Now that the fall tog run is in full swing how many of you practice C&R with these fish? In recent years there have been a few conscientious fisherman who have started to release tautog, especially large specimens, say those over 8 pounds. These large tog are mostly over 20 years old, deserve to be protected and important to the fishery. To me they make a perfect candidate for catch, photograph and release. I generally will selectively take the more abundant 16-19 inch fish to fill my 3 fish limit in spring and the same size fish in the fall while voluntarily dropping my bag limit from 6 to 3. Three fish between 2-5 lbs is more than enough meat for my family. Many of us practice C&R with large bass – should we go conservative when it comes to large tog? Just something to ponder.

Length (inches ) age (years)

3.0 ---- 1
5.5 ---- 2
9.0 ---- 3
10.5 ---- 4
12.5 ---- 5
14.0 ----- 6
15.5 ----- 7
17.0 ------ 8
18.0 ------ 9
19.0 ------ 10
21.0------- 15
22.0------- 20

i watched victor release an 8+lbr. I released a 9+ lbr the other day. you can only eat so much tog.
I killed a 26" tog a few weeks ago... if I had seen this age to inch chart I probably would have thought twice about that... I never realized how slow they grow.

Interesting to think about, thanks for sharing DZ.

I tend to keep and eat fish that are around 16 to 20 inches. The fillet on these smaller fish looks better and tastes better than the larger ones.

I'm all for throwing the large ones over the side or passing on them when spearfishing.

But I think that most blackfishermen fishing the rock piles are keeping the the large fish.

Like stripers, I find I prefer the meat of the smaller fish.

Agreed:
Unless it beats my pb (14.5) or Tautog's PB (17.5).. it will likely go back.. already released a 10+ this season...

do they survive the anal blowout

I was fishing with my father, and i thought he was going to have a heart attack right on the spot when he watched me release a legal blackfish!

he flipped out! "what the heck are we doing out here then!!!" and on and on...

(He's from another era though... born in Europe during world war II... they were making cardboard soup at times to survive, no joke.)

We have some pretty interesting conversations about releasing fish.

Wish I'd seen this before yesterday, I only started to target tog the last couple of years, I honestly had no clue that the 24" fish I caught yesterday would be 20+ years old. Good to know moving forward, because I'm a firm believer in letting large breeder stripers go, no reason not to translate that policy to this species.

My big tog will feed a large yearly xmas gathering, but in hindsight a few good pictures would be more than I needed. When I was young and thought trophies on the wall were cool, I was always after that smallmouth bass to fill a void on my wall of shame and 6 lbs was my minimum. I can still remember the day a 6.5lber turned me into an acrobat chasing him from one side of a 16 foot aluminum V-hull to the other, each time I someone managed get to one side, I'd turn my head in disbelieve watching her clear the air and tailwalk on the other. When I finally managed to slip a net under her, I quickly weighed her and slipped her back into the water with a Bill Dance kiss on the lips and a hearty thank you. My brother-in-law looked at me like I'd lost my mind exclaiming "that was the trophy you've been looking for are you crazy". I looked at him with a big ass smile and said she earned that release.

Gladly I never filled that spot on the wall, sold all my mounts a few years later, but the mental images of each battle won last forever, even with the pictures fade away.

do they survive the anal blowout

I figure if I can survive it they can.:)

Yeah..these fish are wicked tough. A pressure induced hemorrhoid will heal as soon as he gets back to his depth.

I release most fish...take a couple home. just over legal. I love them served with fresh bay scallops and mussels in a stew.
If I ever got a giant...it would be for a pic and set free. It is the battle that is so cool with these little guys.

They take forever to get big.

I was fishing with my father, and i thought he was going to have a heart attack right on the spot when he watched me release a legal blackfish!

he flipped out! "what the heck are we doing out here then!!!" and on and on...

(He's from another era though... born in Europe during world war II... they were making cardboard soup at times to survive, no joke.)

We have some pretty interesting conversations about releasing fish.

My wife is the same way--she has Azores blood on both sides of her family. Meat is expensive at the grocery store. She can't fathom why I would come home without something for dinner. Maybe not a cooler full but a few fish at least for the family.

largest anus for the fish's size in the animal kingdom.

That might be my first-ever addition to Wikipedia.

I think the current regs do have it about right. I caught a bunch a couple
of weeks ago, all under 16" (two or three 15"s too), and all went back.
The limit of 3 over 16" is probably O.K. for now. However, I think they
may have to raise it some because now that the striper population is
declining again, more folks will start targeting togs.

Makes me a little nostalgic for the tog fishing of 20 years ago. Back
then, you could take all you wanted, and we usually took home (and
happily ate) everything over 2 lbs. Went back to my favorite spot
from then recently, and fortunately, it's still just as good (and as
unfished!) as it was back then.

do they survive the anal blowout

You did
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The limit is 3 and you want me to do what with the bigger ones.
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Tony you don't have to worry, I'll catch the bigger ones and let them go so you aren't troubled with that decision.

B, Try doin fish cakes with bigger fish and tell me if you note a difference.
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Great discussion here. I posed the question of anal blowouts to our former RI Principle Marine Biologist known locally as Dr Tautog. Here is his paraphrased response:

((I have long believed that tautog taken from deep water (?80+ft) have a difficult time making it back to the bottom in good shape. no hard evidence, and certainly have released many togs, that, in my mind were visibly stressed from coming up (especially) fast, both large and small, that seemingly take off to the bottom. Some of which however, only to resurface many yards away....and then suffer the wrath of hungry gulls. You will get tremendous argument from many tog men about what I believe can and does happen, so there you go, the quandary.
Considering the still questionable condition of our local stock (RI), if you are limiting out on the smaller legal size fish, don't continue looking for that trophy as that fish, especially if female, could contribute greatly the following spring during the spawn. Why place undo strain on an animal just for a trophy, especially if fishing deep water.))

I'm encouraged that many of you are already practicing C&R with larger tog. If this discussion gets some of you thinking about selective harvest... that is all I sought by starting it.
Thanks for the input.
DZ

I do find it somewhat ironic that there are a more than a few online champions of SB C&R who also post photos of coolers fully packed with tog/fluke/BSB. Just an observation...

coolers packed? It is not a very accurate observation IMO.

Spoken like a true commercial fisherman

Length (inches ) age (years)

3.0 ---- 1
5.5 ---- 2
9.0 ---- 3
10.5 ---- 4
12.5 ---- 5
14.0 ----- 6
15.5 ----- 7
17.0 ------ 8
18.0 ------ 9
19.0 ------ 10
21.0------- 15
22.0------- 20

Dennis, where did you get this data from? I as looking for a similar table last year when a guy tried to convince me that a 20-inch blackfish was 30 years old. I didn't believe him for a second but can not recall at this moment where I finally found my answer.

good info Dennis. I enjoy eating tog. Probably Bonito and Tog are my 2 favorite local fish to eat. i always kept the bigger, but after seeing this ill cut that size back. As for numbers we only take home if were going to eat it, and that limits at 2 fish per on my boat. 3 guys on the boat at a time. Ive never packed a cooler or box full of anything before. No way i could eat that much fish.

I see plenty of photos on facebook of way more than one person (or even a family) could eat. Not pointing any fingers though- what you do with your catch is up to you. I'd say it's a fairly forward-thinking community here at S-B (with the exception of WPM).

I just find it interesting that other species don't get the same treatment as the SB. :huh:

largest anus for the fish's size in the animal kingdom.

That might be my first-ever addition to Wikipedia.

If you had to s___ crab legs, you'd be pretty gaping as well...

Toby - here: http://njscuba.net/biology/sw_fish_tog_cunner.html

DZ

Thank you Dennis!