[hartattack]

Continued . . .

4. BAIT
Bait choice is something that requires a little experimentation. Tog are very picky when they come out of there fall hibernation. This is the time of year we usually will start with softer bait and not a Crustaceans. Clams are the bait of choice. Sometimes you can start with a clam and move them over to a Crustaceans. This is something that is totally trial and error but I will always carry both baits in the spring for you never know what they will be feeding on at the time. Another bait that works well all year long is the Hermit crab. Hermits are softer bait and usually can be used the same time of the season as the clam. Hermits are popular bait on the North shore due to the fact it is more native to that area. The single most important bait is the Calico crab. Calicos are one of the native baits found on many of the structures the Tog live by. One other key point that I will mention here Tog has a keen smell. You must remember when you put bait down in deeper water the Tog relies only smell greater then any other sense to catch his prays. For some reason the Calico crab is the Caviar of bait choices. Now this is my own personal observation and other baits at times will work just as well but thru trial and error we see the Calico and rock Aka White leggers, land more and bigger fish.

Here are my observations.
1) Soft bait in the early spring (fresh clams, steamers and sea worms, Hermit)
2) Fiddlers are excellent in shallow waters?
3) Asian crabs and calico crabs are deadly around deep jetties and wrecks?
4) Whenever there is a heavy bergal (pest) population?. A strip of conch will usually do the trick.
5) White crabs are the preferred bait by most sharpies (including myself) ? but when the bite is tough? Without any reservations ? I will go to a HERMIT!
6) Green crabs are the standards and at times ? will outperform whites!?
7) When green crabs and whites are tough to find, blue claws are good substitute!
When the bite is ?picky? You really can?t go wrong with white or Hermit

So you want to know about the difference between a stone and white crab? First, we divide the crabs into two types, the swimmers which have paddles, and the crawlers. The calico and blue claw are the swimmers, while the green, white, stone, and hermit, the crawlers. Swimmer crabs, have to be handled very carefully when you catch them since they are more delicate to keep alive for future use. They are noticeably more aggressive when you trap them and have to be prepared for safekeeping. The crawlers on the other hand, can be stored relatively easily and can be kept in a nylon bag for months at a time as long as you feed them. We catch the crabs by using fish baskets. They can be purchased from mail order houses like Memphis net. You set them up with fishing twine.
Now go into shoal waters around jetties or along beaches in depths from 7-15 foot of water. People use bunker to catch crabs, but any dead oily fish will work. But this is something you have to figure out on your own! Drop a few over the side, let them soak, and after a few minutes start hauling them in, one basket at a time, pull them up slow and steady. Now this is where you need to make the distinction between the swimmers and crawling type crabs. When you catch swimming crabs, you should declaw them right away, so that do not kill each other when kept together in a bucket or fish basket. It also makes it much safer when you reach in later on to grab a crab to fish with! Crawlers are just tossed into the basket, and kept separate. Along our shores in the NY Bight, we catch stones, whites, and calicos with a handful of greens. Up off the north shore and out east, you will catch much more green crabs. Hermits are always an occasional catch depending on the area where you put your basket down. To store your crabs, the swimmers, we prefer wooden fish/lobster boxes that remain half in half out of the water. This is the only way to keep the swimming crabs alive for a couple of days. You must check your crab basket at least every other day. Usually the dead and rotten crabs will be floating on top...toss them out. Crawlers are kept in nylon bags, and can be tied to the dock hidden under the water.

Never sink the bags into the mud though! If you want to keep crawling crabs alive for a few months, just toss a small fish rack or fish discards into the bag, or the crabs will start eating each other. Fiddlers are kept in a nylon bag that is kept half in half out of the water. Fresh dead swimming crabs are kept on ice for a day, then discarded. Hermits are kept in a cooler on top of ice, again, separated by cardboard or newspaper from the fresh water.

Now the difference between a stone and white crab has been debated by many of the fishermen who catch them. We differentiate the stone from the white crab by its size, even though they may be the same crab. A small white crab is called a stone, and when they get big, because of their white belly, called a white crab. Maybe they are different crabs, and we do not know about it, but if you use the above terminology, at least we have an idea of what you are talking about!

One thing about catching crabs...of course you toss back all egg bearing female crabs of any species. Second, I believe you need a license from the DEC if you want to keep more then 50. Be careful, even though calicos and whites are not the most popular table fare when compared to our local favorite the blue claw, you can be summonsed for having shrimp baskets full of these critters even though you intend to use them for bait.

Finally on the conch for blackfish bait. We have found it to be a fair bait during cold water fishing. I must say I have seen it catch some nice fish in January and February, when you had a shot of possible catching a cod. If it was used in the late fall and winter fishing, its primarily purpose was when you had ferocious perch life on a piece just tearing up your crabs, when you have a picky blackfish bite. It was not a bait that would slay the fish, so we never made any attempts to bring it along. If you are fishing deep water and having trouble feeling bites or have a very picky bite, then the conch makes sense to use as a bait, since at least
You have something left on the hook when you miss a few bites. Some party boats would bring it along, to preserve the amount of crabs they had aboard, especially during the winter when green crabs are tough to come by since it is a much easier bait to fish with for novice black fishermen. Unless you know of a dragger man who can get you some, I would not kill myself for use as blackfish bait

BAIT STRATIGY
There is with out a doubt a difference in the way each color of bait works. But it all depends on the area you are fishing. I have had days where the red is better then the light green. It's is all a matter of trying till you actually notice a difference between the two. There are some days when it won't matter at all about the bait color they may be just biting well that day. But the trick here is to learn what and when they want it! Experiment, which is my secret weapon, is the key. I usually try my last successful routine before I jump to something else. When the fish are not biting well we will try everything as far as color baits. Rig?s till we find out what get s them going. You cannot go out fishing and expect everything to be the same all the time .That is why it is fishing? You must learn to adapt to every situation no matter what kind of fishing you do!

The fish coming out of hibernation and the salinity as well as the depth change put the fish in a sluggish stage. They are not hungry or as aggressive. Once they see an easy to eat bait you actually can entice them to eat. Once there is a feeding the fish will turn on. You just have to try all baits before you give up. I personally have found that the mild winters make my bait of choice still crabs. I have not had to use skimmers in 3 years. Most will start with skimmers but I find sticking with the hard bait with warmer winters works well and gets bigger fish!