In less than two weeks the anticipated tog fall season opens again in New York. As an avid tog angler myself, I look forward to this time of the year, well, basically all year I look forward to it. From finding them, to the bite, to the hookset, to the fight… it’s purely addictive. I covered North and South Shore angling tactics in my most recent article in the October issue of The Long Island/ Metro edition of The Fisherman Magazine. The article covers my shorebound approaches for both shores of the island during the month. From rod to reel to jig to rig, I discuss it. If you have or haven’t tried it before, I cannot stress enough how much fun this species can be to target. Give them a shot this fall.
Anyway, the purpose of this log isn’t to discuss how much I love tog fishing. I’m going to go over some regulations. Nothing changed for the 2022 tog season so you don’t have to worry about that. The thing it would like to point out is the difference in opening dates for the season.
On the North Shore of the island the season opens on October 11th and runs through December 8th with a three-fish bag limit. Along the South Shore (NY Bight) the season opens four days later on the 15th and will run through December 22nd with a four-fish limit. The line between North and South is marked at Orient Point going east so technically all of Peconic Bay falls under NY Bight regulations (seasons and limits).
Not really a problem, but a matter of angler confusion here—why the four day gap between seasons on the North and South Shore? We’re not talking weeks or months apart from the season start dates but a mere four days. Really if they were to start on the same day of the season it would cause a lot less confusion from the everyday angler. Heck, the spring season starts and ends on the same day (April 1 – April 30 for both shores). It would be nice to see this minor change be made for the fall session of tog. I truly believe this is an unnecessary four day gap. And in all honesty I’d rather see the South Shore start earlier on the same time as the North Shore. Take from the back end of the season if need be. Many more boats are still on the water during the first half of October compared to mid-December. Just some food for thought here. It will even benefit the shops selling tog tackle. With an anticipated season, and a hot bite from the start, the extra days in the beginning of the fall make much more sense than the extension at the end for the South Shore.
Regardless, have fun when the season(s) do open. Be mindful of the current differences on both dates and bag limits when fishing for blackfish though.
