Late CH toggin report

[capt. jakeg]

Ive fished some of the wrecks around the cape henry area two times in the past week. The first time was friday. I fished from 1030 to 1230 by myself. I brought 41 fiddlers and a dozen clams with me and caught 29 fish (do the math and its a fish almost every four minutes) It was a really hot bite on the fiddlers and I wasn't even waiting for a bite. I would put the bait down, count to 5, lift the tip, crank, and there would be a fish on every time. It was a bit bumpy and started raining shortly after I ran out of fiddlers. I dropped down the clam a couple times and the bite was much slower, so I decided to bag it. I kept 6 fish that day, the largest was a big male at 23.5 inches, and threw back many more keeper size fish. Went back to the same area on monday, armed with the same clams and a dozen blue crabs. Fished for an hour and a half with Keefer catching ten keeping just two (I caught nine, keefer got one- I took his title as tog master away), but one that I kept was a fat 25'' 12#2oz female. The bite was much slower with the blue crabs and fiddlers definitely seem to be the ticket right now, if you can get them. I'm not gonna tell exactly what wreck I was on, but if you've ever fished with me for tog, you probably know which one it was. Also a tip, I was using tiny treble hooks which work especially well for toggin. When using the trebles with fiddlers, lift the flap up on their bottom and bury two of the tines into the crab so the shaft of the treble hook runs across the crab's belly in the indented part. When you flip the flap down again there will be another tine just underneath the flap . When using trebles with blue crabs, put the treble on a dropper, so the hook is removable. Thread the dropper loop through the knuckle then attach the hook. Using the small treble dramatically increases hookup ratio and hook pull ratio is dramatically reduced. Also with blue crabs, they often dont get the bait and I used one piece of bait to catch three fish the other day. Sure its a pain in the butt, and a little slower, but it helps catch fish.

[Miles Offshore]

thanx for the report- 12+ is a nice fish- nice tip on the trebles also- ill have to give it a try!!!!

[usual suspects]

Very nice work,they'll be patrolling CH for sure[wink]

[Tom Kidwell]

Thanks for the report AND the tips!

[Zigh]

Jake~ Sage advice and an awesome fish there with that BIGGUN!!!! Thanks for the report and the information... I can't wait to get out and get on some Blackfish as my last outing for them wasn't all that productive(clam and 2.3kt current).... Fish On

[di hrd]

Nice work Jake. Those sound like the one I am looking for. All I need is a 23.

[capt. jakeg]

Steve, get away from the bridge tunnel. There's quite a few big ones out toward the cape and tower. I know another guy that has been fishing the area that I have been fishing and more towards the tower almost daily and is yet to have a trip without a weight citation. Sea bass arent going to be in for a little while, and the tog are there and biting. Once the sea bass get in, its gonna make it hard to catch tog around there because you'll be fighting off sea bass. Also I hear the new subway cars are holding some bigguns. I havent tried it, but I'm sure the tiger should have some good ones too. Bring a ton of fiddlers too. They go real quick.

[di hrd]

Thanks Jake. I had intentions on that paln but the weather the last few times wouldn't work.

[capt. jakeg]

Yes I know the weather has been horrible. Ive only spent two days offshore this spring thus far. The charter guys are about to starve.

[plumbbob]

Jake, good to see you back on this board![smile] Great report and Congrats on the paper.
We need to get out there soon, it's been waaaaaay too long! Maybe I could bring Jr. to give us a few lessons on fishing and women![wink][grin][grin][grin]-Tim