My wife and I were able to sneak away from the baby for a couple of hours to get on the albie bite that I heard from a few people was on, inside the islands. We focused mainly in the small bays between the islands and the Norwalk/ Westport shoreline. The albies were there, but difficult to locate because theY infrequently popped up.
When they did, I was able to notice that there were small pods of no more than 10 fish popping up 5 to 10 mins apart. The fish, would on occasion stay up for 30 seconds or more, which allowed us to motor up and get a cast into the breaking fish. My wife seemed to have the magic touch that day because she hooked and landed 2, while I got none. We were both using Hogy Epoxy jigs, in the same size. Hers was silver. Mine was bone, that could have been the difference. I even switched up the color a few times to electric chicken and pink, but that did not work. Her casts were on point, directly into the mix, and she got bit almost instantly each time. We were surprised to see a 4-5" peanut bunker flop out of the mouth of the first albie when Diana was about to release it. So, don't be afraid to throw larger profile baits. I think it helps to grab the attention of the fish quicker.
It was a great day on the water spent with my wife. Her and I have not gotten a chance to fish together much because one of us (usually, Diana) needs to be home to watch the baby. I am fortunate in the sense that I get to spend every afternoon with baby, where as my wife looks forward to the weekend so she and Lucy can spends some quality time together. It was a very special day for me, Diana is my favorite person to fish with, because her enthusiasm when she hooks an albie is contagious, as you can see by the huge smile on her face in the pics.
What is important to note is that while the albie fishing on the CT side of the sound has been on fire one day, desolate the next the patterns of the fish are still on track. What I mean is that usually this time of year they can be found inside the islands, and that is where we found them. However talking to a friend who went out the next day, they were gone. Once again, while I really don't know for sure the reasoning behind there extreme presence and then extreme absence, I think it has a lot to do with wind direction and temperature. This year it has been much warmer into October than years past. Which in my opinion has delayed their infiltration further into the sound and deeper within the islands as apposed to years past where they were somewhat more consistent.
As you may know certain winds are better for fishing in certain areas. One saying that holds true for the Western sound is:
"When it blows from the west, the fish bite best,
When it blows from the east, the fish bite least
When it blows from the south, it blows the bait right in their mouth."
In my opinion a west wind or south wind (with moderation) proves to offer the best all around fishing opportunities for this area.
