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| The albie fishing has taken a dive. Could this be the end of fishing for them in 2019. We'll see in the coming days. |
I saw this happen about ten years ago. The albies arrived in good numbers around September 10th just like this year. That year in late September we were hit with big hurricane waves from an offshore storm, just like this year. From that point on, the albies disappeared and never returned. Hopefully, it does not happen this year, but things are not looking good at this point. Consider last Saturday's fishing. The ocean had calmed down and was fishable again. My son, Matt, fished off Sakonet Point in a boat. He fished half a day along this point and the Newport shore. Nothing. Another friend went out in a boat at Wickford. He fished from Wickford to Narragansett to Newport. Nothing. Several other guys I knew were fishing the shore in some good spots. Nothing. I saw the writing on the wall and fished the Bay where I found good numbers of stripers and blues.
These albies are so unpredictable. They are pelagic fish that come in briefly from way out in the ocean. Sometimes, big numbers come close to shore. Sometimes few or none come near the shore. Sometimes some come ashore and rough water sends them packing in short time. It's really a roll of the dice and there are never any guarantees in this game.
I don't know if they are done for the year, but my gut feeling is that we will see a few pop up here and there in the coming weeks. I think the good numbers are gone. If you make this your primary fish in the coming weeks, you will be disappointed. M y suggestion is to have some albie stuff (skinny metal and float 'n' fly) in your bag just in case you run into them. Target stripers and blues as your main fish because those will be around in good numbers in the coming weeks as they come out of the Bay and coastal ponds.
