Sunday Tog..

[bulletbob]

Left Candor at 2:20 am, arrived at 6:45.. Fished a NS from Highlands.. Known about the boat and captain for years, first time out with him..
We went out I think to the Scotland Grounds area, and i was stunned by the hundreds and hundreds of boats, already there when we arrived.. Those poor fish are getting pounded, we were only yards apart and this went on for miles.. Never seen anything like it this time of year
.....
Fishing was quite slow really.. Slow pick at best.. I did better than most, with 3 keepers, and about 7 shorts for the day.. Guy right next to me did about the same,, We were tight up in the port bow first drop, and that was the "hot" spot... After that we caught very little, just a few shorts.. The stern was dead pretty much, just a few keeps, sides were dead too, a few keepers and shorts..

I and the guy next to me shared the pool, getting carbon copy 4 pounders.. Many good fisherman caught no keepers, a few had one or two.. Not great fishing.. Guy next to me had whites and never had a touch on them.. Greens worked best it seemed ...
We were in the midst of a dozen other head boats, a few of which said the had good fishing today , others said they had poor fishing, so perhaps we just didn't set up on the right rock piles.. I dunno...
It was great to be the " hot hand" for a change, get some keepers and win a pool, even though it was shared.. My tog trips for the past few years have been truly awful.. I typically pick slow days, and then get on the boat late, and always seem to pick the dead part of the boat to fish from!

I can't complain... 3 nice keepers isn't great, but it was better than a lot of good anglers could muster this day.. I had forgotten how well blackfish fight as its been several years since I have gotten down there this late in the year and targeted them.....
Good captain, tons of experience.. Just wasn't our day overall.. The life wasn't there, or they were not chewing.. Even the bergalls were slow believe it or not.. You would go 20 minutes at a time with not hits at all.. Current was running pretty hard in a few spots, but certainly was manageable...
I hope to get out for ling and cod once this winter.. We'll see what happens.... bob

[tropics]

Nice job Bob guess that made the ride a little better, getting some keepers and the pool.

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by tropics

Nice job Bob guess that made the ride a little better, getting some keepers and the pool.

Hi Ritchie...
Yeah,, It was nice to get a few for a change. I used to catch tons of Tog without too much effort when I lived in NJ.. My main head boat was the old 40 foot Skipper [Capt Dom Vitolo]...
We used to catch piles of them most trips, and only the Skipper, Big Mohawk, and maybe a few private boats would be off the Red Church after tog, even on beautiful calm days in the fall,, Things have changed a LOT since those days,,

Since I moved to NY state in 91, any tog trip i made was horrible.. I mean maybe one or two shorts, and that was it for me while other guys aboard did fine.. I thought I had lost the elusive "tog mojo".. Now I realize it was all in my head.
When I was "on the fish" I caught them... When I wasn't , I didn't catch.. Pretty simple, but after a bunch of tough trips, one's confidence can go into the crapper.. My son usually fishes on head boats with me, but won't make the drive if its for blackfish.. He only fishes head boats for Ling and Sea bass as they are easier to hook..
btw,, We talked a few months ago on the Dorothy B.. My brother lives around the block from you in Lyndhurst... ... bob