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MVP 2015 Fishing Reports

One of the great things about this site is getting real time honest fishing reports from sponsors as well as individual anglers. Many of members here use this info in planning trips as well as picking up tips that might help them become a better angler. Also whenever someone is in need you have a group of members that are willing to step up to the plate and help out in whatever way they can.

I have been crazy busy in 2014 and have not posted many reports so I have felt a little guilty that I have not been contributing and doing my part. Between work 60-80 hr weeks (Named Top Academic Advisor for the second straight year. It takes a lot effort to generate 3X the production of the average reps around the country ) and taking care of family, neighbors and whatever other cause gets my attention. That does not leave much time for anything else except for a couple hours of sleep and a few fishing trips a month. Focusing on the tip of my rod and deciding on when to swing is my sanctuary. We are all busy with our lives so that is no excuse not to give back to site who has been so generous to both me and others.
Going forward in 2015 I need to step up my game and pay it back forward and be more proactive in posting reports

I hope to share a few things that might help others improve their catch. I am no expert but one thing for sure is that I fish with some of the best fisherman, I am observant, a good listener and am willing to share info. I will start with a quick summary of 2014 Blackfish season (Oct - Dec) from RI, NY and NJ.

11 trips
86 Keepers (ORL)
7.8 Avg.

After almost 30 years of togging I am always trying to improve my craft. One thing I started doing this year to get more bites is dropping down in leader size when bite was slow. I picked this up while fishing with Tommy Joseph last year on open boat trip. We were having a slow day overall while Capt Tommy caught his limit in about 30 min of total fishing time while most of us struggled to catch 2-3 keepers fishing the entire trip. What I noticed was he was fishing 20 lb mono light leader. Depending on bottom you are fishing that may not be the best idea as you will loose a lot of rigs and will have a very difficult time landing big tog if that leader rubs up against any rough bottom. If you are trophy hunting leave it home. If you are looking to get more bites I have seen it make a difference. I have never fished 20 but have dropped down to 30 lb on occasion and dropped hook size to 2/0 and 3/0.

Another thing I think has helped with my numbers is fishing a longer leader especially when bite is scratchy. Fishing longer leader and softer rod I believe helps me put more fish in the boat when bite is light as fish does not get to feel weight of sinker or tension in line and does not back off the bait.

My most important bit of advice to increase your catch is to find out what boat Shrimpman Steve is fishing that day and make sure to either fish different boat or do not let him touch your rod at any point of the trip. Sorry could not resist. I did not take many pictures last year as best I could do is several 8 lb fish prior to 10 pounder at the PUOSU on the OE. Overall I would rate it as pretty good year.

With 2014 behind me it is all about targeting double digit tog in the early part of 2015. Was lucky enough to get invite from NY Tog Fanatics to join charter they had in MD on Jan 11-12th. Was fortunate enough to get to solid weather days in Jan and got both days in which is a win in itself.

Day 1
Crew consisted of Rocco, Bill (Reelcranky), Brad (Viking) and myself. I really enjoy getting to fish with NY guys as some of the best black fisherman reside in NY.
We were greeted with cold weather and needed to break ice in order to get out into the ocean. After a long steam capt spread his anchors and had us on the piece. Started to get some bites and started to put a few fish in the box. Not what we were looking for as Capt new we were not looking for numbers but were looking for some PB for our crew of seasoned toggers. We would get a few and then it would die out. That scenario repeated itself through out the day. We worked hard to put our 4 man limit together. I ended up with 4 keepers up to my 8 pounder. Not what we were hoping for but it was not for lack of effort as captain tried many drops and had us on great bottom all day. After reading report we had a decent day as boats from MD up to NJ had a tough bite that day.

Day 2
Capt decided to try a little deeper and try some new wrecks he has not fished yet. We were all like kids at Christmas and could not wait to get out and drop our crabs. Weather was warmer on day 2 and ice was not an issue heading out. First spot was slow as we only managed a few keepers. Capt made about a 12 minute run and got us on the wreck. What a difference a day makes. Fish were on the chew as the bite was more aggressive than previous day. We did most of our damage on this wreck. With a nice box of keepers we were thrilled with the quantity and quality of fish we had. Capt wanted to try one more wreck before calling it a day. Truly appreciate Capt's that do not fish by the clock and give you that extra effort. You can not guarantee catching but you can guarantee effort and working extra hard for your customers. Had decent bite again with a few more jumbos as well as a few more heart breaks on fish that were not ready to come up and made short work of 60-80 lb rigs. We ended the day with:

* Boat limit (24 Fish)
* 7 fish between 10 - 14 lbs
* Released over 15 keepers including 5 of the 7 double digit fish that were healthy enough to swim away including Bill's Monster male at 14 lbs.

Could not have asked for a better way to break in my 2015 blackfish season. I ended my trip with a 13 keepers (ORL) and 3 fish over 10 lbs with biggest just over 12 lbs. I was very happy to see the guys wanting to release the big fish. All us big tog hunters are looking for that 20 pounder and understand that the best way to ever get a shot of a fish that big is if we continue to release those big male/female tog so that they can continue to grow and put smiles on other blackfisherman who may be lucky enough to catch them.

For those of you who are new to fishing down south or are looking for to target trophy tog I would leave the 20-40 lb rigs at home as the wrecks there are not forgiving not to mention that 12- 20 lb tog will literally break your hearts. Most guys are fishing a minimum of 50 lbs with 60 to 80 lb rigs being the norm.

Wanted to thank Rocco for the invite and for the NY guys bringing in a NJ togger into their crew.