How To: Fish the Surf for False Albacores
- Notes: Targeting Albies from shore can be challenging due to the pelagic behavior of fast moving Albie schools. Prime locations like jetties and deep water adjacent to shore often offer the best success and most consistent opportunities for success. When targeting Albies from shore, you’ll want to utilize Hogy’s long-range casting metals and Epoxy Jig Lures.
- When: For Northeast anglers, the official kickoff for Albie season is September 1st, though the past several years, fish have begun showing up in sparse schools mid to late August.
- How: Many shore anglers prefer to lighten up their casting outfits to maximize casting range with lures in the 1/2oz to 2oz range. Rods ranging from 8-foot to 11-foot paired with lighter 20lb braided line offer significant increases in casting distance. When finicky Albies are feeding close to shore, we recommend using the lightest usable Epoxy Jig Lure for the conditions at hand, often within the 7/8oz or 1.25oz sizes. These smaller profile Epoxy Jigs offer the most imitative finish and draw strikes from the most finicky of Albies. When Albies venture further from shore and are feeding in strong onshore winds, our small profiled long casting metals, like the Hogy Heavy Minnow Jig and Peanut Bunker Jig offer extreme casting range on appropriate outfits. The Hogy Epoxy Jig Lures, Heavy Minnow Jig and Peanut Bunker Jig are fished with a medium-fast retrieve near the surface, allowing the lure to occasionally skip across the surface. A short pause and twitch can be used to trigger a reaction strike from fish following the jig back to shore.
