Montauk Albie Season

[b.clancy]

I have a few observations on the '06 albie season. The observations are based on a few days of personal experience as well as some observations posted by others over each of the last several years. I don't pretend to have lots of experience around Montauk. In short, I believe it's been a disappointing albie season. This observation is consistent w/ the albie reports or lack thereof in nearby Rhode Island and around Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod, and the Elizabeth Islands. Sure, there have been catchable numbers of albies around Montauk, but not of the same order of magnitude as past years. Another observation is that I was amazed last Monday by the number of bluefish around Montauk. They seemed to be everywhere- Gardners, the Point, the southside, etc., way outnumbering the albies that I saw. I've seen bluefish feeds before around Montauk, but never everywhere I went where I'd expect to see albies this time of year. The fishing last Monday was very different from the last Saturday in Sep., when there were more albies than bluefish in more places. Of course, since then there were some big NE blows that perhaps re-arranged the fishing landscape, similar to the change in albie fishing that occurred along RI’s south county.

These observations lead me to a few questions. First, do others agree w/ the general observations above? If so, is a season like ’06 very unusual, or is it more common than I thought? Is there still hope that the albie fishing could still explode this year, or is it clearly too late for it to happen? I figure it’s pretty much over once the water temps hit the mid 50’s. Lastly, is it possible that blues don’t like to compete for bait w/ faster, aggressive albies? Under this theory, in a normal year, the albies would rule in their normal spots and the blues would be tend to be elsewhere. After the albies thin out near the end of a season, blues, which tolerate colder water temps than albies, would move back in to feast on the abundant bait in spots previously ruled by albies. Is this theory consistent w/ observations in past years? Any other ideas out there? Think I should just shut up and head to NC?
Bob

[outback]

It has not been a kind season for us either in the NY bight, burning a lot of fuel searching, best fishing has been in the chum slicks for us, most of the reliable fishing has been center between Shark River and Barnegeat Inlets for crashing breaking and feeding fish, also way east of Rockaway Inlet. But it has been dependable as past seasons and frustrating for most anglers. --125-3 .

The weather patterns since August definitely have disrupted or altered their appearances, we still might get shots at them but the clock is ticking, this week and next will probably be our last..till next year, or else drag on skiff down to NC next month

[KayakerStan]

I have to agree the albie season so far this year has been awful. Maybe 1 possibly 2 weeks left then they'll be gone until next year.

[Strat]

I have not seen the massive amounts of anchovies usually present by now. In fact not even a fraction of it. The last time I saw "tons" of bait, they were p-bunker and it was August...and there were bluefin/skipjack/blues/bass all over them.

Coincidence?

[Smcdermott]

There was so much bait (chovy) all along the Rhody shore last Sunday you could walk on it. Only thing I found were blues and small bass on it. I hear there were some pods around on Saturday and further east than where I was on Sunday. Just very tough to find any consistency. Last year was a tough year as well by most standards. I need to keep better logs as I wonder if it is a water temp thing. Seems to me the water stayed very warm late this year and if I recall last year as well. This past weekend was the first time since almost July that I have seen surface temps below 65. I did hook my last albie November 5th last year so hopefully there is time left. Headed to Harkers in November so hopefully they will get a good run.

Sean

[fmw]

I've noticed a general trend that the albies haven't been around quite as much in each of the years since 2002 (a great year). Each year since '02 they seem to start later and later and have been gone by third week or so in October rather than hanging till beginning of November. Alot of this may be perception as a result of weather issues (ie, not getting out for weeks at a time). This year Ithey've been pretty spotty everytime I've been out. The one day they were great, it was only for about 3 hours and then they totally disappeared..

[pjgaff]

my experiences this season would lead me to disagree with bclancy's post ONLY regarding his thoughts about bluefish and albies not feeding together. i fished with a captain off of montauk on a sloppy day on 9/23 and we had blues and albies feeding together throughout the day...albeit sporadically. also, just last saturday, while fishing from a friend's boat off of Watch hill, we had a great day catching albies in amongst a school of bluefish. lost alot of flies, but caught our share of albies too. don't know where that school went, but they weren't around on sunday. it seems to me this season that everything is later than its usual cycle, and that we've seen many more 1's and 2's on the surface where in the past we'd see schools of fish on a sustained surface feed. those shots haven't been there for us this season, which has lead us to instead go to an area and stay and wait and hope...

[joshr]

I wouldn't make too much of the albie/blue issue...over the years I have seen lots of all out blue blitzes with lots of albies along the fringe and lots of blue blitzes/boils in tight with massive albie boils just a few yards further off.

The albies have definitely shown a lot later the last 2 or 3 years, but I remember in the mid-90s they tended to show mid-Sept too...in late 90s'/early00s, there were a few years where they showed around Labor Day in catchable numbers, so maybe it's cyclical.

The most dramatic change I've observed over the last 12 years is that we used to consistently get them thick outside Fort Pond, especially early in the season, and under the cliffs between Fort Pond and Napeague. Years ago I had some banner days back as far as Acabonac harbor and have even caught them inside Acabonac (fun!), and the very first one I ever caught was just outside the 3 Mile Harbor jetty. The last several years, they just haven't gone into those parts of the bay, at least in any real numbers--only north of Gardiners to Eastern Plains Pt. Weird.

[albacized]

I'm a shorebound fisherman in up in New England and I too have noticed a downward trend with albies. 2 years ago, I caught 50 albies (and probably lost about as many), last year I caught 17 albies (and lost 5 others), and this year, I've caught one and had two other hits w/no hook ups. My hopes (at least up here in New England) is that the rain that came in the late Spring hurt this year's various bait hatches but given that we don't see the same amount of rain next year, we start to see some improvement with the bait and hence, the fish. I'm very disappointed in this season, yet I'm thanking my lucky stars that I was able to land my only hookup of the season.

[flysully]

Albies? Almost non existent on the Vineyard the last two weeks of September when, in years past, it wasn't a problem casting to them in all the usual spots. Last year on the Vineyard, shore fishing was spotty. This year, in the above time slot, no one was catching anything from shore. Hours upon hours of blind casting in the best albie spots without a splash or hookup. Even top notch flyfishermen caught maybe ONE albie in a week or two from shore. They just weren't around. The good news is that this past week it seems the albies have appeared and fishing from shore has improved. Usually at this time of year, they are getting ready to leave the Vineyard shores. I'm sensing a "trend" towards albies finding a new route along the Eastern seacoast. Maybe further offshore? Without a boat, I can't be certain but that's my two cents worth. Comments?

[Eric L]

I generally shorefish ACK for a week every year -- sometime between mid Sept and the 1st week of Oct. This year I got out there the last week of Sept and was informed by "the regulars" that fishing had to improve, because it could'nt get any worse. :rolleyes: I did'nt see an albie until my 4th morning fishing and ended up with 1 landed, a couple of short hookups and a few missed shots in 7 AMs fishing at and around a usually productive location. Word has it that the fishing improved significantly after I left :mad:

In contrast:

2001, 2nd week of Sept: many spanish mackeral, a few albies
2003, 3rd week Sept: LOTS of albies and SM
2004: 3rd week Sept: LOTS of albies and SM
2005: 3rd week Sept: 3 albies in a week of fishing, no SM caught (a few seen) 3-5 lb bluefish in abundance

My personal experiences, limited as they may be, would seem to be in agreement with a later arrival of albies inshore the last 2 years. As a scientist, I know that the later arrival of inshore FA the last couple of years may be due to different independent variables and, thus, may not consititute a real trend. Still, when I plan my annual outing for next year it's going to include some fishing days in early October... :cool:

Eric

[Sedotti]

It's obvious that both albies and bonito have gone into a "down" cycle in the Northeast. There were few albies around in the mid eighties, then they steadily increased in numbers through the 90's to the year 2000 or so, and then the numbers have trailed off to what you see today. You see fewer schools of small and medium sized bass than you did a few years ago too. Bluefish, which were gangbusters in both numbers and size in the early to mid 80's and then after that dropped in numbers (as albies and numbers of bass gained) are now once again more prolific. Looks like we have an up cycling population of bluefish. Lots of schools of big bass remain around the northeast too. Looks cyclical to me.

Mark Sedotti

[tommat]

My take on this all has to do with the offshore weather pattens over the past few months. It was either a tropical storm or hurricane that passed us by here in Jersey, what seemed like week after week. I believe that it changed the migration of the bait and or albies and they just never came in shore in big numbers....

[JGH]

My sense is that this fall has been kind of poor generally, though there have been a few good days and is some time left on the clock. With respect to albies, in particular, I have to wonder whether the increased fishing pressure over the last several years has anything to do with that apparent down-cycle. These fish are, fortunately, not commercially harvested, but it seems to me that because of that we know less about their habits and history than, say, stripers or bluefish (a point made in Tom Gilmore's book). As a result, my guess is that we really have no idea what's going on with them -- whether they have taken a new migratory route so that they are not in the usual northeast spots in large numbers, whether their numbers are dramatically down, or some other factor. But I sure hope they come back next year.

[albacized]

My sense is that this fall has been kind of poor generally, though there have been a few good days and is some time left on the clock. With respect to albies, in particular, I have to wonder whether the increased fishing pressure over the last several years has anything to do with that apparent down-cycle. These fish are, fortunately, not commercially harvested, but it seems to me that because of that we know less about their habits and history than, say, stripers or bluefish (a point made in Tom Gilmore's book). As a result, my guess is that we really have no idea what's going on with them -- whether they have taken a new migratory route so that they are not in the usual northeast spots in large numbers, whether their numbers are dramatically down, or some other factor. But I sure hope they come back next year.

Someone mentioned on this board that the numbers are really only down on the inshore front....from the shipping lanes on out, the numbers of albies (and bonito) are high. I really think it's just a bait issue and hopefully, as some have speculated, it was due to the rains of this past spring and provided we don't experience another spring with heavy rain, things should rebound. I also know that offshore, there was a lot of sand eels with bass and tuna on their tails (figuratively and literally).