# REPORT:(Negotiate) 3/14/04 CLT area



## Zigh (May 2, 2002)

posted on 14-Mar-2004 8:37:15 PM
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Greetings fellow fish fiends!! Today I kicked off my '04 season by hunting Blackfish(Togs) with Capt. Den. It was 7:45am when our hull hit the water and we made for points east out of Rudee Inlet. Den found us a real nice piece of structure 1/4 mile W of the CLT, and after 1 attempt we were anchored up, bow into the 10-15kt. SSE wind. The task was made simple after we deployed a marker bouy on our chosen Tog hole. We fished with clam, blue crab, and squid. The clam proved to be the bait of choice all day. It took us a little time to decide how much weight and where on the boat the sweet spot was. Once we did, a consistent bite developed for us, producing 10 Blackfish up to 21"(5lbs.). We had 3 throwbacks and 7 total keepers; 1 at 14 1/2", 3 at 17", a 19", and a 20 1/2" to pair up with the 5lber. There was little, to no, current all day for us which allowed us to use 6ozs. of weight to probe the wreck. We lost 4 fish, 2 which felt larger than the 21" fish. Bummer we'll never know.... The line was broke clean each time. Den was also, 'Spiny Dogfish Boy', with his impressive catch of 2 Dogfish. They were not to be outdone by my 4lbs. Oyster Toad.... We saw plenty of folks working the area and saw 1 boat to our NE destroying them for 2 hours. The bite was definetly on today, and now that Den and I have the touch going and are armed with knowing what bait and where, we'll be back after some bigger fellas soon. BIG Thanx to Den for a great start to this season!! Say the 'word' and I'll be back at it........... Fish On 


Laughing so hard, the devil gets scared.... 

Zigh 
><((((*>


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## eaglesfanguy (May 1, 2003)

Oustanding info.Good on ya for gettin out and enjoying the beautiful day fishing..thanks


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

*Great report*

Sorry I missed out.


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## Zigh (May 2, 2002)

*Toggin' is awesome*

efg- It's always my pleasure sharing these journey's on the water.......And, it was a beautiful day out there..
Wish you could have made the trip Cdog.... I was pretty happy with our results, and we had several BIG fish on that broke 30lbs. rated Spiderline!!! OUCH!! That really makes it personal. The last fish I caught was the 20 1/2", and it had my hook and cut-off leader hanging from it's jaw... That was redeeming! They were all nestled in this 3'X3' area on the NE corner of the boat. We lucked out I guess. I'll let you know when the next oppurtunity comes along and you NEED to go; if you can... Anyway, I'm trying again Thursday if I can get out of work... I'm addicted!!

Zigh
><((((*>


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Zigh, what tackle were yall using? I have spent most(ok all) my money on surf fishing but I have some old boat rods laying around I could move a slosh to.


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## Zigh (May 2, 2002)

*Tackle and gear*

Cdog- We were using 6' penn boat rods with Shimano TLD reels. The reels were loaded with 30-40lbs. Spiderline. The rig itself was a 3-way, tied with 30lbs. leader material(mono/StrenHighImpact). The rig goes; mainline to top eye, 4-8" drop to 6 ozs. weight(variable)on bottom eye, 8-12" leader to hook(5/0 EagleClaw RazorSharp w/plain shank) baited with clam on side eye. All of this can be changed, it's just what was working yesterday. Things I would do next trip are: pre-tie 10 rigs, bring more clam, use heavier mainline, use heavier leader to hook, try mussels for bait. The reason to go with a line like Spiderwire(braided) is to gain the sensitivity needed to feel the fish actually pull the bait in because they are very clever eaters. They just inhale stuff instead of biting it. We could feel them doing it and then nail 'em and reel like mad..... It's a rush man! Fish On

Zigh
><((((*>


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## Anthony (Jul 3, 2002)

How bad were the snags out there? Usually when tog fishing you can get hung up a lot and lose a lot of tackle. I use 50lb leader with two dropper loops for the hooks and a surgeons loop at the end for the sinker. Takes less than a minute to tie when you lose your tackle and the bite is good. I don't mind using a lot of hardware if there aren't too many snags but when there are .


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