Some Impressive Tog Today

[Reelron]

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

Thanks Ron - I guess I picked the wrong day to stay home and do some chores. I guess Joe will be needing some new stickers

Yea, he called this morning! Those pictured are not his but I have been having problems uploading pictures lately. I think ever since I took that selfie?

Joe is not only one of my best customers, he is also my best salesman!

[Chrisper4694]

Sick monster fish, wow....look at the head on that 22.5 pounder!

[joetheplumber]

Great job Joe!!!!!

[Gerry Zagorski]

Dustin's 22.5 # back story, courtesy of Reel Ron's "Center for Addictive Tog Behavior" Facebook group page...


Here's my Story:
I knew it was going to be a good day of fishing because there was a nasty front coming in the next day. The day before we had a really slow day, but the day before that we had a great catch of nice fish, four fish in the double digits all were released unharmed. This particular morning the seas were calm and the winds were fair. The funny thing was, me and the Capt. discussed where we should fish before we left the dock. The charter overheard our conversation and second guessed the Captain's ability of where to go. We like to discuss the tides, wind, and all other factors. So off we went to the Tog grounds, finally arriving where we wanted to fish, double anchored and got set up. The charter started out old school, hooks and 6 oz. sinkers. After a while there were no bites, so I decided to grab my St. Croix Mojo spinning rod, 7 foot medium power fast action 6 to 12 lb test 3/16 - 5/8 oz. Equipped with a Shimano Symetre 3000FL loaded with, I believe, to be either 15 to 20 lb test braid with an FG knot tied to 30 lb top shot fluorocarbon leader with a 1oz jig tipped with a white legger crab. I stepped on the crab to tenderize it a little, a few tricks I learned from some sharpies. The jig hit the bottom and within a couple seconds I felt like the jig got a bump or fell off the rock so I pulled up on the rod and it felt stuck. But then realized it was a fish and doubled over, it was game on. The fish took me from the back of the boat to mid ship, barely gaining any line but just enough to keep it out of the structure. The fish fought hard for its life but I really thought it was a big dogfish or blue fish. After about what seemed to be a 5 to 10 minute battle, the fish surfaced and it was a monster! Never in my life have I ever seen a fish that big. After Frank Tenore netted the fish, it was a sigh of relief, but when the fish was placed on the deck the jig was so far down his throat, it was bleeding out his gill. My intentions were to get the fish back in the water as fast as I could, and did not want to kill it. So I put it in the live well and called a good friend, Ron McClelland and asked him what he thought the survival rate of the fish would be. He had said a lot of these big fish unfortunately don't make it. So we kept the live well on and continued to fish. The fish started to chew as a 6 lb fish hit the deck and some other big ones as well. Half hour later one of the charter guys, Andre, hooked in to another monster fighting for his life. After a good battle the fish broke the surface, netted it, weighed it, 16.5 lb and released to fight another day. After catching some nice fish, fishing slowed down, so we decided to move to where the tide was moving and had some more fish. Although we did not have our limit, the guys saw some really nice fish and had plenty of food for the table. We got to the dock and the fish was still breathing but not very good, so we brought it to Fisherman's Den North where the owner, Tom Palmisano and Chris helped me weigh it in. It tipped the scales at 22.5 lb! It was also 33.5 inches long and girth was 23.5 inches. It was a fish of a lifetime, I may never see again.
So I want to thank everyone who helped me and congratulated me on my fish. I also want to say letting all those 8 to 10 lb fish go, finally paid off.
Thanks everyone, I hope you enjoyed the story on the fish of a lifetime.
Dustin Strehl

[Ryelof]

The sick part is Dustin called me and I told him I had to work.......I am a douche. Just to see that fish would have been amazing!

[MVP]

Congrats to Dustin on your fish of a lifetime. To catch it on your jig is even more impressive. You just might be the first guy ever to ever be in the 20 pound club with fish being caught on jig. I also always say the same thing that releasing all those 10+ lb fish will one day bring me some good Karma

[Tunarun]

Congrats Dustin on catching a tog of a Lifetime!! Wow And, I truly enjoyed the recap too! Dennis