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| This is a bonito. |
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| This is an albie or false albacore. |
First off, I don't know of any albies caught from shore or boat here in RI so
far. Last year they appeared around this time, but this fish is so unpredictable I just don't know what will happen this year. I do, however, know of a few bonito that have been taken from shore and boat. Not many, but a few.
When the reports come out at the end of the week, I am willing to bet that several tackle shops and even reporters will state that "albies and bonito" are in. It's almost as if these two different species are the same as they mention them in the same breadth. They are not. Albies have those black squiggy lines on their backs, they have black spots on the side of the head by the gill plate as if you stuck your fingers in black paint and stuck it on the fish and they have no teeth. Bonito, on the other hand, have a greenish tone, no black spots and they have teeth. Both have hard, forked tails, thus the term "hardtails".
Adding to the confusion this year are various species of mackerel that have been swimming around. I landed one in particular a few weeks back. Everyone around me thought I had a "small albie". This was a frigate mackerel that was a foot long. Two problems....you will never see a foot long albie, and the fish did not have those black spots on both sides of the head near the gill plate. I'm sure that those who don't know report these fish as albies and the tackle shops report these to the magazine, adding to the confusion.
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| This is a frigate mackerel, a species that many think is a "small albie" Note that the colors are correct. the tail is forked and hard, but no black spots on the side of the hear. Not an albie! |
