New York Metro &
New Jersey

August 22nd, 2003

HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW

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Okay…  By yesterday afternoon, I was really psyched to launch an explosive written recollection of the downright phenomenal false albacore fishing we had on Tuesday and Wednesday…  I mean it was nuts!  I’ve never seen albies blitzing like this.  Twenty or thirty at a time would plow straight through a pod of bait in almost a perfect strait line…  Odd, behavior, but visually, pretty darn cool! However, they were difficult to hook on Tuesday, but on Wednesday, they decided to blitz in normal false albacore fashion, tearing through bait pods in random directions, and they really wanted to eat flies!  Richard Reagan and I just hammered them!  On each cast into the pods, at least two and sometimes up to four albies would come completely out of the water to pound on crease flies…  Absolutely spectacular!!!  We had a blast and I’m smiling just thinking about it…  It was one of those days where intrepid albies pined the bait up along the beach line and tore through them in extraordinary spraying displays…   Tiny bunker flying everywhere!  Oh, to be wadefishing during one of these crazy scenes.  The pockets between the jetties and the beach also became stages for albies to perform their wonderful hunts…  Oh… and I forgot to mention that there were loads of Spanish mackerel blitzing right along with the albies…  And they were on the big side to boot.  Those are the kind of days I replay in my head when I’m pretending to listen boring lectures. 

But today (Thursday) it was like someone flipped a switch.  Peter McCarthy, Frank Crescitelli and I searched for several hours, east, west, north and south, only to see a few sparse scattered pods of spooky albies.  …  What gives???  In my ever quest to explain the unexplainable, if to no-one else but myself, I think it has something to do with the wind direction.  When the albies were in close to shore the wind was either north or northeast.  I’m not too fond of that Southwest wind we had today…  Not only is in uncomfortable, exposing most of my favorite spots to the wind, but my experience is that it turns the pelagic fish off pretty quickly.  I find that I have my best luck with the albies on a prevailing wind with some north in it.  So guess what???  While the Friday’s forecast looks like there will be heavy southwest blow, Saturday looks straight north…  Sweet!!!  Not to much on the mind these days but albies…

Now let’s get on to the other reports:

Nothing much to talk about as far as the inshore scene goes in Southern New Jersey.  Our Reel-Time sponsors down there are keeping quite, so one can only assume that things are slow.  However, offshore things have improved with the better weather.  Plenty of skipjacks, albies and chicken mahi for those willing to make the trip.  No bluefin as of late, but many captains are optimistic about this year.  Inshore, the bait is thick and some bonito are around while the bluefish are plentiful around the inlets.  In Northern New Jersey and the New York metro area the albies are in and out with a couple of days this week qualifying as phenomenal.  The South Shore of Long Island is beginning to see a run of albies as well.  On the North Shore there has been some sporadic bonito activity, but still nothing to write home about.  Big blues continue to frequent the area and there is a load of bait for them to feed on.  Out East the action continues with increasingly large bass and bluefish schools feeding on the surface with the occasional false albacore sighting.  Peanut bunker are beginning to appear just about everywhere…  The albie run has officially begun! And what I forecast to be a spectacular fall is right around the corner…  Save up those sick days…  Go fish! 

And don’t forget to email me your own reports. Tight lines all.

Tight Lines!

John McMurray

New Jersey

Captain Gene Quigley checks in with a report of better offshore action…  Check it out:

John,

Things have really started to pick up the last few days out on the lumps -
calm seas and light winds have brought in plenty of dolphin (mahi), albies, and
skipjack tuna's. No real solid signs of bluefin inshore yet but it should be
any day now. Capt Jim has been working the bonito and blues inshore around the
inlets and the bait is just everywhere! It's setting up good.....

Capt. Gene

From Northern New Jersey Captain Paul Eidman of Reel Therapy checks in with this report:

Hi John-
Gearing up for the fall, the Albies and Bonitos should thickin up any moment here at Sandy Hook for sure. I am spotting them and spanish mackerel more and more each day...Still banging the small bluefish on poppers and having lots of fun with them for sure. Note that large weakfish and much larger bluefish are with the bunker schools these fish are 8 pounds and over but spinning gear has been working best right now for those guys. Check you calendars and plan ahead for a chance to breakaway from your work week and chase footballs on the fly, I have dates available.
Catchem up,
Paul

Once again…  The albies are around but it's hit or miss…  But when they have been there…  Oh boy have they been there…  Captain Joe Mattioli from On The Bight Charters checks in this week with a Lower New York Harbor / Raritan Bay Report…  Check it out:

Hi John
 
The Blue fishing is excellent with fish 2-12lbs find the birds and your in.Striped Bass fishing picked up with fish up to 15lbs taking chart/white  Half & Half . There are Spanish Mackerel in the area look for them leaping out of the water. False Albacore sighting have been reported, I'll be on the hunt looking for them this week.  
I have dates open
 
Capt. Joe Mattioli
On the Bite Charters

Western Long Island

Plenty of unconfirmed reported sightings of big schools of false albacore and Spanish Mackerel on the South Shore…  They're certainly out there…  On the North Shore, Reel-Timer Angelo Peluso checks in with this report:

Hi John,
The story out this way continues to be the masses and variety of bait that have invaded the area.  On Monday I rode from Stony Brook to Shoreham and bait was present everywhere.  And if you are lucky, some of the acres of bait have equally impressive numbers of fish under them.  Still the same bait mix...spearing, anchovies, butterfish, some bunker and now tiny snappers. So far this week has been quite rewarding.  I was lucky to find bass each of the last three mornings and then move on to some large schools of topside feeding bluefish.  The blues have been in the four to six pound range with others upwards of nine pounds.   The bass that I have encountered have been mostly schoolies but a fishing buddy of mine did manage to land a nice 38 inch fish the other evening.  Another fly fishermen I know, a very credible source, has been catching a few "greenies."  Nothing consistent but small pods are around. The game is such right now that if you happened to be in the "hood" when they pop up you get a shot, otherwise you will burn a lot of gas looking for them.  Some wade anglers have also been getting shots at the bones in the very early morning hours.  This morning I got whipped into a frenzy buy what I thought might be bonito porpoising on top but they turned out to be bluefish...I had the blues to myself for almost an hour and a half.  Thankfully, I save some of my old, crummy flies for just such occasions.  You gotta give the bluefish its due...they sure do pull hard! Here's hoping the rest of the week gets even better.  Time to gas up the boat...tomorrow plan is a long ride in search of the bones! Till next week. Stay well and stay into fish...Angelo

Eastern Long Island

Out east the action remains solid with tons of peanut bunker around and plenty of bass and blues feeding on them.  Albies sighting are becoming more and more spoken about and it's just a matter of days before all hell breaks loose out there.

Captain Alex Powers from To The Point Charters Checks in with this report:

Hey John:
Fished yesterday (Tuesday) out in Gardiner's Bay. There were lots of big bluefish crashing inch-long bunker with some big single albies (no schools) and bass mixed in.  You have to have the right fly or else you might as well go home.  We landed about 12 blues, which was pretty good considering even they were being picky.  I was up in Martha's Vineyard last week and went out with Capt. Jaime Boyle, who hooked me up a nice 42" 28.5 lb bass (see attached).  He's the man...

Capt. Alex Powers
917.699.0604

From the Shinnecock area Salty Flyrodder Joel Filner checks in with this report:

Skunked. Fished Friday afternoon after escaping the city at 5AM and
watched the albies gamboling along the jetty at Shinnecock at the
last half of the tide, 230 to 430 in the afternoon. Nice afternoon,
very hot but very picky albies. Turned away from my fly like it was a
rock in the water. In fact turned away from many of the usual albie
concoctions including crease flies, white deceivers, Mikkelson
epoxies(two colors), blue and green hollow fleyes, and chartreuse and
white clousers. Lots of bait in the water, 69 degrees, clear and
clean, and after they went out to sea one of the spincasters said he
never saw them turn from bait before. Aaaarrgghhh. Saturday morning
the conditions were perfect. No wind, clear water, incoming tide,
clouds of bait at different levels but no fish. One blue on the fly
by an eastern flyrodder, but nada for the rest of us waiting for the
albies to show up again. Wanted to come back for the afternoon tide
to see if the alberts would come back through but was caught by the
department of labor and couldn't finish up in time to get to the
beach. Sunday morning was another not so nice day but fished from 530
to 815 when the flashes in the sky sent me home. Not even a follow.
One of the surf guys spotted a school of spanish mackerel early in
the morning cruising through the inlet but they wouldn't take his
lure. Back to the beach next weekend for the Salty trip to Jones Inlet.

joel

That's all for this week…  See-ya on the water…