Following last week’s Noreaster I started the Tog season on Sunday with a little prospecting in preparation for the Columbus Day Charter.

My first drop in the shallow water north side of Plum I. was greeted with instant action. The pattern was similar to what we have seen for several years now. Many shorts were landed but with some time I eventually culled 2 nice keepers from the mix, the largest just shy of 5#. Next I ran across the Sound to a favorite shallow water drop on the CT side. Despite putting the boat “dead nuts” on my spot the first hour yielded only lots of swings and misses and lost crabs. I was starting to think this was no more than bergal action. Dropped back on the anchor once and still the same results for another 20 minutes. Stopped for a quick lunch break and figured this spot has been too good to me for over a decade so I was going to give myself one last drop on the anchor rode. Sure enough, either the drop back or the later stage of the ebb tide did the trick as I was into non-stop Tog action again for the last hour of my trip. Easily limited with another 4# fish then played C&R with a mix of shorts and small keepers. No real brutes today but a good start nevertheless.

Ran a 2-man charter for Monday and the Paul crew wanted to try their hands at some Striped Bass fishing on the full moon before switching over to Tog. The action on the Flood in the Gut was very consistent with one or two fish on every drift for 2 hours straight. Only problem was 99% of the Bass were shorts. Finally, Paul comes up with a 29” fish so at least the guys went home with some Bass for dinner.

Next stop was north of Plum again, but this time I tried a slightly deeper drop. Action was once again torrid with many shorts and a handful of keepers to 17”. However, a nice bonus on this trip were the 7 Sea Bass to 3# that found our crab baits interesting. By the time the ebb tide was screaming and 140z. of lead barely held bottom the guys were happy to head in with a nice mixed bag of filets and a trip that featured action all day.

Let’s all prat for light winds and a decent Tog season is sure to follow.
Capt. Mike

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