Reefin' Madness ... Not Exactly, But Good Fun
Hammer, Al and I headed out aboard my "Bertha" for a late afternoon of fun fishing on Sat., 11/1. Our plan was to run the beach looking for bass to jig, on our way to the reef for some bottom fishing.
Unfortunately, we were heading out with my newly refurbished Raymarine GPS/FF complete with a new main processor board free of any of my old waypoints, routes, or tracks. Fortunately, Raymarine was cool enough to fix the unit for free, even though the warranty expired 30 days prior. Unfortunately, they could not save my data.
With no birdplay through the bay and a parking lot of boats from the hook to Romer; I pointed us SE and flew us down the beach over flat calm seas. As we got to the Highlands Bridge area, I could see the fleet mobbing the reef. It looked like the NYC skyline with all the boats on the horizon.
We headed to a fairly open area, found some decent bottom and grappled up to drown some greenies. First stop was slow, but I did manage to catch a small porgy. Shortly afterward, I got our first tog. Nothing huge, but a just barely keeper to get the door cracked open.
We then had a slow pick at this drop and a few others, but we never really got onto 'em. Hammer and I each had a few keepers, and he took away the pool with a decent 4-5 pounder. However, by sneaking in a few clams at the end of the day, I took the high hook honors by catching the most quantity and variety of species with tog, sea bass, porgies, and even a bergall.
Byte Me came down later and he and his crew managed to find some decent action nearby. They weren't pounding them, but they were doing better than us. We could hear them whooping it up, so late in the day once the crowds cleared, we eventually headed over to chat. Whew, it was like driving into a hail storm of comical insults with our bud Vic on the "Byte Me". I was laughing so hard at Vic breaking my stones that I accidently hit the MOB button while we were there; and I now have my first mark on my refurbished unit!
We ended the day with probably a dozen togs from toys to 5 lbs. We kept 5 nice porgies for Hammer to make ceviche or fish salad along with his best blackie. It certainly wasn't the drop-n-reel fishing we've had this year, but it's going to take me a few more trips to get my #'s dialed back in. I should be all set for the expanded limit season in a couple weeks.
Best of all, Hammer taught me a new technique to catch tog. It's tricky, but luckily I'm a quick learner. He showed me a technique called "stealing." I'll post photos in a reply to demonstrate how it's done.
However, it is not "mugging". For those not familiar with "mugging", here's a quick refresher: mugging is a technique used by a boat angler to fish in a spot where another angler is having success. The technique most often involves crowding, interfering, or disrupting the previously successful angler. (note: The technique also known as "the back pocket" on some fabled trout waters in Pennsylvania.)
Hammer does not mug, but he did use a fairly questionable method to get fish into the boat. You'll see in the pics when I get them up.
- Gr8ful
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(look how calm the ocean was! 
) 
Originally Posted by hammer4reel
