First Tog trip of the season by Tim Naples

Posted on April 23, 2024 by bayside425

Ran out for the first trip of the year to go after some tog. Chilly start for sure, but everyone was excited to go fishing. The pilothouse paid dividends on the ride out. We stopped at Little Egg Reef first and managed a few keepers, lots of short fish. Tried several wrecks, but didn’t seem to find nice quality fish. We ended up taking a ride further out to a wreck to find some nicer fish there, with several JUST undersized. Oh well, back in they went. Managed a total of 8 keepers for the day.

Water temp started out at 47 degrees and was 49 by the time we headed in. We used a combination of tog jigs and rigs with a traditional weight on the bottom. Green crab was the primary bait with a small amount of clam used from time to time.
Using the clam did result in some nice sea bass caught, and it was a shame to throw them back!
Looking forward to the next trip.

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Fishing Facts

Of the fifty United States, thirty-eight have a striped-bass record. New Jersey has the largest striped-bass record—a 78-pound 8·ounce whopper that was caught in 1982. The state with the smallest striped-bass record is Iowa. That landlocked striper weighed only 9 pounds 4 ounces and was caught in 1983.

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