocks for tog mostly and I don't find I have an issue with fish breaking me off. In the past, when I used to fish standard dropper loop and sinker rigs, I would occasionally have issues with sinkers snagging up while I was hooked up with a tog. But I found that if I used 10 lb test to attach my sinker to my 30 - 50 lb dropper loop rig I was able to free the fish by simply breaking off the stuck sinker. I've switched to jigs over the last couple years and haven't had issues with break offs on fish hardly at all. Maybe it's just the difference between you fishing vertical structure for them and me fishing more horizontal structure?

The only time I have to be careful of break offs is when I'm fishing a jetty and I'm throwing up into the shallow rocks from a distance away. I do risk break offs then if a fish runs my leader across the top of a rock when I'm trying to pull it back out to deeper water.

Lastly, how often to do you re-tie new leaders when you're out on the water? Sometimes I have to re-tie leaders frequently to keep them fresh depending on the structure I'm fishing.

[ComeOnFish]

Bob,
I was wondering how you've been. Glad that you've fishing.
I fished the OC inlet, IRI, and CHSP. I never post anything about OCI and IRI because these two places are very small for large number of anglers.
I don't loose any rigs in OCI and IRI from the kayak. Tautog are small there.

In CHSP, I loose a lot when fishing above the big rocks. Rocks are big like 3'x4'x5'. I put the rig between the rocks. Any togs over 15" can quickly run into a narrow cracks,and won't come out. In this case, types of rig don't matter. I lost 4-20 rigs depending on the number of togs. However the water is shallow, So, as long as I lift the tog immediately by 1.5', I managed to land the tog.

In CHSP, I don't loose a lot when fishing beds of small rocks. I felt togs are spawning this area. So around the spawning season, these areas are good.

In general, the fish-finder rig is the worst in snagging the unwanted stuff. Both hook and sinker get caught. Using 10# sinker is a big improvement, now I learned. I never thought about that.

In CHSP, in December, the inner wall was tough for tog fishing. No biting, So, I fished the outer wall, In December, at Outer wall. Togs were in deeper water, 50'-90'. depending on the current and wave, 3 oz jigs won't work go down fast enough to hit the target spots. Fish-finder rig works because I can change the sinker.

At CBBT,
All above bottoms exist. In 10' - 50'+ of water
I
lost one day, nine 2 -3 oz jigs, while my friend lost six 1.5 oz in 15' of water. cracks were deep and the opening were narrow. Close to the spring season end (spawning protection) in 12-20' water, on rock beds (with small rocs), we caught a lot without loosing rigs, regardless the types of rig. These areas are fish-able only when the current is mild and in low waves.

Pylon fishing at CBBT:
Pylon fishing is do-able always by using the backdraft at the pylon. That is why kayakers fish pylons. I love the pylon fishing because I becomes a sniper. When I locate the cracks right at the bottom of the pylon, or large structures (I refer as cracks also) 2'- 6' away from the pylon, I must put my rig in the cracks or right at the bottom of pylon and maintain the rig position. currently no jigs are heavy enough with the proper hook size (3/0 - 5/0). To fish around two slack tides, I need one big hammer. No reasons to carry small hammer(s) and a big hammer.

The difference between who catch consistently and who catch randomly is the one who catch is a sniper.

Jig is good for sheepshead. Because sheepshead are between the bottom and 10' down at the pylons. 25-30# test braided main line and jig (1.5-3 oz) will do good as long as the current is mild.

This new rig may replace the jig. I will try to test a 3 oz sinker for the test at the pylons even though though it is too light once the current picks up.
I also will test the orange and red sinker. I am using sinkers as the lead (weight) on the jigs

Excuse my typos. my wife is calling me

[ComeOnFish]

Back from a post office....
I didn't answer for something.

Replacing the leader - Excellent point.
I was a bit mad because I had a damaged leader that time. Being so excited when the fish bit, I ignored the rule. Not replacing the rig was the cause of the big tog broke the leader on the 2nd video. The big tog was completely out of the crack that time. I ignored/forgot to replace the leader FREQUENTLY. I already had about 6-7 togs landed that time.

On the next report, you will see I replace the leader or I cut off 5' of the main line.

Happy and more fishing!, Merry Christmas and happy new year!

Joe

[Slobber Bob]

Thanks for the thoughtful and informative response, Joe! I figured that was the case. You're right in that we don't get the bigger tog inshore up in OC. I'm happy to get an 18" most of the time.

I like to tie extra long leaders for tog (5ft or so) for just that reason, so I can cut off a couple inches of the roughed up part and retie the hook. When they're biting good its too easy to ignore a bad leader because you want to drop down again with the action being so fast. With the longer leader it's quicker to cut off bad areas and retie a hook than it is for me to replace the whole leader to mainline.

I look forward to reading more about your rig as you test it out, but clearly your starting to dial it in already. Best of luck!

[Pamlico]

It seems like you have a solution to your problem. It's like a cannonball rig for surf fishing, except for tog. Good thinking!

aka a Knocker Rig. Think a Carolina Rig, but with the sinker butting right up against the hook instead of blocking it with a swivel, and separated by a few feet of leader. They are great at fishing snaggy areas. As Joe shows in his video above, when you're snagged you can give it a few twitches and usually get it loose. The modification of those leaders is a handy idea, since you can have a bunch tied up in advance. The only disadvantage in dropping the swivel is I would think line twist would cause problems, especially in strong current.

Joe, I was going to ask why you don't use an egg sinker like a traditional knocker, but I can see the loop snagging in an egg. And with the lower center of gravity on a bank sinker you can let out some line to drop weight below the hook to jiggle it loose. Good idea.