Albies

[Sleve]

A fast and relatively light reel is not necessarily required, but Albies are the fish of a thousand casts, so something light which can also burn it in fast is highly preferred so you don't get pooped out after 20 casts.

[Kooky]

I never catch any they just laugh at me.....

[VitaminDee]

just keep casting and play with your retrieve speeds and ABSOLUTLEY do not chase them around on the jetty or beach, They will make figure 8 runs and will be in casting distance again before you know it.

[Sailah]

Fishing with Jonny on YouTube goes after albies on a kayak in RI.  Based on his footage I think a fair amount is Newport based. 

 

Agree with a fast light reel.   I use all 3-4k.  6k is too heavy for me but it would work if that's all you got. 

 

I target them hard from end of August to end of October.   Usually I do some RI days as they move south but that wasn't the case for me last fall and I fished until they disappeared in October. 

 

Caught plenty in Newport mixed in with bonito and stripers but all from a boat.   And all around Newport area.   Go buy some stuff at saltwater edge and ask around for pointers. 

[Capt.Castafly]

 

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by Capt.Castafly

[albacized]

On 4/7/2022 at 5:46 PM, DZ said:

If I had to pick a time period it would be First week of September to first week of October in Newport area from shore. 

I agree with this, except to add that at the beginning and at the end of this run, they seem easier to catch. There are definitely productive days during the middle of their run...but in my experience, that middle time frame is also where they sometimes earn their reputation as fussy eaters

[mikez2]

3 hours ago, albacized said:

I agree with this, except to add that at the beginning and at the end of this run, they seem easier to catch. There are definitely productive days during the middle of their run...but in my experience, that middle time frame is also where they sometimes earn their reputation as fussy eaters

And if I only had one week out of the season  to choose, it would be the first week.

Especially in recent years  it seems like the first wave that comes in is thick, comes in close and is eating. Then they get hard to catch, stay out of reach from shore or disappear completely. 

Too often I have held off till after Labor day to avoid the beach crowds, only to find I missed the best part of the run.

Last year my son got 7 in one day from shore his first trip in early September. We thought it was shaping up to be a good run. We literally only saw one shore caught fish the entire rest of the season. 

[Running Ape]

I hope I am not breaking some etiquette by posting outside my local forum. I’ve noticed the same pattern with cape albies. They arrive and feed aggressively. For a day or two, I get them without much effort. Then I have to work very hard. When Columbus Day arrives I get them at noon, low tide, calm,  sunny weather, on thick leader and large lure. 

[snag777]

On 4/8/2022 at 0:54 PM, ProSkateFisherman said:

I have a rod that I just built that's 7' 6", MH, medium fast action. Would that do any good? I don't think I have any 4000 size reels that fast. The smallest reel I have that I know of that's that fast would be a Spheros 6k. I've seen the Penn Clash and the Battle 3 high speed models before. The Battle 3 HS has a pretty good price. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Battle 2 and the Battle DX I have is defective and makes the rod tip bounce like crazy. Is the normal Battle 3 any good? 

i prefer medium light much beter for casting,heaviest i would go medium,medium,i cast with medim light 1 oz with out problem.

[striper pat]

Albie talk in April is not right,  I have butterflies reading about it but a long way off.

Going to look for stripers this afternoon.

[JimmyBean]

It's the best. I remember skipping class to chase those little speedsters. 

 

September and October in Newport is key. IIRC people are catching them offshore in the late summer. It's absolutely maddening from the beach, but also my favorite way to fish. The hardest part is finding them. I've found them most active at first light and again at some point in the afternoon. Though for a few days in the early fall they'll be active all day. 

 

Epoxy jigs are my go-to, attached with some kind of loop knot. If I can't get a hit I switch to albie snax. I tie 20# leader direct to my braid. 

 

You will want to look for schools of them. Don't cast where they are, cast where they're going. High winds/surf can make this difficult. Nothing is worse than missing your chance with a bad cast. When you hit that perfect cast and your jig is skipping through the chaos...there is nothing like that strike anticipation. They don't boil like bluefish, you'll see them completely clear the water often, moving unbelievably fast. Though I will say that I have caught them blind casting when there was no activity on the surface. 

 

If you see them down the shore, think twice before sprinting after them. You'll make yourself crazy running up and down the beach accomplishing nothing (great cardio though). In my experience, they usually feed in a circle. Find a spot where they've been and wait for them to come back. 

[Fish it all]

On 4/8/2022 at 1:16 PM, Kooky said:

I never catch any they just laugh at me.....

You're not alone . Blew over a bill on epoxy jigs even grabbed albie snax ,already have  casting eggs and flies even got some light flouro leader ... not a tap. And they were EVERYWHERE. Was a long ride home after that beatdown.

[Pescador710]

10 hours ago, Fish it all said:

You're not alone . Blew over a bill on epoxy jigs even grabbed albie snax ,already have  casting eggs and flies even got some light flouro leader ... not a tap. And they were EVERYWHERE. Was a long ride home after that beatdown.

During one of the most spectacular displays of feeding fish I’ve ever seen, I ended up skunked. Probably got about 100 casts into good feeds- had two short strikes (never hit my offering), hooked up once for a couple seconds, and hooked up for 30 seconds on what believe was a big toothy bonito that bit off my fly (did the bobber fly thing).
 

Bay anchovies were on the menu that day.

[Fish it all]

To say it's frustrating is an understatement 

[GrahamN]

It's even worse when you have a few really really good days 

My first ever albie came around basically by accident, had no clue what they were, some oldtimer told me to take something shiny and cast, and I was hooked up within my first 20 casts ever 

Got a few that day and assumed that's how it always was 

Then spent the next month chasing them and getting frustrated 

Connected a few more times, that year then had an entire next year of no landed fish 

It's maddening