Albies

[sandfly]

they are getting albie's at I.B.S.P. and seaside

 

[David]

Albies are awesome to catch!

 

[Bosshog]

Offshore or off the beach?

 

[sandfly]

on the beaches

 

[Fishidiot]

Dang! I can never time this right. :-(

Hope some PAFF folks can get hooked up with Fat Albert - it's tough at the NJ shore for a guy on terra firma.

 

[marcq]

Pretty difficult fish to come by for us shore bound guys. The only real shots we have are off some of the jetties and inlets in the northern part of the state. Im sure the guys catching the are using long surf rods and lite braid like an a deadly **** or some kind of teaser.

 

[sandfly]

I have caught them right on the beach Marc, they come in for the bait within 10 of you. this is a perfect year for them to come in with all the bait that is inshore. I fish for them just north of gillikins and behind the maintenance shack when ever I can get there.

 

[ebroesicke]

Had them in close @ Sandy hook, but didn't hook up. Just depends on the bait situation.

 

[marcq]

Like I said it dosent happen often not that it is impossible. In most cases they stay outside of that first bar. If I was to target them in I would got to the hook or breezy point manasquan gets them to but the north jetty is almost impossible to fly fish.

 

[ebroesicke]

Marc:

you are right, the # of places they come close is way less than where bass and blues show up.

What flies do you like for them? I am on a quest to get one, which should be damn near impossible since I usually only hit the NJ salt 1 time a year.

 

[geebee]

small jetties tend to be a good place to intercept them.

or drive the beach.

 

[marcq]

The general rule of thumb is to match the hatch with albies as is with most other fish but albies are very picky fish. As of now the fish are mostly on rain bait and mullet. Mostly rain bait. This mean bay anchovies and spearing. The best pattern would be foil flies or just some craft fur tied in a high tie style. Take a clump of white craft fur and tie it in. Pick out the short and really long fibers then another clump leave the longer fibers in to give it a nice taper the some gray about as long as the second white clump and then tan on top. As some silver or gold flash and epoxy the head and add eyes. For silver sides just use gray instead of tan.
If I could figure out how to post pics I would but really cant figure it out. They should be between 2 and 4 inches. Look up high tie anchovy. Its simple to tie and look like an anchovy.

 

[PhilC]

Marc...how many albies have you caught on the beach so far?

 

[marcq]

None fly fishing. Never had the opportunity presents with a fly rod in my hand. Surf fishing five or six or deadly ****s or teasers. This probably three years ago. This is the first time ive seen ablies in such numbers close to shore. When I did catch them it was a small pack of them that just popped up in front of me. And in most cases from shore once you see them its already to late.

 

[SNJChef]

no albies today but hit alot of blues and 6 stripers, 3 keepers. We are going for weakies tonight.

 

[ebroesicke]

Just a guess but S nj?

 

[RichF]

Went to Seaside Park/IBSP this am fly fishing the beaches - Perfect weather conditions but no fish. I did not see anybody else having any luck either.

 

[sandfly]

if you see albie's on the beach at a certain place and tide/time, then there's a good chance they'll be there the next day an hour later. 2bit road to Gilligan's is always a good area for them, have to walk a lot though. behind governor's mansion is a good place to find them.

 

[vcregular]

Time on the water for the albies. Just go. This year seems like a good one so far.

1998 - South Jetty Barnegat - I got one on the fly. Columbus Day. First day of a NE wind. Bass, blues and albies along the rocks. Amazing day, and I probably will never experience a day like that again.

Then there was one year on MV - Big Bridge. There were rafts of peanuts rolling out of the pond, and every 30 minutes or so the albies would blow them up. This was mid-September. Most fish came on the blind. They are an incredible fish to catch on the fly from shore.

East Beach on Chappy is blowing up right now. Like i said, it appears to be a good year. Just got to put in the time, which is tough to come by right now.