Harkers Albie Season

[jrzfly]

What's the fall Harkers Albie season run. Has the run been stretched out longer, here in NJ we have had a warm 2 weeks putting a gap in the striper run. Or totaly diffrent down there?

[albiechaser]

What's the fall Harkers Albie season run. Has the run been stretched out longer, here in NJ we have had a warm 2 weeks putting a gap in the striper run. Or totaly diffrent down there?

its prime time right now, theres albies tobe had all winter at the shoals, 2 days of temps in the 60s brings them right back in close, just need to pick your days, thats tough liven out of state. lol
our resident albies stay off shore all year around 10 miles out.
this time of year if we get a deep freeze they move out till it warms up again.
I see your a jersey boy, man do I miss the weakfish action we used to have up there, jumpin those pylons at manasquan was a trip, we had no fear, and the monster stripers out of spring lake and off the seabright wall was awesome at night with eels , I fished that area for over 25 years,
been down here for 15 years and love it, cant beat the fishing in nc,
have a great day
steve
ps you ever go after the muskies in the delaware? used to be great,

[jrzfly]

Steve,

Thanks for the reply, have recently discovered the NC albie fishing. Been chasing them up here in the fall, what little window we have. very spotty this year in Jersey. Growing up I did the anuual trip to Buxton for the surf fishing tournament. Didn't know there was an Albie fishery like i been reading lately. We had some speratic striper blitzes 3 weeks ago & what I thought was the begining of the striper run. One of the memorable days last month was right out the Manasquan inlet maybe 1/2 mile out, 30" stripers chasing bait pods popin up for 5 minutes, enough for you to gun it to them and get one cast off. Has been blowin the last month with little to no action. Late run hopefully or just passin us? Well, just dreamin of comin down there as it gets colder here.

[striperblues]

Guides are saying this is the worst year in a long time. More days blown off the water than in five years combined. Wreaks havoc on the ability of bait balls to form and the water is all muddied.

People traveling in from out of state need to know it's a crap shoot. Boring as hell there if you can't fish. Great people and cheap food / accomodations though.

[titleguy]

I was there from 11/6-11/11 and other than Chamber of Commerce fish, I didn't see an albert. Granted we were trying to focus on offshore ( my brother is not that much into albies, and it's his boat) It seems for me that I have one great year (1998, 2004) and two crappy ones ( 1999, 2006). We had very tough weather the whole week. If you wanted to go get beat up crossing the shoals ( other than 11/11 am- we were house cleaning) that's where the fish were. Almost nothing in the hook, and very few in the usual outside spots around the rock jetty. Still a fun trip though; I'll be back next year.

[captgordon]

It has not been good this year and I am pretty sure that, except for one or two lucky days here and there, that it is done. Don't believe the hype. I live in the middle of it and have been around it for years and you can stick a fork in it. There may be one or two good fishing days but not the reason you would want to drive 12 hours for. It is gorgeous here today and the fish are nowhere to be found.

[albiechaser]

ya I was there the past 2 days, just got home, today they were near the jetty and up to the shoals. (west side) my buddy got 9 to the boat over there, a few were hooked by wade fisherman near the jetty to, none around the hook. it was blowing on us big time today at the spit, caught 7 flounder, 200 bluefish (lol) & 3 trout, yesterday was pretty like gordon mentioned, and I didnt here of any albies caught either.
we had glass minnows spred out around us today, but no bait balls. the blues were eating good.

[captgordon]

Some big name guides are trying to get people to commit to days for albie fishing after Thanksgiving. Don't do it.

[vineyard fisher]

Captgordon,

What is the major factor for determining when the albies leave Cape Lookout? Is it water temp. or breakup of bait balls? Both? Do the albies head southward when they leave there or head east out into the open ocean?

John

[captgordon]

it seems that everytime we have a big SW blow there are fewer fish than there were before. We have had 3 or 4 (or more?) this fall and the fish just kept getting blown out more and more until there were none. you may come down here and luck out and find them one or two days but nothing to bet on. Moderate N winds for a week or more at a time are what get things going (and not the noreaster we are having now). Where they go from here there is no data just speculation.