Hi All, Drumroll please..... The longest tagged tautog of 2005 was a 27 15/16 inch fish caught by a fellow from Marietta, Ohio. The prize, a nice rig, will be sent soon ~ unless he's going to come pick it up!
The fish was caught on a gorgeous calm day in - ? - August! Funny thing about big fish - they never seem to turn up when you expect them to! It was the fellow's second tog he'd ever caught. His first one was on the drop before; maybe a 12 lb fish...
With all the persistent, dedicated effort I've seen by the dyed in the wool toggin' gang you'd think one of those guys would be the recipient - that's just not the way Lady Luck would have it!
If you happen to recapture ALS tag 666593 I expect you'll be calling for a net...
I'm hoping that the data we are generating by tagging all these tog will be used to make a better fishery management plan. It is quite possible, likely even, that there are more tog now than in the last 30 years. Expanded habitat - artificial reef building - has certainly created a whole lot more of the robust structure that tog like. Sign up for the Ocean City Reef Foundation and we can make more! Shoot, if Alabama can create a red snapper fishery where there wasn't any just by building reefs (true) - then we ought to be able to create an incredible fishery for a species that was already here!
We also tagged quite a few flounder this year plus numerous others like codfish, triggerfish, spadefish and the occasional jumbo sea bass. There is a lot that can be done to rebuild our region's fisheries. By understanding how a fish migrates - or doesn't, as is likely with the tog - and growth rates particular to our region, we can better manage any species.
Should you have an interest in tagging fish, the American Littoral Society has a long standing program that anyone can participate in. Their data - all from recreational taggers - was instrumental in the first striped bass management plan.
You can help build reefs and get started with tagging for less than it costs to buy bait for a day's fishing*. They're both on the web; just Google 'em. {*OkOk ~ I'm assuming you are not plucking earthworms from the garden!)