A variety of soft plastics rigged unweighted and weighted.
Whichever way you add weight to a soft plastic, do this only when conditions call for it, whether it be wind, or just a pod of fish that seems to be boat-shy and stays just outside the limited casting range that soft plastics allow. To be sure, on calm days when the fish are picky, unweighted plastics seem to produce best.
Soft plastics come in a wide variety of shapes, colors and sizes. A standard 4-inch bait, particularly one that imitates a minnow with a forked tail, is the most effective. Because albies rise to corral baitfish at the surface and are accustomed to looking upward at their forage (thus keying on the white undersides) I’ve found that colors such as pearl, white, silver and any of the multitude of similar shades are among the hottest colors.
Above all, make sure to switch out your lure often. Soft plastics are not indestructible, and if clipped short or torn around the head so that it slides down and “bunches up” near the hook bend, it is shot. And be sure to rig a lure straight and true so that it rides straight in the water, without twisting. Top-rated soft-plastic hooks include super-sharp Gamakatsu and Owner Cutting Point in a wide-gap, offset-worm in size 2/0 and 3/0 with a black finish. There are more brands popping up all the time.
As far as rigging goes, I tie on 18 inches of 20-pound-test fluorocarbon leader and tie on my lure with a loop knot for freedom of movement. A small, black snap-swivel on the main line makes changing lure/leader combos fast and easy.
Tackle-wise, you’ll need a light outfit to cast unweighted soft plastics to albies. Choose a high-capacity spinning reel with a good drag system and match it to a 6 1⁄2- to 7 1⁄2-foot, medium/light-action graphite rod. Anglers are slowly discovering that rods up to 8 feet in length can aid in the distance department; however, that advantage seems to be more likely on windless days. Fill your reel with 10- to 12-pound mono, or, better yet, 20-pound braided line for maximum distance.
Albacore Alley
False albacore, nicknamed “apple knockers” in some parts of the Northeast because they arrive when the apples ripen and drop, are officially called “little tunny” and were once considered a trash fish in the region. Now, however, albies are highly prized light-tackle fish, and command much attention each fall. From late August through October, countless pods of apple knockers gather along a chain of small landmasses at the mouth of Long Island Sound. This stretch of water, locally known as “albacore alley,” holds fish like clockwork each autumn while other regional spots remain hit-and-miss.
These structures start at Watch Hill, Rhode Island, and run southwesterly along New York’s Fishers Island, Great Gull and Little Gull islands, Plum Island and end at Orient Point. Famous rips as the Race, the Sluiceway and Plum Gut are bottlenecking waters that surge from depths of over 300 feet to less than 30 feet in spots.
Spotting fish along Albacore Alley is one thing, hooking and landing one is quite another. Hunting albies generally entails cruising likely stretches—usually along the uptide side of rips or within several hundred yards of rocky shorelines—searching for breaking fish and diving terns and gulls.
Unweighted jerkbait fooled this surface-breaking fish.
“Birds working are a prime indicator of albies,” says Ned Kittredge, a top Southern New England charter captain, “but not always. Many times the fish are present, and the only signs are fish breaking. So you have to look carefully, especially in rough water.”
“They feed differently than bluefish because they simply swim faster. Bluefish rise vertically and make circular splashes while albies feed in an undulating travel pattern and make diagonal or slashing breaks. Albies pop up in one spot, vanish and then are almost instantly 50 or 100 yards away while bluefish generally stay at home.
Once you locate a pod of fish, your first option is to run to the school and make a quick cast or two before it moves or settles. At times you’ll keep the boat on plane just to stay with a fast-feeding cluster, which can top 25 miles per hour. This technique, called the “run-and-gun,” is most successful with larger schools that remain in one spot for more than a few minutes.
