False Albacore - Droppers?

[ruge13]

Tom, I know there are a lot of superstitions regarding Albies/tuna eyesight. Some guys scale down their leaders, use flourocarbon, and avoid bulky knots in tapers and connections to cut down visibility. Yet the spin crowd often uses a hookless plug for casting with a fly dropper off the end and don't seem shy about knots. Why don't fly guys use droppers more often for albacore? I do it myelf, I use droppers for bass, but as soon as my target species changes I swap out for a single, small, translucent fly, and a new light leader. Is this necesary? Why don't more guys use droppers to increase their success rate when it can be tough to make one fly stand out in a bait ball? Is it just the "risk" of hooking 2 and having your tackle shredded? Is it the extra knots/leader and thier proclaimed great eyesight? I would take 2 fish any day and take my chances with the tackle, yet I still revert back to one fly, light line. Any thoughts? Is it different for Bonito?

[Tom G.]

Tom, I know there are a lot of superstitions regarding Albies/tuna eyesight. Some guys scale down their leaders, use flourocarbon, and avoid bulky knots in tapers and connections to cut down visibility. Yet the spin crowd often uses a hookless plug for casting with a fly dropper off the end and don't seem shy about knots. Why don't fly guys use droppers more often for albacore? I do it myelf, I use droppers for bass, but as soon as my target species changes I swap out for a single, small, translucent fly, and a new light leader. Is this necesary? Why don't more guys use droppers to increase their success rate when it can be tough to make one fly stand out in a bait ball? Is it just the "risk" of hooking 2 and having your tackle shredded? Is it the extra knots/leader and thier proclaimed great eyesight? I would take 2 fish any day and take my chances with the tackle, yet I still revert back to one fly, light line. Any thoughts? Is it different for Bonito?

Shaun, good question. I use to do a lot of plug tossing for bass and I would never fish without a dropper. I think I was using 30 or 40 pound leaders at the time. I think there are several reason that fly guys don't use them for albies.

One is safety, busting albies can wreak havoc with you casting ability. I have never stuck myself with a hook while fishing for bass. Done it 3 times while chasing bass.

Another reason is fear of losing a good fish. I have taken several doubles of bass when fishing a dropper. But I have had numereous fish break off when two bass were in effect fighting each other. I fish two flies for bass to try to different flies, when I think I have the right fly, I cut off the dropper. Don't what to chance losing the fish of a lifetime. I have a good friend who got into a big albie blitz at Shinnecock Inlet, NY. He hooked to into two doubles, both time the fish on the point broke off. So I know fishing a dropper for albies works, but you have the break off problem.

I think your right about anglers being concerned with fish being leader shy. I fish flourocarbon and I think it makes a difference. I do think that albies are not as leader shy as most anglers give them credit for. I do feel that bonito are more leader shy than false albacore.

On pages 40 and 41 in "False Albacore" there are a few funny stories re: monofilament vs fluorocarbon debates.

Thanks for the question,

Tom