Phredd's Trading Company

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FLORIDA
Region:Gulf Coast of Florida
From: Capt. Ken Roy, Whopper Stopper Sport Fishing.
Crystal River, FL. 352-563-1780
http://www.sportfishingflorida.net
whopperstopper@hotmail.com
Favorite model: Tomic Multi 7", M-7
Favorite color: 511 (Orange/Chartreuse Yellow)

The Tomic Lures are butt kickers but you already know that. The Orange/Chartreuse has worked extremely well for me. I made one modification. I changed out the front hooks, replacing the stock hook with a 7/0 VMC trebel.

I gave one of the lures to a friend who trolls with downriggers. He tries to keep his lures within 10' of the bottom like I do. He has caught several Grouper in the high 20s which are mighty fine fish.

I troll mine behind a lure that I manufacture. I call the lure a "Grouper Digger." It is little more than a trolling sinker/diver, weighing 10 oz. When I fish it as a stand alone lure, it has a #4 Indiana spinner blade. Most often I employ it without a spinner blade to drag another lure down deeper. I troll the Tomic Lures about 4-5' behind it on 100# wire or mono. With it, I can get a Tomic Lure down at least 20' where I kick butt on Grouper. Quite often, I catch a Grouper on the Tomic Lure and another on the Grouper Digger at the same time.

The Gold flash Tomic Lure that I got from Mark is a great Tarpon trolling lure. I have also caught Cobia, Kingfish, Spanish Mackerel and several huge Jack Crevalle on it. Big Kingfish and Barracuda demolish them.

VIRGINIA/NORTH CAROLINA
Region: Lower Chesapeake Bay, Inshore Virginia Atlantic Coast.
From: Capt. Herb Gordon, Coastal Guide Services LLC, Mid Atlantic Bite Fishing Show. Virginia Beach, VA, 757-464-3974
Boat: "Pretty Work", 32' Mirage.
Favorite model: Tomic Classic 7", C-7
Favorite colors: 248 (Fire Tiger), 745 (Chartreuse green/chartreuse yellow).

My specialty is fishing for Striped Bass, specifically trolling for big fall & winter stripers. I run a four rod spread. Two of these, my outside long lines, are always rigged with Tomics. One has an 8 oz in-line sinker the other a 12 oz in-line sinker. The Tomics are on a mono leader 10-15 feet behind the sinkers. Occasionally I will run the Tomics on my two inside wire lines, with the Tomic on top of the three way swivel about 15-20 feet behind a buckdrail or Mo-Jo. All my lines are staggered to get the best depth coverage possible.

I get the best results by varying my trolling speed from 0-3.5 knots. Some of my best strikes come when I go into neutral and the the sinkers take down the Tomics. These tactics work for me in depths from 12-60 feet.

VIRGINIA
Region: Lower Chesapeake Bay, Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Inshore Virginia Atlantic Coast.
From: Richard Welton, Executive Director, Virginia Coastal Conservation Association (CCA). Virginia Beach, VA.
ccavast@aol.com
Favorite model: Tomic Classic 5", C-5
Favorite colors: 404FE, 248 (Fire Tiger),

I have been fishing the Bridge Tunnel and nearby ocean waters off of Virginia Beach for over 40 years. Tomic plugs are the single most exciting and productive "new" discovery I have made in those 40+ years. I say new because they are new to me in the last two years but they have been around and have been a favorite of salmon fishermen for years.

We have been catching our fair share of Striped Bass at the mouth of the bay. As the fish move into the bay in the spring and out of the bay in the fall, they stop for days or weeks to feed on all the bait attracted to the CBBT structure. Casting to within a foot of the rocks near dawn or dusk produces some of the most exciting fishing that any angler has ever seen, no matter how experienced.

I use a 6 to 6 1/2 ft medium heavy (fresh water) or medium (salt water) graphite spinning rod loaded with 12 LB test mono on a medium size spinning reel.

At the end of my 12 LB test, I tie on a 24 to 30 inch piece of 25 LB to 30 LB test mono leader using a surgeons knot. To the end of this, I tie on a 4 or 5 inch Tomic plug. I prefer the blue back, green shades or chartreuse colors but I haven't found a Tomic color they won't hit yet.

Position the boat about 50 to 60 feet off the rocks of the islands on the uptide or rough side. Why? Because current and white water are a dinner bell for hungry stripers that cruise close to the rocks a couple feet down waiting for that quick little baitfish to get stunned or disoriented by the turbulence just long enough to be swallowed.

Cast your Tomic right up to the rocks, begin your retrieve immediately and Hold on. You can use other lures, particularly when the fish are really turned on but the Tomics cast better than most and accuracy is critical. Almost getting it in the right place is the same as almost (or not) catching fish.

Tomics can be fished slow when the fish are near the top, Tomics float, or they can be fished faster when the fish are deeper, Tomics dive. The biggest difference is the action of Tomics. They not only wobble like most other lures, they also dart erratically from side to side while wobbling. This unique action triggers a strike even when fish are not actively or aggressively feeding. They seem to think the lure is trying to get away. That's all there is to it. Early or late, moving water, structure, accurate casting, Tomic plug = Fish On!
RW

VIRGINIA/NORTH CAROLINA
Region: Lower Chesapeake Bay, Inshore Virginia Atlantic Coast.
From: Richard Welton, Executive Director, Virginia Coastal Conservation Association (CCA). Virginia Beach, VA.
ccavast@aol.com
Favorite model: Tomic Classic 7", C-7
Favorite colors: 248 (fire tiger), 745, 280, 404FE

SCHOOLIES - After the water cools in late October and the stripers move away from the rocks of the CBBT, large schools of bait and school size stripers up to 30 inches move into the lower bay and hold until mid December cold fronts move them out. Almost every day schools can be found on Thimble shoals, around the 3rd island or as was the case this year off Little Creek.

Tomics are a great bait for these fish. The bait fish are usually small and the 5 inch Tomics seem to match the hatch perfectly. The tactics and rigs described earlier for casting to the CBBT Islands are perfect for this run and cast fishing.

When the fish are deeper or scattered most boats troll. To rig Tomics for this type of trolling, I use a medium boat rod like I would use for Spanish Mackeral.While any medium rod will do, I use a 5 1/2 ft Penn senator boat rod with a Penn 209 level wind reel spooled with 30 to 40 LB mono or Power Pro line The power pro gets you down deeper with less weight. I use an 8 to 12 ft mono leader with one end tied directly to the Tomic's eye ring and about a 75 LB test black snap and swivel on the leaders other end. With a similar snap and swivel tied to the end of the line coming off the rod, you can join the snaps to either end of a torpedo shaped trolling weight. By varying your weights from 2 to 8 ounces, you can fish up to 4 rods at varying depths and adjust your weights based on the depth producing the best action. With Tomic's erratic action, slower trolling speeds seem to produce best.

BIG STRIPERS - After Thanksgiving, the large ocean run stripers , 32 to 46 inches finally get here in big numbers. By mid December most of the fishing takes place from Cape Charles to off Smith Island down to Sandbridge with Cape Henry and off the Ramada being hot spots. If you think Tomics were great for casting and trolling for schoolies, hold on to your rods, Tomics TEAR the big fish up! Rig a HEAVY trolling rod (a heavy rod won't bend if the fish is under 32 inches) with a Penn 320 GTI reel loaded with 50 LB dacron , 60 LB wire or if you are a cheapskate 50 LB mono. These are big powerful fish and this is no light tackle affair. Tie a 125 LB black snapswivel to the end of your running line. Use a 15 to 20 ft 80 LB mono leader. Some use 100 LB but 80 gives the lure more action. Some use 50 or 60 but some like to get their hands cut by the thinner leader or break off the really big ones. Tie the leader directly to the eye ring of a 6 or 7 inch Tomic (the bigger are better) and a 125 LB snap and swivel to the other end of the leader. This allows you to snap on trolling sinkers between the running line and leader to control the depth.

I use a 6 and 8 oz weights on my "surface" lines with the dacron. One on each side of the boat. I use the wire lines to go really deep with a three way swivel with a 4 ft leader tied to a 32 oz Mo-Jo and a longer 12 to 15 ft leader going back to a 7 inch Tomic. When in shallower water 25 to 35 ft deep, wind in your wire line until the Mo-Jo only hits bottom occasionally. The Tomic will dive a little deeper and bounce on the bottom occaisionally. Don't let it dig constantly. When the Jumbos see that erratic Tomic running along the bottom and digging in occassionaly, they go crazy. When in the deeper 60 to 100 ft of water, let more wire out and troll slow to really get the baits down deep. The biggest mistake I see is people trolling too fast which blows your lines up. Besides in cold water stripers move slower. Another trick is to put the boat in neutral until your deep lines hit bottom whenever you get good fish and bait marks on the fish finder. Many times you will get strikes just as you put the boat back in gear. Sometimes it is the MO-Jo on the bottom, often it is the suspended Tomic, and sometimes it is BOTH.