False Albacore in the Western Sound

It never ceases to amaze me, that False Albacore, Albies, Little Tunny’s, Euthynnus alletteraturs, or whatever you choose to call them, find their way past Block Island, past Montauk, head west and wind up zig zagging their way through to the waters off Fairfield, Westport, and Norwalk.  A stone’s throw off the beaches that my 3-year-old explores when the tide recedes, feeding frenzies of a species of Tuna are taking place.  Not only are a Tuna species in range of a toddlers play area, but they can be caught on a fly rod.  Often, when I show a picture to a non-fishing friend their response is “you caught that here, in the sound!?” Sure did.

 False Albacore can swim almost 40mph, if ever there was a light tackle or fly target built for fun, they are it.  Screaming runs, violent eats, and fast paced action. What’s most rewarding about chasing these fish with a fly is that every action counts, so when your tail grabbing one on the side of the boat, you know you did everything right.  Line can’t be tangled, casts cannot be errant, the fly cannot be the wrong size or color, knots and leaders must be tied properly – most importantly, an angler’s composure must be kept intact.

 This all happens in the Fall, in my opinion, the best time to be an angler in New England.  This year our first encounter was late September.  After a full day of scouting the local waters for Albies and catching a few decent Striped Bass, my friend Patrick O’Donnell and I turned the skiff West to head home.  One splash on the water was all it took to slam the throttle shut, grab a rod, and drift towards the aforementioned splash.  Another explosion on the surface, another, Albies.  As Hemmingway once said referring to trout under a bridge, in his simplistic brilliance, “The fish were there.”  And here they were, a cast away, Pat managed to make it count, a strong cast across the feeding fish and back through the school.   A rod bends, the drag sings, and shortly a beautiful football full of muscle, trained by swimming thousands of miles in the Atlantic, was now shimmering in the mid day sun held just above the gunwale.  All we got was one, but that was the first one of the season, the most important one. The first photo in the gallery below is the fish mentioned here.