I was fishing out in front of Pt. Judith Light this weekend and caught a few fish that I have never seen before. About 5 inches long, about as big around as a broom handle, brown in color with a few red spots on them. They were pecking at my bait and I just happened to snag them. They had real small mouths but you could still see the set of teeth on them. Any ideas?

Thanks

Choggies?
also known as cunner?
They are a relative of Blackfish (Tautog)

Choggies, cunner, bergalls all names for the same fish. Out on Cox' ledge we catch them up to a couple of pounds, but inshore they are generally a lot smaller.

Mako... same thing inshore in the late fall.. the damn things look like blackfish... 2-3lbs!!

Thanks for the info. Are they good for anything, bait, food etc? The ones I caught were tiny, but i'd love to see the set of chompers on a 2-3 lber

Lou

i wonder if they any good as striper bait =] i see a lot of em wouldnt be too hard to catch a few and liveline if the bass will take em ;P

When a bluefish see's a live choggie bait... it says "mmmm..."
Seen days where thats all they would hit; chunks right next to em fished the same way.. live choggie everytime...
Small ones could probably catch fluke as well...

The big ones are often sold in fish markets as "ocean perch."
The small ones make a good bait for just about anything that eats other fish.

i was on a party boat trip for pollock a few weeks ago and we were snagging HUGE ones, like 2+ pounders. they have basically the same teeth as tog except much sharper.

did they have spiny backs? sounds like cunner

When I went fishing with an un-named source we jigged them up while jigging for pollack. Used as bait, just cut the spines off of the backs.

they any good for eatin?

ive never eaten them myself but i have heard they are very good eating. they are actually in a cook book that i have, i would think if ya got a few over a pound or so it would make for a good meal, im sure they taste like tog.

never had tog