Albie Confusion

This is a bonito.

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.

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!

Wooden Egg Float- Versatile and Super Effective

I landed this slot fish yesterday on 
a float and fly.

 This has been a banner August of striper fishing here in RI.  From the beginning of the month to the end, I have been into blitzes of fish just about every day.  The fish range from all sizes from hefty schoolies to slots to even over slots at times.  There have been exceptional numbers of slot fish from 28 to 32 inches.

One theme that I have seen throughout the month has been fussy fish on small bait.  The small bait for the most part has been small peanut bunker along with small bay anchovies.  My most effective lure to use on these fussy stripers has been a wooden egg float with some kind of jig or fly trailing off the two or three feet of mono at the end of the rig. This set up allows for a booming cast if you need it and it can be fished in rocky areas without fear of hanging up.  Here are the three ways I have fished it in the last month to catch hundreds of stripers of all sizes:

1.  Float and bucktail jig- In this case I am using a homemade half ounce bucktail jig trailing off the float. I like the "H" style Do-It jig which is really a fish head jig.  I add a 3 inch, Pro Bass Triple Ripple, white grub tail to the jig which gives it super movement and effectiveness when stripers are on small bait.

2. Float and fly- I used this yesterday to catch big numbers of fussy fish that would not hit the jig.  For the most part, I use homemade, pink Deceiver flies. By the way, this same set up is a killer for albies

This hefty schoolie was landed on 
a float and bucktail jig.

and bonito.

3. Float and Cocahoe- I like to mount a three inch small, white or glow Cocahoe onto a half ounce jighead.  It works at times and the Cocahoe is super durable.

You can make your own egg floats from wooden eggs purchased online or in a craft store.  They will need to be through wired or set up with screw eyes.  You can also purchase the wooden eggs already to go in most tackle shops along the oceanfront. I know the Saltwater Edge, Quaker Lane, Snug Harbor and Maridee all have them.

August Mayhem!

 

August Nights

 

We have been catching good numbers of slot fish 
after dark along with big numbers of hefty
schoolies. This one was caught on a live eel
from shore.

My son Jon and I have been on a roll lately. While the daytime action has cooled for us, nighttime fishing has been red hot.  There have been good numbers of fish along with slots, and he landed one monster fish.

Mid to late August is a time that I fish a lot at night. My logs reveal that the fish are super active at night at this time of year.  Add to that it gets dark so much earlier now making the nighttime experience less "tiring" for old guys like me.

In the past week or so, Jon and I have been out nearly every night.  He has mainly been throwing eels looking for larger fish and I have been using a plug or a jig.  While I have caught more fish, he has scored much better with the bigger fish. I'm catching one slot for every six or seven fish I am landing so a pretty good ratio for bigger fish.  He, on the other hand, is getting a slot or over slot for every three or four fish he is catching.  Proves eels at night are the ticket to bigger fish!

In addition to those slot fish we are catching, Jon landed the biggest fish I know of caught from shore this year. He landed and released a fish that measured 48 inches.  It was caught on an eel well after dark.

Bluefish have also been around at
night.

Note that I am also occasionally catching bluefish also. Jon has had several chops on eels, a sure sign that blues are around.

We are quickly setting up on a fall pattern of fishing here in RI.  The peanut bunker are just streaming in and stripers of all sizes are on their tails.

Sometimes They Just Won't Hit

 

Here's a big school of stripers feeding on the
surface on tiny bait. They would not hit a thing
yesterday.

I was out yesterday looking for those peanut bunker and stripers that I found the day before. I didn't find any, but what I did find was a glut of stripers feeding on schools of tiny baby bay anchovies.  This was micro bait no wider than your fingernail.  I knew nothing could "match the hatch", but I figured I would run through my best bets from year's past.  That included small bucktail jigs, Cocahoes, float and fly, and Jumpin Minnows. None of those offerings got a hit although they did get a few follows that I saw in the calm, clear water.  At one point, I threw those offerings into a school of stripers the size of a school gym.  You could see all their heads just moving slowly on the surface slurping up the tiny bait. But, not my offerings.

After a while, the feeding stopped and it seemed to be over.  Nothing showing.  I walked to the edge of a large rock and peered down into the clear water.  Amazingly, I saw thousands of stripers just moving slowly along the edge of the water.  I tossed a few offerings right in front of their noses and didn't even get a sniff. Simply, not interested in what I had to offer.

It's frustrating to find situations like this, but I've seen this phenomenon many times before in the past. The stripers will be especially fussy when the water is warm, clear and calm.  You have a much better chance at catching in rough, white water.  And, when the stripers are feeding on bait that is tiny, especially those bay anchovies, they are nearly impossible to catch.  No artificial is going to match a half inch baitfish! 

Peanut Bunker Fuels Wild Blitzes

 I saw my first schools of peanut bunker yesterday along the oceanfront, and I also saw some wild blitzes of stripers.  At one point, the bass had the bunker pinned right up against the shore. They were after the peanuts in mere inches of water.  Most of the stripers are hefty schoolies in the 22 to 27 inch range that tend to be fussy.  I did land very good numbers of them in the last two days. I also had several slot fish from 28 to 30 inches.  Small artificials like three inch Cocahoes, bucktails off a float and Rebel Jumpin' Minnows were all working. 

If you didn't know it, you'd think this was an October blitz.