 |
| Don't get excited. This photo is from a couple of years ago. No news of any bonito of albies along the RI oceanfront yet. |
There's a lot of fishermen out there trying, but I have yet to see a bonito or a false albacore (albie) caught here in RI. I have not seen any breaking either, and I have been out just about every day this month. But, no panic. Still plenty of time for this to happen.
Albies and bonito are pelagic species. That means they spend most of their lives way off shore in the depths of the ocean. In the fall they sometimes come close to shore to feed. Their movements are impossible to predict. Some years we see a lot of them; some years there are none.
In the past the bonito tended to show up in numbers (if they do show up) around the last week in August along the oceanfront, although last year they were pretty much around all of August. Albies are a September fish. Based on my logs of the last 50 years that time period from September 10 to September 15 should bring good numbers if they show. A few early arrivals might be caught in late August and early September. Note that fishermen are catching them right now in Vineyard Sound and Buzzards Bay, the first place they arrive in southern New England waters.
Last year was a big year for bonito, but albie fishing around here was a disappointment. What will happen this year is anyone's guess. But, I can guarantee, there will be a lot of fishermen looking and trying as albie fever is already here.
