Tips from the top of the Jersey tautog game.
Want to know how the New Jersey state record blackfish was taken? Here’s a little story for you. At around 2 p.m. on April 17, 2015 Capt. Tom Daffin of the Fishin’ Fever IV out of Cape May had Frank LaMorte and his charter over a shipwreck in 130 feet of water off South Jersey, bouncing around white-legger crabs hooked on 5/0 Octopus hooks. While the charter had already put together an incredible catch of 10 monster tog—seven of which were in the 11.5- to 16-pound range—Daffin noted that LaMorte’s bent rod showed a behemoth below.
“He (LaMorte) was trying to get this fish off the bottom with 65-pound braided line, and after three sustained runs back to the bottom, he was able to turn him skyward,” said Daffin. “I don’t think he knew what he had on, but I knew it was something big time.”
When the fish finally surfaced, they all knew it was a legendary type tautog. “I was walking around in circles in a daze after we netted it,” added Daffin.
LaMorte’s knuckle-busting New Jersey state record tog pegged the scale at Jim’s Bait and Tackle at 25.37 pounds. “There’s no two ways about it, we’ve got the New Jersey record, and I know the world record is going to be broken again soon.”
Rods & Reels
If you’ve ever pulled on a 5-pound tog, you’ve got an idea of how hard the species can fight. Hoist an 8-pounder over the rail and you enter a whole new level of brawn. Over 10 pounds? Forget it. Titanic tog on a different echelon require beefed up tactics, techniques and gear.
A 7- to 8-foot rod with medium to heavy action and a moderate flex is preferred, enough to have a solid backbone with some give to the tip so as not to be too fast where a dog down flash run from a tog would break the line with sheer power. There needs to be a little bit of give in the blank, but not too much, to allow for the muscle-headed dive from a tog. Kevin Bogan makes excellent blackfish rods, but solid market rods can be purchased from Lamiglas, St. Croix and Shimano as well.
A high speed 6:1 reel with stopping power and solid lock down drag is required to not only stop a fish, but continue to put pressure on it without giving an inch for him to hang itself on the wreck digging you in and cutting your line. I use a Shimano Torium 20 reel, but Avet MXL will also fit the bill. Spool up with 50-, 65- or even 80-pound braided line, and add on a 6- to 10-foot top shot of 50- to 60-pound monofilament leader to allow for some stretch as well when the tog dives deep.
Bait & Tackle
Ask any toghead about best baits for trophy tautog and you’ll invariably hear the word “white-legger” come out of their mouth. White-legger crabs—also known as Jonah crabs—can span from 3 to 6 inches in diameter and are the natural forage along the shipwrecks that lay deep on the sea floor. With an orangy-white hue and thick claws, they make quite the meal for a bulldog tog. Other togaholics might also procure blue claw crabs.
When I first used whole white-leggers, I couldn’t believe that a blackfish would inhale an entire 5-inch wide crab, but it was proven true. On one trip with Al Crudele and Sean Reilly, we dropped whole white-leggers down and pulled up three consecutive tog of 12.6, 13.4 and 13.8 pounds. The key was in the rig. Reilly utilized a snafu type rig with two snelled droppers, each with a 6/0 octopus hook, where both hooks go into the crab’s swimmer area. I opted for a simple one hook dropper with a 5/0 Gamakatsu octopus hook tied with 60-pound mono leader.
Now, to truly enter an elite realm however, hermit crabs are king. “If you wanna play dirty, use hermit crabs,” suggested blackfish expert, Crazy Alberto Knie. Hermit crabs can be hooked through the tail, twisted around the body and out through the claw, so claw is exposed.
Nuts & Bolts
A knockout punch or a slack line, those are the two ways monster blackfish hit. The most obvious sign of a whitechinner is a super-heavy thump followed by what seems like you’re stuck in the wreck. Strangely, the other way to detect a huge tog is when you feel the sinker come up off the bottom and the line go slack. “You can feel the sinker actually coming off the bottom and the tog taking it away, the rod bouncing weirdly up and down, waving like 2 to 3 inches,” said Daffin.
(on right).
And when you know you are buckled into a trophy, you need to get him immediately out of the area, pulling him away from any structure he can dog down in and bust you off. “On low profile wrecks and debris fields 1 to 3 feet high, you can go with a 1/3 drag and let him take some line on the pull as he will not be able to sneak into a cranny and cut you off,” Daffin said, adding “On high profile wrecks with a lot of splayed out jagged debris that extends up into the water column 5 to 30 feet, lock down the drag with pliers and winch ‘em up before they can wrap the line and cut you off.”
This January, set your sights down deep for behemoth blackfish. You’ve got a real shot at breaking the 10-pound mark this month. Prepare wisely, mentally and with gear, and there’s a chance you may find that legendary bucktoothed brawler on the end of your line.
| CONSERVATION TIP: RELEASE THE BEASTS |
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Tautog are one of the slowest growing fish in the ocean. A 20-pound fish could be well over 40 years old, and any fish over 10 pounds is generally thought to be in the 15- to 30-year-old range. In general, keep a camera and scale handy, get the picture and weight and release the big beasts. – N.H. |
