Although the fishable weather days have not been aligning with my charter customers for most of this month, I have still been working the North Fork Tog waters consistently whenever Mother Nature allows. This week I was able to get out both Tuesday and today as I am rapidly approaching the close of my 2019 season.
Tuesday, I ran a crew trip with buddies Paul and Pete working the 60-70’ drops off Fishers. We anchored on the spot where I literally slayed the fish on Veteran’s Day and once again enjoyed solid action for the entire 4 hours we stayed before the winds finally turned the area into a washing machine. Despite the non-stop bites and dozens of fish landed the keeper ratio was way off compared to most other trips this season. We culled our way through well over 50 Tog to only find 6 keepers to 5.5# along with a lone keeper Codfish. Judging by the way all the other boats in the immediate area kept spot hopping all day it seemed everyone was having the same problem.
So, today with a fresh NW breeze early on I took a solo shot across a bumpy LI sound to give my favorite shallow water CT drop one more try. Once anchored in this very protected area I dropped my first bait to the bottom and was immediately rewarded with a nice 17.5” keeper. Second crab bait goes down and it’s a carbon copy with another nice 3.5# fish going in the box. About 10 minutes later after sorting through a few shorts I get another keeper, but at 16.5” with a solid bite developing I let him go looking for something larger. As the tide began to slow a bit, I break out the spinning rod and send a jig down for a change of pace. Following a few more shorts I get a solid thump and after a very spirited battle a beautiful 7.5# Tog is flopping on the deck. Although he was not exceptionally long, that fish was one of the tallest and thickest Tog I have seen in a long time! Despite the dropping water temperatures there still seem to be plenty of Tog and some good -sized fish in depths less than 25’.
Since I was already into the C&R part of the day, I decided to make a move to the nearby 50’ reef while the tide conditions were still suitable for fishing out there. Once again, I was greeted with tons of steady action and spent the last 90 minutes of my day landing fish after fish at a frantic pace. The keeper ratio out here was as good as or even better than we have seen all season long. I wound up releasing another 6 keepers up to 6# in some gorgeous late November conditions as the wind had totally dropped out and the sun warmed my face!
At this point I will be happy if I can get one or 2 more days this month when the winds are not howling. One of the groups that got blown out last weekend can fish this Saturday and we are hoping to get a shot. Beyond that I still have some weekdays and Friday 11/29 and Sunday 12/1 as the last 2 weekend openings for Blackfish before it’s time to put the Captain’s Table up on blocks. Judging by what I saw today I feel confident that if we get the weather the fish will cooperate. Last chance to land some fresh Blackfish with me for 2019 so give me a call if you are interested.
Capt. Mike
516-317-5423 cell
[email]racerock166@aol.com[/email]
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