# My 1st Tautog



## rwh (Dec 10, 2012)

I decided to give tautog a try for the 1st time today. I fished from my kayak at the concrete ships from 7:00 am to 2:00 pm. I caught 3, but they were all 14 to 14-1/2". I went through three dozen frozen fiddler crabs before I really started to get the hang of their bites. They are pros at stealing frozen fiddlers! I had a great time going after them (though it was frustrating at times). I'll try for a keeper again soon for sure! There was another kayaker there that caught 2 keepers and had them on a stringer. I saw him and his friend paddling back to the ramp and about 30 minutes later, I decided to drop my last fiddler in the area they were fishing. I felt good weight on the end of the line and when I reeled it up, I had caught the guys stringer with 2 live 16-1/2" togs attached!! I threw them in the kayak and headed back to the ramp and noticed the guys were still at the ramp, so I returned his fish & nice stringer to him. He was pretty happy, because he had driven all the way from Richmond to catch those fish. It was a pretty cool trip for sure.


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## dena (Jun 20, 2010)

You did your good for the day...maybe for the whole week.
Way to go.
If I have any say, karma will pay you back 3 fold.


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## John Smith_inFL (Nov 22, 2009)

good job !! LOL once you get the hang of their eating habits, you can drastically cut
your crab loss to practically zero and your bite-to-catch ratio will go up tremendously !!!
But, that may take 2 or 3 years or so LOL LOL
Same with the Sheepshead - they have the same eating habits and mouth structure.
If you can find some frozen sand fleas, pick up a small bag to compare with the fiddlers.
good job !!! especially from your yak.

oh, and catching that stringer ?? WOW what luck !! and returning it, good karma right there.


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## rwh (Dec 10, 2012)

I'll try some of the frozen fleas next time as well. I know the live ones work great on the sheeps (from what I have read anyways) That's my next new species to try for. Next summer I'll freeze more fiddlers too. I vacuum packed and froze 100 of them a couple months ago specifically for my 1st attempt at togs and I only have 3 dozen left. Luckily a few bait shops in the area also sell them. I wasnt able to get live blue crab or I would have taken a few. The guy that had the couple keepers caught his on store bought head-on shrimp. His friend told me that when the water temps are really cold, below 50 degrees, they like softer bait like shrimp & clam. I guess I'm going to need a couple more kitchen passes to give them all a try.


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## whiteka6 (Oct 11, 2010)

Hey! I'm the guy who's tautog you found! I learned a big lesson about properly securing my stringer that day. I tried dragging my line across the bottom for about 15 minutes before accepting my loss. You caught us when we were both frustrated enough that we were just going to give up for the day and go home angry. I'm glad the ocean was extremely forgiving that day. Just before I caught my keepers, my friend hooked one but lost it when it dove into some structure too fast and broke his line. About twenty minutes later I hooked into a fish and when I pulled it out to take the hook out, I saw his leader and swivel hanging out of its mouth! It freaked out during the process though and flew over the side of my kayak, back into the ocean. I do believe that one was a keeper (measured right at 16") as well. It was a very interesting day of fishing.

I've been telling everyone that story since it's probably the most impossible fishing story I have. Thanks again! BTW I've found that particular spot you caught my friend's stringer at is very productive for keeper tog. That day shrimp worked well but we did have a small bucket of green crabs just in case.


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## rwh (Dec 10, 2012)

It was definitely a trip to remember! What crazy luck. It was good meeting you two and I appreciate the tips. I'm sure you will see me out there again in the near future.


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