Albie Outlook- Uncertain

So far, not so good. The albies have not
appeared in good numbers yet. The outlook
is uncertain at this point.

We should be seeing good numbers of albies at this time.  But, we are not. I'm down the oceanfront just about every day and there are very few around. If they are coming in big numbers, expect them to show between Sept. 10th and Sept. 20th. If they don't show in that time period, big numbers are not coming.  The clock is ticking.
In the last 50 years, these pelagic fish have been impossible to predict.  About a third of those years, like last year, saw some, but not many.  About a third of those years saw lots of them like we had in 2016 and 2017. But, about a third of those years saw none.
Already we have some. One here and one there.  I can confirm that a few have been caught. We do have good numbers of small bonito this year, and many fishermen as well as bait shop reporters like to report there are albies and bonito around.  Truth is that many fishermen don't know the difference, and the two  names are often used interchangeably. Also, there have been other pelagics around like Spanish mackerel and chub mackerel.  Once again, many think these are albies.
I'm concerned about the lack of bait right now along the oceanfront.  Those hurricane waves of last week sent a lot of bait packing into the south shore ponds as well as into Narragansett Bay. Albies are on a hunt for bait when they come close to shore and right now, there is not much.
I've seen years in the past with little around one day and millions around the next.  Let's hope we are heading for that kind of year.
The clock  is ticking.