Albie Fever Kicks In
It is a great time of year to be a saltwater fisherman in southern New England. The summer doldrums have passed, and the fall run is in full swing. As the days get shorter and the nights get colder, hordes of bait in the estuaries flood out into the ocean and begin their long journey south. Obviously, this buffet spurs huge blitzes of stripers, but it also brings in the best pound-for-pound gamefish in the Northeast: false albacore.
In the early fall, albies venture inshore from their normal offshore habitats to wreak havoc on schools of bait. A condition anglers call “albie fever” sweeps across the region as everyone rushes to get in on the best light-tackle fishing of the year. If you have never connected with one of these pelagic speedsters before, you are seriously missing out. We are blessed here in Rhode Island to have a consistent shore fishery for these incredible gamefish—an accessible, unique taste of blue-water fishing available to almost everyone. Despite the relative accessibility, catching an albie from shore is no easy task. It requires persistence and a thorough understanding of both the tactics and gear required.
Albies have earned the moniker “funny fish” for a good reason. They can be frustratingly difficult to pattern, with their tendency to disappear and reappear faster than you can lay down a cast. Chasing down a cruising pod of albies is a fool’s errand that tempts both shore and boat anglers. A superior tactic is to orient yourself near the structure or bait that these fish are feeding on and wait for them to come to you. Albies hunt in packs and use their coordinated speed to corral bait before slicing through the school. They especially like to use barriers that they can push the bait up against. Rock ledges, jetties, and often the surface of the water itself are insurmountable obstacles for small bait. These barriers inhibit the bait from forming a coherent school, making them easy pickings for funny fish. The prolific steep ledges and rocky coastline around the mouth of Narragansett Bay provide a wealth of these feeding opportunities, which is a large part of the reason we have such a consistent shore fishery here in Rhode Island.
Albies are also known to get lockjaw, becoming highly selective in what they are feeding on. Their preferred forage can be anything from peanut bunker all the way to tiny, translucent “snot bait.” Spin fishermen often cannot perfectly match what the fish are keyed in on, but there are quite a few effective lures available. A 1/2- to 1-ounce epoxy jig is a standby for its castability and slim profile. Small soft plastics are also absolutely killer, but they can be cast only a fraction of the distance. A snappy, fast-action rod will help effectively launch epoxies and other light lures. From shore, the ideal rod length is around 8 feet, but slightly shorter and longer rods can work just as well in most situations.
When it comes to fly gear, a fast-action 9- or 10-weight rod is the preferred choice. It is well worth it to equip yourself with an aggressive shooting-head-style fly line. It has more mass in the front 30-foot portion of the taper, allowing you to launch casts with minimal backcasting. Casting efficiency is the name of the game, so if you can eliminate one extra backcast each time, you will save your arm hundreds of unnecessary casting strokes over the course of the day. Even so, shore fishing for albies is one of the most casting-intensive disciplines in fly fishing. You will make hundreds of casts and almost always into the wind. The only antidote for a stiff headwind is a tight loop with a lot of line speed. So, take some time and dial in your casting before hitting the rocks. A stripping basket is a mandatory piece of gear to manage your line when making such long casts.
Although it is a lot easier to get an epoxy jig in front of an albie versus a fly, this is a rare instance when flies often outproduce conventional lures. Flies can be chosen to match exactly what the fish are eating, and their lack of weight means they can be fished slowly through the water. A diverse variety of flies can prove effective under the right conditions. Downsized basics like Clousers and Deceivers often work just fine. Coming prepared with a range of profiles and colors, from tiny to a few inches long, is critical to prepare for any possible forage species. A two-hand retrieve is preferred since it keeps you connected to the fly the whole time. Although albie fishing from shore is extremely challenging and can feel hopeless at times, connecting with your first false albacore on fly gear is an incredible experience that you will never forget.
Conditions play a large role in the presence and mood of these finicky fish, but trying to pattern them can often leave you scratching your head. There are some considerations that hold true most of the time, though. One is that bright, sunny skies and calm seas often make for a frustratingly picky bite. It can be harder to spot fish on an overcast day with decent swells, but they are usually more willing to eat in those conditions. For a shore angler, a headwind often bodes well because it helps push the bait into shoreline hard structure.
No matter how you are fishing for these prized inshore pelagics, it is essential to have your lure or fly in the water as much as possible. It is easy to be hyper-focused on sight-casting to breaking fish, but this is often a mistake. For every fish that you see breaking the surface, there are likely several cruising around the area beneath the water. Any serious albie shore fishermen will tell you that they catch most of their fish blind-casting. No matter your preferred technique, spin or fly, get out there and make the most of this year’s albie season.
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