False Albacore on Topwater

Mark Alpert and I went out yesterday to give his boat the first albie stink of the year. We found fish easily and quickly, but for the longest time they were playing hard to get. We got cast after cast right into the blitzes but the fish just weren't taking what we were giving them.

Eventually Mark did get one, but it seemed more or less random. These fish very clearly weren't liking what we were giving them. This fish gave Mark a really odd fight. Initially it was pretty much business as usual, but once he got it to the boat it just refused to come to the surface. It stayed about 15 feet below us going in circles for the longest time. Eventually we did get it up. 

After the fish there continued their evasive behavior we decided to move. We went first to Millstone Point, were we did find some albies, but the biggest show there was a massive bluefish blitz. I caught one, but that's not what we were there for. There were also a lot of boats there, so we went elsewhere and found more albies being rude. Then I had an idea. I had never really heard of anglers using topwater flies for albies, but I had a hunch a Gartside Gurgler would be effective. Nothing else was working, so I tied one on. The first cast resulted in a take. The second, a hookup. It popped of at the end of the first run, but it was the start of a pretty solid bite. 

We bounced around a few different spots, sticking around longer in the ones where we could get good drifts into the schools of feeding fish. It wasn't the most productive day possible, but we caught something like 10 to 12 fish between the two of us and had a really great time doing it.

I'm not sure why, but I've had weird luck with albies on the boat. It started with the nearly disastrous fish I got last year. And yesterday every fish but one weren't exactly the perfect example of what should happen when you hook into one of these speedsters. The second to last was by far the worst. Two big tangles formed in my line, and the first one pulled the tip section of my rod off.

Mark and I both had to work to rectify that little situation, but it ended well. I didn't break the rod, and I didn't loose the fish.

These fish are nothing short of spectacular fun. When you've gotten home and your arms are screaming at you from fighting just 6 fish, you've had a pretty good day.