The long standing world record blackfish of 25 pounds even was hauled up by Anthony Monica in 1998 out of Ocean City, New Jersey and had stood the test of time.
That was until just a few months ago in January 2015, when New York angler Kenneth Westerfeld, fishing out of Ocean City MD, trumped that world record with a 28.8-pound whitechinner.
It now appears that Monica’s state record is about to fall too!
A new pending New Jersey state record tog hit the scales today, as Frank LaMorte, fishing with Capt. Tom Daffin of the Fishin’ Fever IV out of Cape May hoisted a 25.37-pound blackfish onto the scale at Jim’s Bait and Tackle in Cape May.
This brawny bulldog would have beaten the historic previous world record, but more importantly, it proves that monster tautog are in the mix in New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland waters. Although tog of this caliber are not necessarily coming up a dime a dozen, enough 20-pound plus fish are hitting decks lately to prove that another new world record might be right around the corner.
At around 2 p.m. this afternoon, Capt. Daffin had 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 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 had on a behemoth.
“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,” Daffin told me, adding “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 tog. The fish taped out at 33 inches in length.
“I was walking around in circles in a daze after we netted it,” said Daffin. “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.”
We will see. And we’ll see if that record returns to New Jersey!
(EDITOR’S NOTE: On Wednesday, May 6, 2015, the state of New Jersey confirmed LaMorte’s catch as an official New Jersey state record tautog. Click here to learn more from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife.)