There were lots of Stripers and Bluefish that we could have chased. In fact we got a few Stripers. But, I was not there for those fish. I wanted the Bonito. Bad! I had my shot on the first day. Dan and I were walking down to one of Dan’s go to spots. As soon as we got there a fish rose in front of us. Immediately, we stripped line of our reels and we were casting to the Bonito. The bait was so thick you could walk on it. Waves and waves of Peanut Bunker and Silver Sides fleed from the various predatory fish. The Bonito ripped up and down and I chased them. They tore through the bait and pushed it on the wall. I finally got one pod of fish that stayed put for about 9 seconds, and that is an eternity in Bonito/Albie time. I got a cast into them and a Bonito took the fly, but he took it short. He was gone and he took his friends with him. So, we decided to try our luck in Dan’s Boat. We left the fish to find fish. Looking back, that was our pushed through the chop. We had no luck in the boat. It was strange. All of the spots that should have been a sure thing were dead. Very strange. Pete showed up the next day and we fly fished for the Bonito hard. Zero, the bait was there and everything was perfect except for the fact that there were no Bonito. All we were able to spot and catch were Stripers. Pete called it quits and headed out and I sat there. I waited. I waited some more and then waited some more. They never showed. My last day found me up early and looking for the Bonito. Again, only Stripers. I ran into 3 Bonito/Albie addicts and we sat around talking for a bit. They said, “You should have been here the other day around 3:00pm. Things lit right up and the Bonito were everywhere. We each got 2 fish.” Of course, that was the day that Dan and I decided to go out in the boat in the afternoon. Had we stayed where we were, things might have been different. Oh well, that’s the name of the game. I was talking to these Bonito/Albie addicts for awhile and they said that the key to their success is patience. One guy said to me, “The difference between us and other guys is that we have undying patience. We will sit mistake. We got in the boat and the wind picked up. I got bounced around and my kidneys felt like they were going to erupt as Dan and wait for 9 hours straight. We watch all the other guys show up with their fly rods and make a few casts. Sometimes they get lucky and show up when the fish are there. But, most of the time they come and go and we just wait it out.” So, I am already biting my nails waiting for my next Albie trip down to Rhode Island. I already have a few days planned and Jason is coming with me. We will find the fish and we will wait.
Book
- Alaska
- Guide & Fisherman
- Guiding: Choosing Your Guide And Choosing Your Customer
- Guiding: Do It Yourself With A Guide
- Guiding: Evolution Of A Guide
- Guiding: Freshwater, More Than Meets The Eye
- Guiding: Friends For Life
- Guiding: Know Where You Are
- Guiding: More Than Just A Fisherman
- Guiding: Mystery Of The Fisherman
- Guiding: Payment
- Guiding: Saltwater, A Different World
- Rough Fish
- Fly Fishing For Rough Fish: Why Do It?
- Introduced Rough Fish: The Carps & Other Invasive Species
- Methodology: Gear & Tactics For Pursuing Roughfish On A Fly
- More Roughfish: Bullheads, Whitefish, Goldeye, Burbot & Drum
- Rough Fish Environments: Where To Look For Rough Fish?
- Rough Fish Species: The Suckers
- Rough fish: A Lifetime Of Learning
- Rough Fish: Fishing For Dinosaurs (Gars & Bowfin)
- Rough Fish: What Are They?
- The Hook: Some Common Rough Fish Fly Patterns
- Spey
- Spey: Applications, Where Can You Do It?
- Spey: Atlantic Salmon, A Significant Fish
- Spey: Defined And Demystified
- Spey: Gear, The Nuts And Bolts
- Spey: Lines, They Are That Important
- Spey: Steelhead, New Traditions & A Modern Movement
- Spey: The Energy
- Spey: The Flies
- Spey: The Swing
- Spey: Two Critical Casts
- Striped Bass
- Striped Bass: Fishing Rocky Shorelines
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Beaches
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Flats
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Reefs
- Striped Bass: Fishing Tidal Rivers
- Striped Bass: Flatwing Swing
- Striped Bass: Fly Line Options & Choices
- Striped Bass: Gear, The Nuts & Bolts
- Striped Bass: Migration Patterns
- Striped Bass: What They Eat
- The Art Of Escape
- Fly Fishing: A Natural Drug
- Fly Fishing: A Validation Of Freedom
- Fly Fishing: Don’t Fight The Current
- Fly Fishing: It Is What It Is
- Fly Fishing: Socialization For Asocial Individuals
- Fly Fishing: The Allure Of The Fish
- Fly Fishing: The Art Of Escape
- Fly Fishing: The Simplicity Of It All
- Fly Fishing: Time Flies
- Fly Fishing: Times You Remember & Try To Forget
Jason – can’t wait for you to come – we are gonna find those albies and the rewards will be sweet when that albie takes one of our flies …… ps… bait is in thick in maine and stripers/bluefish/blue finn tuna are THICK. THICK. should be good all up and down the eastern sea board when you come.
Snap thats a bummer, you missed ’em. I know that is not you style to wait it out you like to hunt them down. Better luck next time.
A Valient try. I know how you sufferred for those fish.It was not to be.
joey – your right — its not my style to wait it out. AND – sometimes it pays off…i go to another spot and do better than the spot i left…so, its just a simple matter of you can’;t win everytime. so this time – moving did not pay off. but —- it has paid off sooo many times when steelheading. then again.. how bout the time we were fly fishing our favorite winter hole and we said,”oh – there is nothing in here – let’s go down stream.” then we came back up by the run and that dude had a huge steelie….oh well…i guess both theories are right…sometimes it pays to stay and sometimes it pays to leave…its always a gamble.