Tricking Trophy Tautog
- Nick Honachefsky
- Aug 11
- 6 min read
By Nick Honachefsky
The Ultimate Insider’s playbook to tackle world class whitechinners
Blackfishing is a game you just can’t bluff. You’re either horrible at it, fair, or possibly even “good”, with room only left for one half of one percent of tog anglers to be considered excellent. Battling one of the most cerebral fish in the ocean isn’t easy and consistently trophy-catching toggers tend to be silent assassins who speak lightly, keeping their secrets tight to the chest. There’s a noticeable difference of technique and tactics of hardcores who continually swing 10-pound plus trophy tog over the rails and bottom bouncers who dabble with the 3 to 6 pounders. Every pro has their edge they bring to the blackfish grounds to tempt the tog of a lifetime. Here’s an inside look at some of the best-kept blackfish secrets.
FIND YOUR QUARRY
From New York to Virginia, follow water temperatures that stick in the high 40’s to low 50 degrees to find blackfish, with a focus on the mid 20 mile range wrecks. “Winter to spring in the Mid-Atlantic is prime time to target the largest of tautog,” says Captain Ken Neill of the Healthy Grin. “Blackfish are homers, they tend to come back to the same wreck time and time again,” as Neill proved with an IGFA tagged 12-pound tautog he recaptured on the same Virginia wreck it was tagged on seven years prior. Crazy Alberto Knie, a tog aficionado with a 17 pounder to his credit adds, “Of course tog hang around sticky wreck structure, but look for wooden wrecks, off the grid spots, where I find the largest of all tog will gravitate to, and stay in water of 80 to 100 feet.” Knie adds,” Stay off the multitude of tog wrecks where you will limit out on smaller fish - go charge the wrecks that nobody hits. That’s where you find up to a half dozen or more trophy caliber whitechinners hanging together.” Knie’s 17-pound best tautog taken off an Atlantic City wreck actually lost the pool on the boat to a larger 20-pound fish and Neill’s 24.3-pound Virginia state record blackfish was caught after he waded through a few 10 to 15 pounders. “Big tog don’t want competition from the smaller tog,” added Knie. “The stickier the structure for them to hide in, the better. Don’t concentrate on smaller fish of low lying rocky structure like rockpiles and barges, go to the high profile wrecks to drop in.” Neill concurs, “Find the scattered debris fields and drop down within the holes, or where the wreck meets the seafloor, right on the edge. From the divers I have spoken with, the largest of tautog hide in the big holes on the wreck, inside the nooks and crannies of any big time structure.”
TEMPTING TOG
Tog are curious creatures by nature, and if there is a commotion down below, they will come to investigate, but may or may not buy what you are selling. Tempting one of the pickiest fish in the ocean requires some savvy. “Feeding bergalls and small tog will hype up the larger fish and get them to come inspect what’s going on, but many times, they wait and watch what’s going on. You don’t want to keep losing baits and swinging on smaller tog. So go big,” suggests Knie. Going big for Crazy Alberto means the use of large whitelegger crabs or even whole blue claw crabs. Also, timing is everything. “You want to fish when the tide is slack, without much current,” states Neill. “I also like fishing the early light up until about 10 AM.” Knie adds, “When the water slacks up a bit, its an up and down approach, though best with a tiny bit of current or if its dead slack, even a twang with your forefinger and thumb on the braided line will make the crab bait dance and tease the fish.” The hookset is also an artform. “You know when you’ve got a big tog on when it moves the weight, actually picks it up and moves along the bottom with it. Drop the rod tip down, give a belly to the line to make the crab look natural and let him feel the slack to enable him to inhale the bait and not feel any resistance to spit it out.” Regarding the battlegrounds, there will be a lot of casualties. “You’re going to lose lead and rigs, it’s a fact of targeting bulldog tog, so gear up accordingly,” as Alberto does with his breakaway rig that is inherently designed to snap off the sinker if it gets stuck in the structure when hooked to a big blackfish. “ Most of the large blackfish I’ve caught, I’ve had to break off the sinker as they get back into the wreck and I lose the sinker but come off with a tog to talk about at the dock.”
BEATING THE BEAST
There’s no room for pussyfooting around when dealing with behemoth blackfish. “When you connect, you have to reel fast and outmuscle that fish up 5 feet above the wreck, get him out of it, to even be in the game,” says Knie. “They will play dirty, they are in their kitchen and they know where the knives are to cut you off. Keep your drag set to 30 pounds, almost locked, to pull them out, and if you get them out of the 5 feet window, then they are yours.” It’s a genuine tug of war. Braided line offers the sensitivity of feeling the strike and boasts pulling power to get tog off the bottom, with a minute bit of stretch from a topshot of fluorocarbon leader to prevent a pulled hook. A 10-pound tautog is considered a trophy fish of lifetime, but when you breach the 12-pound plus mark, consider yourself among the elite. “You can fish for grouper, big snapper, whatever, but pound for pound, a 10-pound plus tautog puts them all to shame with the power he puts on you, and a 15 to 20-pound tog? Forget about it,” says Knie.
Anthony Monica continues to hold the world record of a 25-pound blackfish, caught out of Atlantic City New Jersey, but records are made to be broken. Implement these tactics the next time out chasing down bulldog tog and maybe you can lay claim to one of the most underground, respected titles of the fishing world.
SIDEBAR - CRABOLOGY
Crabs aren’t just crabs. The invasive Asian crab has become a favorite of tog food, and along with both fiddler crabs and green crabs are potent attractions, but “whitelegger” or Jonas crabs and blue claw crabs are food to fit the bill for the biggest blackfish. To truly enter an elite realm however, hermit crabs hands down take the cake. “If you wanna play dirty, use hermit crabs. Befriend a commercial potter or barter a few beers to get a bushel from him,” Knie suggests. Hermit crabs can be hooked through the tail, twisted around the body and out through the claw, so claw is exposed. Blue claw or Jonas crabs can be either fished whole on a two-hook “snafu” rig, or simply cut in half or in quarters and lanced on through the bottom knuckle and out through the apron. Use green crabs with orange eggs intact and if fished whole, crack the shells to let the juice spill out.
TACKLE BOX
Rods: Medium to fast action 7 foot rod Lamiglas TFX 7040CT, St. Croix TM66MHF, party boats an 8 foot rod to get out past the others
Reels:Shimano Torium 16 or 20, Abu Garcia 6000 hi-speed retrieve 6.2:1 reel or equivalent
Line: 50- to 80-pound braided line, Albright or Alberto knotted to an 8 to 10 foot topshot of 40-pound fluorocarbon leader
Lures and Baits: Hermit crabs, blue claw crabs, white legger (Jonas crabs) crabs, green crabs, fiddler crabs. Size 5/0 to 7/0 Owner Octopus hook.
PLANNER
What:Trophy tog of 10 to 25 pounds
When: December through March.
Where: Wrecks and deepwater reefs from New Jersey to Virginia are prime time turf to wallop a world class whitechinner.
Who:
Crazy Alberto Knie
Captain Al Crudele
Bayhound
609-602-2662
Captain Ken Neill
Healthy Grin
ILLO – Crazy Albertos Breakway tog rig
