False Albacore - What goes through their minds?

[David Churbuck]

If you could get underwater and watch the behavior of a school of false albacore, what would you see? Do they feed in a pattern? Are they completely random? Is there any method to their madness? It seems that finding them and then positioning yourself for a perfect shot is 90 percent of the battle.

[Ray]

From what I have seen, their behavior when feeding is random. Circling through a school of bait picking off what they want. I know sometimes slowly jerk-stripping a fly or dancing a DD works well. They seem to like the easy meal.

[David Churbuck]

Wait a second. When they break the surface they always seem to be in a pack travelling in the same direction. They don't do the aimless bluefish frenzy. I envision a school flying along in tandem, whaling right into a bait ball, up out of the water (where I see them and have a coronary) and then back down, out of the range of my pitiful cast at their tails, then off to to unknown places before they pop up again, just far enough away that I have to wonder "do I start the engine and floor it?" or "do I stay here, be mellow and zen, and wait for them to come back in their circuit.

This is usually the point where I think about using explosives.

From what I have seen, their behavior when feeding is random. Circling through a school of bait picking off what they want. I know sometimes slowly jerk-stripping a fly or dancing a DD works well. They seem to like the easy meal.

[Ray]

I've seen some great underwater footage of these guys. That's what I saw.

But,

Skipjack Tuna at the fish I find to be the most organized school.

[Tom G.]

Wait a second. When they break the surface they always seem to be in a pack travelling in the same direction. They don't do the aimless bluefish frenzy. I envision a school flying along in tandem, whaling right into a bait ball, up out of the water (where I see them and have a coronary) and then back down, out of the range of my pitiful cast at their tails, then off to to unknown places before they pop up again, just far enough away that I have to wonder "do I start the engine and floor it?" or "do I stay here, be mellow and zen, and wait for them to come back in their circuit.

This is usually the point where I think about using explosives.

David, zen is good but hard to master.

Albies feed in a number of ways.

One pattern that I encounter often, the albies seem to get in a perfect formation and speed through a bait school. Rather than picking off individual baits, they cut, slice, and rip through the entire school. You can actually hear the sizzle as they tear through the water.

Another method is a slower, more deliberate feeding pattern, almost trout like. The albies stay with the bait and more up and down to feed. The first time I observed this I was fishing with Capt. Steve Bellefleur. We were fishing calm water around Fishers Island and fish were rolling, feeding on crabs. I thought they were small bass, but Steve had seen this pattern for several days. Were tied on small bonefish fishes and took several albies.

I have also seen them rip into a school large school of bay anchovies and disappear only to reappear in the same pod of bait. And continue to do this until the school has been devoured.

In any case they usually make repeat visits to a feeding area so it often pays to wait them out rather than run and gun.

Tom

[peter mac]

Hey Guys,
If we are going to open this up to organized feeding fish in blitz mode........Well I have never witnessed anything close to stripers shoulder to shoulder crashing through the bay anchovies at Montauk, There are times when they are so tight in formation that your fly and line bounces off there backs because there is no water in between the fish.
Peter Mac

[PhilDKreal]

If you could get underwater and watch the behavior of a school of false albacore, what would you see? Do they feed in a pattern? Are they completely random? Is there any method to their madness? It seems that finding them and then positioning yourself for a perfect shot is 90 percent of the battle.

Ok, time to get the scuba gear out!

[scruffy_fish]

My first experience with False Albcore was at Weekapaug inlet two years ago. You have a commanding view from the top of a jetty wall. I watched a pod of 6-8 Albies leap froging over one another to gain the front position, in their runs up and down the inlet wall. They are and organized team when they enter in the race for busting bait. They definitely have a pattern that is very predicable in inlets. You have to anticipate their next appearance and hope they don't spot you and sound to appear past your casting range.
As far as in open water, I will find that out this coming year. <*)>>>>{

[Tuna]

False albacore on the surface are like the tip of an iceberg. They feed in patterns of circles with just a portion of the circle hitting the surface. This pattern was described to my pop years ago by a Montauk troller who sometimes dives. I also saw it in a video once (was the video "Striper madness"?) although only a portion of the circle was visible.

This image of the surface feed as the tip of an iceberg which is really a circle of fish moving from deep to surface is a guiding principle to how I fish for these critters. Fact is, if you cast to a breaking pod, the fish that were breaking are long since gone by the time your fly hits the water. However, despite this, casting to breaking fish works because while your fly is in the air, the albies in the circle below the water are rising.

This is not the only pattern I have seen - sometimes the albies are scattered and working structure (like along the rocks from Turtle Cove to Caswells), but it is the most consistent pattern I have encountered.

Note that the actual surface behavior can vary even if the circle seems there - sometimes the albies get to the surface and slash across the surface for 3 to 10 feet in a line of fish (I hate this - hardest pattern for me to hook up on); sometimes the albies are up and down in a few feet; sometimes there are up and down within a foot. But the circle is there and if you can visualize it, it helps you catch these critters.

[Tuna]

Second thoughts on my post...

Where I see this pattern is at rips formed where deep water meets more shallow water.

The troller/diver saw this pattern at Shag. There, the water moves from 30 plus feet to 15 or so. The albies form on the rip lines around the shallow water. The diver saw the albies moving in these circles from deep to shallow to deep around the shallow rip areas. (Thinking about this, maybe part of the reason for this pattern is that the deeper albies are helping to push more of the bait pushed over the shoal to the surface - regardless, picturing these circles while fishing that rip has helped me).

The other place this visualization helps me is in the rips at the lighthouse at Montauk. Here too there is deep water meeting shoals forming rips.

[Tom G.]

Tuna, great posts. Albies on top are definitely just the tip of the iceberg!

Thanks,

Tom

[fmw]

A perfect example is if anyone has seen the Blue Planet series on the Discovery Channel or DVD that was produced by the BBC. There is a great albie (and I think small yellowfin tuna) feed -- although they call the fish "bonito" -- where the fish are demolishing a bait ball. It shows them quickly coming up and then going down, and then constantly repeating. The Blue Planet -- a great series, by the way.

[Tuna]

(As if I could resist more posts on this topic...)

Hey Frank, I guess you finally stopped fishing. I do remember that scene from Blue Planet and it was in the ball park of what I was talking about.

Here are some other patterns (which albeit I will have difficulty articulating):

However the albies get to the surface, most of what you see from the slashers (the ones that cause water to spray up several feet in the air) is NOT feeding, its stunning. The albies below them, or the ones behind which porpoise up and down from the surface, are the feeders. The slashers are causing the balled bait to have some stunned straglers for the feeders (like the bass which slap their tails in the anchovie feeds near Turtle Cove to stun some for the bass feeding just below). I still cast to the slashers - by the time the fly hits the water, the feeders are there.

Another pattern - the "target". Bass feeding in the inner (surface) circle of the target. Sometimes blues in a middle ring circle. Albies on the outer surface circle. A variation is when the bass are so close to shore (like at Turtle Cove) that there can be no albies closer to shore (they would be on the shore) - then the albies are on the outer (sea side) edge of the feed. They are very catchable there - seems they are taking advantage of the bait the bass have stunned on the edge. Its why I love seeing those bass feeds (easy albie hookup). This may be a Montauk specific pattern.

Another pattern, often near the end of a tide and a giant albie feed. Single bird or two over the small (1 top 2 feet wide) remnants of an anchovy ball of bait. Single or double splashes or flashes near it. This can be a few albies slicing through and then feeding on the stunned of the remnants of the larger bait ball. When I see this, I see almost guarenteed albie hookup. Put the fly at the edge of the bait ball and wait to see the albie or two flash by it and move the fly once.

Anyway, enough for now.

[fmw]

Yeah Peter . . . the December blizzard finally stopped me. But, it was time to focus on some other things anyway. I had almost forgotten what it was like to spend a weekend in Manhattan. Over the six weeks I've rediscovered that I enjoy living in NYC.

I actually got a little freaked out when I discovered that they still hadn't pulled my boat when the blizzard hit. I was out east this past Saturday and drove out to Gone Fishing and was surprised to find they still hadn't wrapped it (along with most of the other small boats). Which was ok as I really needed to spend an hour or two cleaning it off.