Re: How old are big tog???
 

Thank you everyone for your responses.

Re: How old are big tog???
 

The only study done really wasnt very well .I think with the amount of big tog around, they grow faster than that study said.

due to tog being pretty territorial I would think that there would be little chance that a tog could get that big without being hooked in that area for 30-40 years as that study wanted us to believe.

some guys want to believe a ten pound tog is 15 years old. I just dont see that adding up

It would be nice if guys tagging like monty had better results with fish that have been recaught.

I saw an interveiw that he had over a thousand tag returns from over 10000 that were tagged

Re: How old are big tog???
 

I was on montys boat when the previous Maryland record was caught by Charlie at 23lbs, which a Maryland DNR marine biologist took a gill plate to age the fish and said 17-18 years old. I brought the head to a NY DEC marine biologist who check the age by removing the otolith to age it by counting the bone layers and agreed with the Maryland scientist of around 18 years old. The same woman aged a 22lb fish caught in NY and got an age around 19 years old on that one. So depending upon where it is caught I'd surmise most fish over 20 lbs are 16-20 years old.

The problem with releasing big tog is they will usually blow up their swim bladder or rectums and most likely won't survive a release. They might swim away but will either float eventually or die from parasites or predators from exposed intestines. As much as releasing these fish would be great, they've spawned many, many times, I think they've contributed plenty to the gene pool.

Re: How old are big tog???
 

Thank you very much for the information

Re: How old are big tog???
 

is it me or do all the good posts on njfishing these days turn into someone grovelling about the good old days being gone and how all the fish are going extinct .. this was an outstanding season for blackfish guys.. fish of all size classes, and plenty of large tog, all signs of a healthy population. lets remember this is njfishing.com not njwhining.com lol

Re: How old are big tog???
 

I agree, I went out 3 times and only skunked out once! :D

Re: How old are big tog???
 

HA! In the good old days you would have gone out Togging three times and limited out four times. That's how good it was. LOL

Re: How old are big tog???
 

glad you had a great year. lots of guys i talked to on the boats didn't do as well..Blackfish populations are down 40% from what they were.. There are dozens of population studies.. If you can't find them I would be happy to provide links... They are under high pressure compared to what they were under historically.... bob

Re: How old are big tog???
 

any size, any age, they are delicious

Re: How old are big tog???
 

There were no limits