Best Way to Fool an Albie

Albie fever is gripping the RI shoreline.  There are record numbers of them around and record numbers of fishermen trying.  But, in the crowds there are a ton of frustrated fishermen who can not seem to catch them. Most of these guys are throwing plugs that are too big and metal that is ineffective. PAY ATTENTION TO THIS if you want to catch one..

For spin fishermen, the very best way to catch one of these gamesters is the use of a float.  I am talking a wooden egg float that you will have to make yourself (sorry, baitshops don't sell them (I don't know why)).  If you want to know how it's done, check out this post, http://ristripedbass.blogspot.com/2012/01/must-winter-projectegg-floats.html . If you can't make the egg float, just take the hooks off a popper or pencil popper and use that as your float.  The egg is simply the casting weight.  Three feet of heavy mono (30 lb. test) is attached to the end of the float.  At the terminal end, you want to tie on a Deceiver fly or a three inch Zoom fluke (light color) that is threaded onto a barbed hook (see top left).

The Deceiver fly that I am using is also homemade (see top right).  It is tied with white thread.  The tail is dark blue saddle hackle and the body is either white thread or fine chartreuse chenile.  Up front the throat is white bucktail and the wing is made with white bucktail with an overlay of chartreuse bucktail.  The hook is a Mustad 34007 size 1/0.

Cast this offering out and simply pop it in while reeling like you'd fish a popper.  I like to do a moderate retrieve, but I will sometimes reel it in very fast if blues are around.  Bluefish will have a difficult time catching up with a fast moving lure, but no problem for the more speedy albies.

Fly fishermen know the effectiveness of using a fly for albies.  However, fly fishermen are limited to a short cast and have trouble fishing a heavy surf.  That float and egg will give spin fishermen a booming cast which is often needed in some spots to get to breaking fish. You have a big advantage when using the float and fly or jig for albies.  It is the very best way to catch them.

Albie Insanity as All Day Blitz Hits Shore

Call it insanity.  I went down to Gansett to meet my sons for a day of shore fishing thinking a couple of bluefish would be great on this beautiful summer day.  Instead, we hit the jackpot as all day blitz of albies and blues  lit up a shoreline that stretched for miles.  The action was non stop  from morning till night.  Between Ben, my friend Dennis and myself we landed well in excess of 50 false albacore along with at least another 70-80 bluefish.  My son, Jon, who joined us much later in the day added a albie, a ton of bluefish and a good size keeper bass.  Ben's friend, Justin, landed his first albies (pic at left) along with a bunch of bluefish. It was one of the biggest shore hits I have seen in a long time and it was the biggest shore hit for albies I have ever experienced.  Once again, massive schools of bay anchovies, bait about an inch long, attracted all kinds of fish right along the shoreline. At times the bait schools looked like a brown moving area of water the size of a school gym and school after school of bait just kept moving along the shore with albies in hot pursuit.  My guess is that shore fishermen were outfishing the boating guys because the fish were so close to the shore.

The hot ticket today was a float with either a Deceiver fly or a Zoom fluke at the end of the mono coming off the float.  It far outfished anything else.  The Deadly Dick, touted in reports as the ultimate lure for albies, can't compare to the effectiveness of the float and fluke or fly.

Bluefish in the 2-5 lb. range were also on the rampage all day and would often tear through the schools of bait along with the albies.  They would hit anything as they were super aggressive.

The fantastic fishing just seems to have no end.  I'm betting this week has been the best EVER along the RI shoreline for false albacore.  Let's hope the good times keep rolling!

Shore Fishing Lights Up Also!

We know that the boat fishing along the oceanfront in the last few days has been phenomenal from what I have been writing about.  Well, I can also tell you that the shore fishing has also lit up in the last few days.  It is all being fueled by huge amounts of bay anchovies along with dropping water temperatures (in the last week, water temps dropped by 5 degrees), and that has set an early fall feeding spree in motion.  It's albies, bluefish, and stripers anywhere you can find the bait.

Yesterday I went down and fished from shore in the afternoon and evening.  In the middle of the daytime under a bright sun I found tons of bait, birds diving and stripers all over the place I was fishing.  These were decent fish in the 24-28 inch range on a rampage after bay anchovies.  I ended the day with 15 stripers and one lone blue.  It was all daytime action since I stayed and tried a couple of places after dark and found nothing.  The key to catching these fish was to go small with your offering.  I was using a small bucktail jig with a curly tail (see photo).  Others who used a Cocahoe on a small  jighead or a Zoom fluke on a jighead were also catching.  Those using big poppers, large metal and big Storm lures came away with nothing.  Go small and get your offering under the bait schools if you want to catch.

I will also tell you that my son Jon was fishing from shore two days ago while I was out killing the albies from the boat.  Just to give you and idea of how many fish were around in this all day blitz, he landed over 70 (said he lost count) stripers and bluefish in an "off the beaten path" spot along the oceanfront.  Of the bunch, he had a good number of stripers, and had at least half a dozen keepers in the 28-35 inch range.  He was getting them on bucktail jigs, Cocahoes on jigheads and small swimmers.
If you can find the bait you will find the fish.  By shore or boat, fishing is as hot as it gets at this time of year right now.

Phenomenal Day...Albies, Stripers and Blues

Today was the best day I have ever experienced in fishing for false albacore here in RI.  I went out with my brother in his boat in the morning.  My son, Ben, later joined us in the afternoon.  The false albacore were EVERYWHERE we went.  For miles they were busting all along the oceanfront.  Mixed in along various spots were good numbers of stripers and bluefish.  By the end of the day, all three of us landed the hat trick of albies, blues and stripers.

The totals for the day were staggering: over 45 false albacore, 25 stripers up to 36 inches, and another 10-15 bluefish.  Everywhere we traveled there was vast amounts of bay anchovies that were fueling a  tremendous early fall  feeding  spree.

Best lure today for albies today was the float and fly (blue Deceiver) though the float and fluke also caught good numbers of them.  The best lure for stripers was a 4 inch black back Bomber.  Anything you threw worked for the bluefish.  I opted for a bucktail jig.

Surprisingly, there were  few boaters around but the few we saw were catching some fish.  I also saw very few shore fishermen and I can tell you that a lot of the fish we caught could have been caught from shore.

We are in a period of incredible fishing right now.  The fall run is happening here in RI, and it is as good as it gets!

FALSE ALBACORE.....They're Here!

I had been hearing rumors about false albacore here and there along the RI coastline, but I hadn't actually seen one until today.  My brother Steve and I went out in his boat today in some big rollers and found good numbers of false albacore tearing up the surface as they feasted on schools of bay anchovies.  There were lots of fish breaking, but getting them to hit was a different story as it often is with these fish.  We were working an area with about 10 other boats and I will tell you that we landed 4 albies and the rest of the boaters got nothing.
How did we do it?  The hot ticket for me was the use of a float and fluke rig (see photo).  This is actually a wooden float in which about three feet of mono is attached and a Zoom fluke is attached to a barbed hook to complete the rig.  Cast and pop  in slowly.  Is is THE deadliest way to catch these fussy fish and will outfish any other lure.  I wrote about this in my recent On the Water story. I landed three of my fish on this rig. My brother got his fish on a small Deadly Dick, an effective metal lure that many fishermen use.

High Surf This Weekend.....Good or Bad?

Given the choice of fishing rough water or calm conditions, I will always opt for the rough water.  Rough conditions tend to charge up stripers. Some of my best outings have occurred in water that most fishermen will not fish.  Stripers can easily swim in roughness, but small baitfish trapped in the turbulence of rough water are easy marks for stripers to feed on.  In addition, rough water tends to mask any artificial plug or lure you might be using.  Stripers just can't get a good look at an offering in rough water as they tend to hit anything that moves.  Forget fussy fish when it comes to fishing rough water.
However, rough conditions do come with risks. Boat fishing is out.  Sandy beachfronts tend to roil with sand and weed very quickly in rough water.  Surf fishermen should forget the sandy south shore this weekend; stick to rocky shorelines that can take a beating yet still remain clean.  Safety also becomes a major issue for surf fishermen.  Make sure you are fishing a high, safe perch if you want to fish rocky shores in rough water.  As an alternative, why not try the backwaters.  In the past, I have made some big scores in the backwaters of the breachways on the outgoing tides in stormy conditions out front.  These places remain fishable and productive, especially on the outgoing water, which tends to run clean.   Places like the Galilee Channel, the insides and backwaters of the breachways at Charlestown, Quonny and Weekapaug along with the back of Narrow River are all good bets in rough conditions.
It looks like hurricane swells and rough surf are on tap for this weekend with waves in the 6-9 foot range.  Yes, you can still fish in this, but it certainly means an adjustment in the places you fish and a priority on safety.

Hopeful Signs

I 'm guessing we have turned the corner on the worst summer fishing for stripers that many of us have ever seen on the mainland shore here in RI.  I got out twice this weekend.  Although I hate going down on these crowded holiday weekends, I had to move two of my sons into houses in 'Gansett for the school year.  So, I figured I would take my stuff and try it.  I fished as well as talked to a lot of people.  Here's my thoughts:

*There's a lot of bait around. That includes peanut bunker, real small bait (bay anchovies) and snapper blues.  I saw a massive school of snapper blues that had the water boiling in front of me.  They seem to be everywhere but no big fish are after them.

*I talked to some reliable sources that said they saw false albacore yesterday morning, though none were caught.  The albies seem to be around, though not in big numbers yet, but this is positive info.

* Steve Mc Kenna reports catching a 48 inch striper last week. If you are at the right spot at the right time (late night), it can happen.

*The boys from 'Gansett report a bluefish blitz this past Wednesday.  There were loads of small bluefish around that day after small bait that came ashore.

*Finally, I landed 2 schoolies last night in the Galilee Channel on bucktail jigs.  These are the first bass I have been able to catch in almost two weeks.  I had several more hits.

So, this is not a fall run, but I feel we are slowly moving in the right direction. The fishing will only get better and more consistent in the coming weeks