October 14, 2015 was a great day for Tim Nguyen of New London, CT. The official CT ‘tog season opened with a bang for Tim and the all aboard the Seabeam last week when Tim landed a Connecticut State record tautog, or blackfish.
Captain Bob of the Seabeam tells us it was opening day for ‘tog so they had plenty of crabs on hand. They headed out past Mago Point, Waterford, Connecticut, and all aboard were trying alternatives to see what produced the best bite. “But Tim stuck with crab.” It was a seasonable fall day in the 60s and everyone had high hopes.
“It was the last drop of the day,” said Captain Bob. ‘All of a sudden I heard a commotion and there was this hootin’ and hollerin’. My mate said ‘you gotta see this,’ they had never seen anything like it!” The line had been screaming and no one could figure out what this monster was until Tim got it up to boat. It was a monstrous 26 lb 6, 34 inch long, fighting ‘tog and he didn’t come aboard without a fight.
“Well, it was the fish of a lifetime for Tim, and I’m happy it was him. He’s a real angler. Lifetime fisherman, great guy. He had the right bait in those crabs and he stuck with it. He was using high quality equipment (Shimano rod) and he landed that fish.”
There were congrats all around, pictures and celebrating to be done as the trophy fish was taken to J&B Tackle for the official weigh in. DEP arrived, all was verified and Tim now holds the official Connecticut State record for tautog. We hear there’s a great photo out there of Tim’s monster ‘tog with another keeper of the day that really shows the size. If anyone has it, send it in!
And this rock star catch has sent a stampede of folks back onto the water. Captain Bob tells us that everyone wants to go back to the spot where this monster was caught. He told us they went back Sunday, despite the chop. Despite nasty seas he heard the sudden screaming of the line again and wondered if lightening could strike twice? Another monster ‘tog? “ For a moment we thought we’d caught another one.” But sadly, no. Just “an 18 lb stupid bass that decided to hit on a crab.” Oh well.
Captain Bob notes that this is just a great area for monster ‘tog this time of year. “You know the old record, 23 lbs 9, that we just beat, that was out of our marina too.” While these fish don’t quite steal the world record title – currently 28 lbs 8 caught off Ocean City, they are mighty fine.
So we asked Captain Bob if that fish was destined to become part of a very large batch of ‘tog chowder to which he replied ”there isn’t a pot big enough to hold that fish!” We hear that Tim plans to have it mounted and kept to honor a great day of catching.
Thanks to Captain Bob and his wife Beth Ann who got us the pictures and story in double time to make the press deadline!
Season’s not over yet – get out there!
Tight Lines.
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