[onitis]

its june and the tackle shops stop stocking fiddler crabs.I need a 5 gallon bucket every 2 weeks.I used to work with a guy who got them on the north shore and i would either pay him or trade him some lobsters or fish anyone iterested e mail me will need until end of sept location bklyn [email protected]

 

[seaslug44]

What do you use them for in the summer months?

 

[616983]

I KNOW!!

FOur WInds Bait and Tackle! WOOOHOOOO! (sorry, its just that this is my first time helping a more experienced fisherman hehe) in Huntington Station, I can check if they're still stocking them tomorrow, they're closed now, I'll most likely respond tomorrow or you can call them.

 

[616357]

Causeway Bait and Tackle in Wantaugh on Merrick Road had them up until last month. Might be worth a call.

 

[614851]

fiddler crabs

doc, i think he may want them to use as bait for Tautoga onitis.

 

[onitis]

yeah i need em for blackfish also work great for sea bass and triggerfish

 

[seaslug44]

Thought so. With the one fish per day limit and so many other species around, I didn't think anyone would target tog so much this time of year that 2 1/2 gallons of crabs would be needed each week.

 

[onitis]

well doctor you were wrong werent you

 

[gottog]

Just because the season is "closed" doesn't mean the tanks in the resturants should be empty, right?? Not implying anything against onitis now...just stating a continuing problem.

 

[seaslug44]

By the way, there is a very important biological reason why the season is restricted this time of year. Anyone care to explain why it isn't a good idea to even target tog during thr summer?

 

[gottog]

Not sure of any other biological reasoning except that they spawn around May-June.
Maybe they become highly toxic and if you eat more than one you burst???

 

[seaslug44]

Gottog,

I'm not sure what it is either. It can't be just the spawn, because in our waters that starts as early as April. As a matter of fact, the closed season for commercial tog landings in New York is during the month of March.

The reason why I ask if anyone knows is because The State of New York and CT have made it a priority to restrict the season during the summer months (New Jersey too?). I'm not complaining, but it seems odd because possession limits are supposed to be designed to limit mortality rates and help boost the population. Doesn't it seem strange that they allow us to target the species during a good part of their spawn as well as during the months when it's easiest to find them (not to mention it's also the time when they are most willing to take a bait).

 

[gottog]

Not sure either. Here in NJ it seems they start to spawn around May. I guess they consider it a cold water fish and the season should be open when its cold. Maybe since the water is warmer they figure any caught will not fare as well as when released in cooler water. They probably keep it open with a 1 fish limit here in NJ just in case a world record one is caught...gotta keep the gold here where it belongs
I have a bad feeling that the regs for 2003 are gonna really hurt.

 

[onitis]

spawn is over a few weeks already as for gottogs reply the season is not over for anyone right now, some can keep one others can keep 25 this is not my decision or your decision but the wise men at the DEC have decided for us

 

[seaslug44]

Legal to keep 25 Tog per angler in New York after June 1st????

Who what where and when????

 

[HungryJack]

Commercial is 25

Recreational is 1

 

[seaslug44]

Thanks. I wasn't thinking that he was a pinhooker.