It's best to go tog fishing with someone who's done it, as it is harder to explain on a board than show in person.
Tog inhabit rockpiles, wrecks, and mussel beds.
They dine on crustaceans, mollusks, and worms. Rarely, they will take chunk baits, but this the exception.
Bottom line - you need crabs. Green, whitechin, hermit, and blue crabs work well.
If you're fishing from a boat, a stout 7 foot conventional stick with BRAIDED line hooked up to a dropper loop rig (3/0 or 4/0 octopus hook in middle) tied to a suitable bank sinker (= just enough to hold bottom but no heavier) .
Use a piece of CUT live crab (a 1/4 piece). Pull off claws and legs with your fingers. Retract flap/tail of carapace (the "groin") and pull it off. Cut crab in half down middle (actually, easiest with a pair of shears) and then cut the half in halves.
As soon as you hit bottom with the crab, immediately tighten up any slack you might feel and wait for hits (which shouldn't take long).
Tog bites are very subtle - in my experience you have to hit them hard right after the first tap that you feel.
Tog will steal you blind and you'll lose rigs to the rocks. But they are very fun to catch and tasty fish (they eat crab and the flavor is very crabbish).
When you catch tog - don't skin them like you would a striper - cut a diagonal notch just behind the gills and use pliers to unglove the skin.
-WW
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