Info:         

Cape Cod Boat Ramps
for Albie Chasers:
(No launching or parking charges.)
 
Falmouth:
Falmouth Harbor - Scranton Ave. off Route 28: all tides. (Access to Vineyard Sound closest to Woods Hole.)
 
Childs River:
Route 28: all tides. (Access to Waquoit Bay.)
 
Green Pond:
Menauhant Road: all tides. (Access to Vineyard Sound. Excellent new state ramp with floats)
 
Mashpee:
Mashpee Neck Road - Mashpee Neck Road off Great Neck Road: all tides but shallow draft only at low tide. (Access to Waquoit Bay.)

General Info:               

Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce
Rte. 6 and Rte. 132
Hyannis, MA 02601

Web:
www.capecodchamber.org
www.capecodtravelguide.com

Phone:
888-332-2732
508-362-3225

CapeCodWeb.com
CapeCodWeb.com

Fishing for False Albacore off Cape Cod                     

by Sean Mulready
photos by Sean Mulready and courtesy of Tom Folan
map courtesy of CapeCodWeb.com

You don’t need a lot of specialized gear to fish for false albacore during their late summer/early fall run along the south side of Cape Cod.

Start with

• a small boat
• some good quality light-tackle spinning gear
• an assortment of small metal lures along with a few soft plastics
• and your regular dose of Valium.

Keep the drugs in a cool, dry place until just before launching.
Take the dose before you even start the motor. If you have any luck at all, you’ll need it right away.

From any of the area launches, it’s only a few minutes to the waters of Vineyard or Nantucket Sounds, and that means you may be only a few minutes away from the albie action.

The spectacular speed, power and beauty of these fish draws anglers back to the Cape each September to chase after a quarry which can sometimes be difficult to find, is often maddeningly tough to hook and is nearly always cited as the worst tasting fish in the sea.

When the albies are around, you’ll often see them porpoising out of the water after their prey. Above them, the small fall gulls and sharp winged terns will be giving you all the notice you need that the fish are nearby.

Gone Fishing                            

I took my wife, Verna, out to try her luck this September on a perfect morning with a running tide, bright sun and light winds.

We launched at Green Pond and slipped quickly past the jetties guarding the salt pond’s entrance. Directly ahead of us was the Vineyard. To the right, the fabled Elizabeth Islands and, out of sight off to the left, Nantucket. In between, there wasn’t a fish, a bird or a fishing boat in sight.

We raced across to fish Middle Ground Shoals, a long, sandy ridge running east and west just off the Vineyard. We confirmed that not only couldn’t we see any fish in the sound, but we couldn’t mark any on the fishfinder either. We cast blindly for a few minutes and decided to run the few miles across to Woods Hole and up into Buzzards Bay.

Nothing.

We explored around Hadley Harbor and the south side of Naushon Island before giving up and deciding to run up to Waquoit and picnic on the beach just inside the jetties.

We ran past Green Pond and started to turn into the flow of the Waquoit channel when I noticed something off to the east. I grabbed the binoculars. With them, I could see clearly a number of small boats just a few miles down the coast off of South Cape Beach. That could mean lots of things, but the people in these open boats were all standing up. That meant albies.

Lunch got delayed.

We headed east. As we approached, I could see fish breaking from just off the beach to about a half mile offshore. Anglers were chasing after small pods that would emerge sporadically, splash after some bait and then disappear a few minutes later.

Chasing after these fish and getting right on top of them is a good way to guarantee getting skunked.

The Chase is On                         

We tried to slip in below what looked to be a charter fly fishing boat working on a small school of albies, and soon found some fish coming close to us. They broke up quickly, and we moved away from the other boats, hoping for another shot.

Within minutes, fish started breaking just 25 yards away. Verna took her rod and flipped the blue Maria lure towards the blitzing albies. She groaned about missing the cast, but was onto a fish just an instant later.

Being "onto" an albie is unlike most fishing experiences. They have speed unlike most other fish, reportedly being capable of bursts of 40 miles per hour. Verna’s fish looked like it could do that and more. It raced away from the boat for 40 or 50 yards in just seconds. The drag screamed in protest, but kept the 12-pound line running out smoothly.

Suddenly, the line went limp.

Verna thought the fish was lost. I could see the line still moving in the water and advised her to reel as fast as she could. She cranked the Penn 4500SS hard. Suddenly, the medium action St Croix rod bent double once again, and the gear resumed it’s high pitched whine as the fish seemed to instantly be on the other side of the boat and still 50 or 60 yards away.

Gotcha!                                   

Twice more the fish raced from one side of the boat to the other before sounding nearly right below us. Verna handled it well, pushing the rod tip down and away from the boat, allowing the line to stay clear of the hull each time the fish made a pass. A few minutes later, the fish came nearer the surface, circled the boat several times and finally came to the net.

It was exhausted. Verna was, too. But, getting her first albie ever made her feel a bit better.

We got a quick picture, released the fish catch back into the clear waters of the sound, and resumed the chase for the worst-tasting, best-fighting fish that small boaters around New England get a chance to pursue.

Gear for Albie Chasers
According to Charter Captain Roger Swiderski, Falmouth

Spinning Gear:

• Use small metals like Deadly Dicks, Marias, Kastmasters and Hopkins Smoothies sized to whatever baitfish seem to be around.
• Cast in front of a school or directly into one if you can without moving the boat too close. Jig and crank these to simulate fleeing baitfish.
• For plastics, try Sluggoes or seven-inch Hogies in white or tan. They can be tossed and cranked quickly back to a rod with the tip held low.

Fly Gear:

• 7-10 weight rods with reels that feature a good drag and hold at least 200 yards backing.
• Lines are intermediate and sinking lines with 34-foot sink tips.
• Top off that line with three to five feet of 10- to 15-pound test fluorocarbon leaders.
• Flies can be small (one- to 1.5-inch) when the bait is tiny but, at times, three- to four-inch "bunker" patterns are a better pick. Swiderski carries epoxy sand eels, deceivers, Gummy minnows, crease flies and poppers. In yellow, white and green patterns.

Casting:

• Casting can be direct with a rapid strip back to the boat. More often, Swiderski recommends casting in front of a moving school of albies, letting the line sink, twitching it once or twice and then slowly retrieving it.