C&R for trophy tog?

[DZ]

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