September 27, 2018 Better late than Never (ALBIES ARRIVE!)

I am happy, and relieved to report; Albies have arrived locally according to a few sources. I have not been able to get out this week because of work, obligations, and weather.  Hopefully they stick around for a while.

September 24, 2018 Still NO ALBIES...But More Optimistic

After hearing reports of albies as close as Milford, and Port Jefferson, NY on Saturday and Sunday I am much more optimistic about them just being late rather than not showing at all.  In fact the Eastern side of the state saw a significant influx in albies over the last few days which bodes well for us in Western sound, because usually after a few days of a strong Easterly blow and a full moon, traditionally the ablies should be headed our way, one can only hope.

When I went out Sunday morning I had hopes of covering a lot of ground based on the forecast of 5 mph winds, however I was met with significantly different conditions once I left the harbor.  Strong winds from the East of at least 10-15 mph and steady 2 footers with an occasional 3 footer mixed made traveling anywhere difficult on my boat.  I did see many birds diving for the plethora of bait stacked up off Westport.  There were even blues breaking on the surface which made for a very fall like mood.  The small blues almost tricked me into thinking the albies had arrived.  There was a fleet of boats all with the hard tails in mind circling the area, with little to show for their efforts.  Hopefully this is the week that we finally see some hard tail action!

September 21, 2018 (NO ALBIES!)

I am very reluctant to make this post because I keep hoping that any day will be the day when the albies invade the western sound.  Unfortunately that has not yet happened.  Supposedly there are a few pods around, that  a few fisherman have spotted, but those are very few and far between.  I have been out a handful of times and I have not come across anything that I could positively say was in fact a false albacore.  The only positive reports that I have heard of have come from online fishing reports from Fisherman's world.  I have only heard of one, 1st hand account of a local fisherman seeing albies feeding in the area.  At this same time last year we landed over 20 albies on my boat.  I have kept a log for the last 4 seasons and this is the only year that I have not seen an albie at this time yet. I am very concerned, because they are my all time favorite fish to catch.  Older, more experienced fisherman have reminded me that false albacore are never a guarantee.  The last 4 years just so happens, have been the best showing of albies in the western sound in recent history.  There have been plenty of years where they have not shown up at all.  The bottom line is, we have just gotten used to them showing up and that is not the norm.  I just hope that some how, we get a few schools to wander this way so we can get an opportunity to connect with one of the best fighting pelagic fish that graces our waters.

There is an abudance of bait in the Western sound; peanut bunker,silversides, and rainbait.  I have witnessed a blitz of small bass just outside the islands where we caught them on epoxy jigs.  I also got in on some small bluefish blitzing behind cockenoe.  I traveled all the way to middleground lighthouse, and had nothing more to show for it than some sea bass and XL porgies.