Intro | Fat Alberts | Tackle | Albaclousers | Presenting the Fly | Releasing Albacore

Presenting the Fly

I think that presentation is more important than the choice of flies. For albacore to see the fly, you must put it in front of or in the midst of a feeding pod of fish. Whether flies are moved as fast as possible or in a series of short, erratic jerks depends on the day and the feeding mood of the fish. I have often cast a fly into a pod of fish and had it taken on the first or second strip, indicating that the fly was grabbed while it was falling or fluttering with little movement. Vary your retrieve speed and cadence.

Many of my angling brethren from New Jersey and farther north almost automatically fish false albacore with a two-handed retrieve. The reel and rod handle are placed under the arm and the angler uses both hands to quickly strip line into a shooting basket. It's an effective technique, but for Outer Banks albacore, a traditional single-handed stripping technique is just as effective.

Whether you use the two-handed or more traditional one-handed method, it is important to clear your line cleanly from either a shooting basket or the boat deck when the fish takes. The high-speed start-up of a hooked albacore often causes line to jump through the guides, making a loop or unwanted knot more than a possibility.

Albacore are easy to hook, since most flies are tied on relatively small hooks with the barbs mashed down. A few jabs are sufficient to set the hook. Fight albacore the way you would any strong, large fish. After the initial long run, pressure the fish as much as possible until you have recovered your backing.

Once you have the fly line back on the reel, fight with your rod tip low to the water. When the fish goes left, your rod tip should be low to the water and to the right. When the fish goes right, your rod tip should be low to the water and to the left. Keeping the entire fly line in the water and applying pressure in the direction opposite to the fish's direction can subdue albacore and other strong fish much faster.

Even though anglers with a boat do have more options because they can follow schools of fish, I would rather wade for albacore. Remember that the water temperature will be around 60 degrees, so whether you are fishing the surf or wading a flat, you'll need to wear neoprene waders. Patient wading anglers are more often than not rewarded with albacore that return to the same location over and over again. Savvy wading anglers fishing near a concentration of baitfish can usually have many shots at slashing albacore during the course of the tide.

Long casts are often unnecessary, because albacore can erupt right under your feet whether you are fishing on foot or from a boat. However, anglers who can throw a long line with a tight loop have an advantage when it is necessary to punch a fly into a stiff breeze. More important than distance is the ability to cast quickly and accurately.

Anglers who can cast quickly in all directions using both the forward cast and backcast to deliver the fly will be most successful in this run- and gun-type fishing. Albacore move quickly, slashing and turning. They do not (like bonefish or redfish) move by slowly waving their tails in the air.

Tom Earnhardt lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is the author of Fly Fishing the Tidewaters and Boats for Fishermen.

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