Fast schools of false albacore invade the New Jersey coast
It’s the end of August and the False Albacore are here like clockwork.
It’s hard to pinpoint their exact arrival time, but on Wednesday, boat captains started reporting them. It’s probably a combination of the change in wind direction and the late summer buildup of bait that’s causing the speedsters to zip over the offshore lumps and into the offshore water, making for electrifying fishing.
Greg Cudnik of Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom was heading to flounder some small wrecks off the north end of Island Beach State Park when a small school of albies appeared in front of his boat. With him on board were Carey Harmon, Ian Harmon and James DeMatteis. They followed the fish north, jigging the schools, and by the time the short school subsided, they had landed eight fish. Cudnik said the albies were in 25 to 30 feet of water.
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Captain Howard Bogan on the party fishing boat Jamaica caught some false albacore between 6 and 12 miles from Manasquan Inlet. The biggest fish he pulled in weighed 8 pounds. He also pulled in a bunch of bluefish and bonito. Bogan said his high hooks caught 30 fish. The fish were caught on bait and jigs, but small metals certainly drew the most attention. Bogan said almost everyone used Epxoy jigs or AVA jigs in sizes 017 and 027.
The albies had not yet come within casting distance of the surf and pier hoppers, but the bonito and bluefish had. Both fish come with the tide to the schools of bait that gather at the mouth of the bays. Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle reported a bonito catch off the north pier of Manasquan Inlet Thursday morning.
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Before he left, Cudnik said they stayed in the Barnegat Inlet for a few more hours and caught tons of 4- to 8-pound bluefish. Cudnik said some larger bluefish have moved in because before Wednesday he was catching the smaller, cocktail-sized varieties. Cudnik said the bay and inlet are full of peanut bunker, spearfish and rainfish, or anchovies as they are also called.
Captain Dave DeGennaro of the charter boat Hi Flier is fishing for bleak in Barnegat Bay. He took a group of anglers out and baited the bleak with grass shrimp in the oil slick. He said they used light 6-pound tackle and had a lot of bites. Three of the bleak they reeled in were the legal size of 13 inches. They also dropped another one next to the boat that they were allowed to keep.
The fishing was virtually non-stop as his group also caught flounder, blue snapper, grouper, spotted bass and sand sharks as fishing in the bay reaches its peak.
When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel isn’t covering the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he’s a history professor. Reach him at @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; [email protected].
