False Albacore -- Welcome to Tom Gilmore

[David Churbuck]

Thanks to Tom Gilmore, author of False Albacore, for taking the time this very busy time of year to talk about his book and experiences in fishing for false albacore.

Tom will be joining Reel-Time for the next week or two and will be available in this forum to answer your questions and comments about fishing for false albacore ... and bonito.


Feel free to jump in at any point with your questions and comments.

[Tom G.]

David, thank you for having me on your forum.

Tom Gilmore

Thanks to Tom Gilmore, author of False Albacore, for taking the time this very busy time of year to talk about his book and experiences in fishing for false albacore.

Tom will be joining Reel-Time for the next week or two and will be available in this forum to answer your questions and comments about fishing for false albacore ... and bonito.


Feel free to jump in at any point with your questions and comments.

[bigbonita]

David, thank you for having me on your forum.

Tom Gilmore

i just wanted to tell you that your book is excellent. i bought it after i read a copy a friend had bought. although i live in the boston area, i try to fish down towards your area as much as i can; particularly once the albies set up shop down in that triangle from watch hill, to the race and over to the sluiceway. if you still guide, i would love to hire you for a trip during the peak season. one question; do those frigate mackeral and/or skippies ever make it inside as far as the race or watchhill? i never caught either of those before and i read that they roam close to the ri shoreline at times.
thanks...rich

[David Churbuck]

Tom, the honor is all ours. Thanks for taking the time to participate. Maybe you can tell us how you came to write book, how you researched it, and how you spend your fishing time.

Thanks again.
dc

David, thank you for having me on your forum.

Tom Gilmore

[Tom G.]

Bigbonita, thank you for your kinds words about my book. I don't guide as I have a full time job as President of New Jersey Audubon Society. In the back of my book there is a listing for several excellent guides who fish the "triangle." On occasion both frigate mackeral and skippies do come inshore.

Tom
Gilmore

i just wanted to tell you that your book is excellent. i bought it after i read a copy a friend had bought. although i live in the boston area, i try to fish down towards your area as much as i can; particularly once the albies set up shop down in that triangle from watch hill, to the race and over to the sluiceway. if you still guide, i would love to hire you for a trip during the peak season. one question; do those frigate mackeral and/or skippies ever make it inside as far as the race or watchhill? i never caught either of those before and i read that they roam close to the ri shoreline at times.
thanks...rich

[JGH]

Tom,

I just bought your book on Wednesday. It's a great read so far. Forgive me if this answer is in your book and I just haven't reached it yet, but I'm wondering how many different populations of false albacore exist on the east coast. For example, because of what I understand to be a difference in size, the FAs off of Florida appear to be different than the ones that make their way into New England and Montauk in the fall. So is there one set of FAs that migrate, say, between North Carolina and New England, and another set that populates more southern waters?

Thanks.

-- Jeff

[Bob Parsons]

Often we hear about false albacore being uneadible. Is it just us in the way we are preparing or are they that unique?

[Tom G.]

Tom,

I just bought your book on Wednesday. It's a great read so far. Forgive me if this answer is in your book and I just haven't reached it yet, but I'm wondering how many different populations of false albacore exist on the east coast. For example, because of what I understand to be a difference in size, the FAs off of Florida appear to be different than the ones that make their way into New England and Montauk in the fall. So is there one set of FAs that migrate, say, between North Carolina and New England, and another set that populates more southern waters?

Thanks.

-- Jeff
Jeff, thank you for your kind words regarding my book. You raise a great question. No one knows for certain, as their has been very little resaerch done on false albacore. But they the do tend to run bigger in North Carolina and Florida. These fish are pelagics and follow the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream passes very close to shore along the east coast of Florida and then again along the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The peak albie run in Florida is June July and into August. North Carolina has a spring run and a world class fall run. My quess is that the bigger fish in North Carolina are the fish from Florida and that their might well be two populations.

Thank you for your interest.

Tom

[Tom G.]

Often we hear about false albacore being uneadible. Is it just us in the way we are preparing or are they that unique?

Bob, i have never tried to eat one. I have a friend that thought he caught a bonito, which turned out to be a false albacore. He grilled it and he claims he couldn't even get his cat to eat it. A few anglers claim to have a special way of cooking albies so that they are palatable. As a fly fishermen, who loves to chase false albacore, I hope that they are wrong. False albacore are the most abundant tuna in our oceans and I'd like to have it stay that way.


Thanks,

Tom

[Tom G.]

Tom, the honor is all ours. Thanks for taking the time to participate. Maybe you can tell us how you came to write book, how you researched it, and how you spend your fishing time.

Thanks again.
dc

David, I am sorry I missed your question this morning. After catching my first false albacore, I was in awe of their speed and strength. I wanted to learn everything there was to know about them, but there was very little information. Because they are not regulated and to date have very little commericial value, there was very little information in scientific journals. Since there were no tagging programs or studies, I did most of my research on web sites like Reel Time. I identified guides in each region that targeted false albacore and sent them a letter asking if I could interview them. I sent out 57 letters. All 57 were returned, 55 with positive responses and 2 marked addressee unknown. I have fished with many of these guide from the Keys to the Cape and this book would not have been possible with them genereously sharing their knowledge.

Tom