 False Albacore Fly Fishing: The First Albie On The Last Tide
Posted by Austin on October 25, 2008
(1445 reads)
I had one last shot. The hard tails had eluded me for the whole year, until now. I gripped the side rail aboard the seemingly 17 foot boat as Jeremy and I bounced our way through the rips from Rhode Isalnd across to Montauk. We arrived at Montauk, and I was immediately greeted with acres upon acres upon acres of stripers blitzing. This was Montauk, New York, the saltwater fishing meca of the northeast. With so many stripers and bluefish around, it was tough to keep pushing onward in search of the albies when we knew we could have had a record breaking day just “catching fish.” But, hardtails aren’t like other kinds fish of fish to me because the more often that I fish for the hardtails the more I feel the need to go back for more. With many other species of fish, I can easily “get my fix” and be on my way after catching a few.
So as my eyes turned away from miles of dive bombing birds and bait chasing stripers and bluefish, Jeremy shouted to me "I think we may see our first confirmed hard tail within a few minutes?" I looked for the legendary push of water that the albies make when on the surface. "There they are!" I could easily tell the difference between the albies and the bluefish and stripers. I strung up my fly rod and put on a sand eel epoxy fly, my favorite fly for the albies and bonito. The fish we had previously encountered were long gone and we found ourselves zig-zagging our way around rips, cross currents and shoreline. As the light began to fade, I saw the tell-tale signs of hardtails. Up ahead, there were a couple terns circling and diving in the water. My eyes followed those little white birds, carefully looking for silver streaks and splashes
indicating little tunoids on the surface. There they were! Jeremy quickly patterned the albies and realized that they were moving against the tide and close to the beach. Multiple pods were working the area and Jeremy positioned the boat ahead of the traveling fish. This was not a run and gun game, we quickly realized, because the albies spooked if we were to close and our boat shadow fell onto their territory. I blew a couple shots, took a breather, and relaxed. Jeremy once again positioned the boat ahead of the fish for one last shot. I saw the albies ahead and waited for the perfect moment, but they went down as soon as they came. “There!” Jeremy barked in my ear as he pointed to my immediate left. I threw out all the line I had on the deck, made a quick double hand strip, and was tight with my first and last albie of the year! As the fish got closer, I could see the blue and green hues that send shivers down many fly fishermen’s spine. It was my first albie of the 2008 season, and at the very last tide I would fish all year!
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False Albacore: The First Albie Of The Last Tide
by jeremy on October 25, 2008 http://www.fliesandfins.com | | Austin, great job on the blow with the fly rod. Funny how these fish can be so fired up in big pods one day and very sparse and spooky the next. Also, the way they react to different water environment adds another layer of challenge. Those fish were in shallow, clear and calm water so just getting an opportunity to make a cast to them was very tought .. but, outside of a couple nerve induced mess-ups (which everyone has), you got it done with one cast. No false casting .. no casting too early or too late or any of that stuff .. You had a shot .. fired one good long cast .. lead the fish and put the fly right where it needed to be and Bang! hook-up. Good stuff .... glad you got your 2008 albie. |
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False Albacore: The First Albie On The Last Tide
by Pete on October 25, 2008 http://www.fishingjones.com | | Great story. Looks like a fatty, too. Must have been totally worth the wait. |
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False Albacore: The First Albie On The Last Tide
by joey on October 25, 2008 http://www.fliesandfins.com | | NIce fish Milbarge. I was wondering when your face would pop up again. Great pic and fish tale. |
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False Albacore: The First Albie On The Last Tide
by Boz on October 26, 2008 http://www.maineriverguides.com | Austin,
Nice Rocket.
Glad you got one over the gunnel right at the buzzer dawg...
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False Albacore: The First Albie On The Last Tide
by nicko on October 27, 2008 | | Nice fish and nice work, that is a fish that hook you too. I am glad to know that Montauk is still exploding I was there almost a month ago and I too saw one of the largest blizes I had ever seen |
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False Albacore: The First Albie On The Last Tide
by alex on October 28, 2008 http://www.patagoniaflies.com | nice work man on getting it done in a short
window of opportunity... |
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False Albacore: The First Albie On The Last Tide
by Austin on November 05, 2008 | | Thanks everyone! it was one of those fish that came at the perfect time....i couldn't believe that i got it done! |
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False Albacore: The First Albie On The Last Tide
by flylikabird on March 03, 2009 | Nice fish, cool story Austin! I'm a fly fishing newbie and can't wait to feel that knuckle bustin' drag scream. Caught my first Fat Albert on the 'yak. If you want to see it, check out the 'tube under "Albie Battle Kayak and Albie Battle Kayak II". Next blitz will once again be in the plastic roller coaster, but this time i'll be holding a fly rod. Fish On!
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