False albacore provide North Carolina fishermen with plenty of action in the fall

False albacore visit North Carolina’s nearshore waters in the fall, offering anglers some great, sporting battles.

Sight-fish with spinning or fly tackle, or troll with small, shiny spoons, and tie into a feisty false albacore

Known as little tunny, false albacore and, informally, Fat Alberts, the fish that goes by the scientific name Euthunnus alletteratus is abundant up and down the Atlantic coast and even south to Brazil and east to Africa. They hunt in packs and often are mixed in schools with small yellowfin, blackfin or skipjack tuna, Atlantic bonito, Spanish mackerel and bluefish.

They’re liable to show up anywhere from the Gulf Stream to the shoreline, and along North Carolina’s coast, they’re caught from piers and boats, in the surf at Buxton’s Cape Point, and they often blitz piers at dawn and dusk. All they require is clean water with a high salinity level.

They are distinguished from other small tunas by dark, squiggly, worm-like lines their back and shoulders. The Atlantic bonito has straight lines along its upper back, and the skipjack tuna has straight lines along its sides below its lateral line. False albacore will gorge on inch-long glass minnows, silversides, sand eels and hatchet fish.

They’ll hit a 4-inch spot drifting lazy along but ignore a speedy, 4-inch lure. What they do one day, they’ll do the opposite the next — and then switch again. Tried and true methods sometimes work, or they don’t. The takeaway is if one method doesn’t produce a hit immediately, then try something else. The “immediately” part is important, because they will stop feeding as suddenly as they started and spook easily.

Capt. Daniel Jarvis fishes out of Dudley’s Marina in Swansboro has preferred locations that he fishes from New River Inlet to Rich’s Inlet and even down to Figure Eight Island near Wilmington. He knows where the rocky bottoms are, and that’s important sometimes.

“Fat Alberts are migratory,” said Jarvis, who looks for them from mid-April through May, then again in October and November. “They could be six miles out, three miles out, a half-mile out at the sea buoy or on the beach.”

He tries to find them by using more smarts and less fuel, and the first indicator is to find fish breaking the surface. Schools of glass minnows often ball up and surface in one motion.

“When the water is in the low 60s, I’ll find them working hatchet fish, but when it reaches 64, that triggers big schools of glass minnows,” said Jarvis, who carries 1-ounce diamond jigs and other  artificial lures in several colors — white is often the best. If there’s no commotion on top, he searches for birds overhead, even better if they’re diving. He’ll race to the fish, but not close enough to spook them into sounding.  If they sound, there’s no telling when they’ll resurface.

“Fat Alberts will chase a fast lure if baitfish are scattered over the surface, but not when it’s balled up,” Jarvis said. “If they’re forming balls, they won’t hit your lure off to the side, and you might spook the bait to scatter and the (fish) to sound.”

If Jarvis doesn’t see fish on the surface or birds overhead, he’ll head to any place with high structure where the fish might be feeding deep and tie on an deep-diving Yo-Zuri plug. Whether trolling on top or below, he trolls fast, using spinning gear because it’s easy to handle. His reels are loaded with 20-pound braid and 3 feet of 30-pound fluorocarbon leader,  longer than the fish to keep them from tail-wrapping in it. He ties in a snap swivel so he can change lures quickly if his first choice doesn’t work.

False albacore will often mix with larger Spanish mackerel. They might be three times bigger than the mackerel and greatly outnumbered, but they hunt happily together.

Capt. Rob Koraly fishes out of Bogue Inlet to destinations north and south for a variety of species using a variety of techniques. He targets false albacore in mid- to late September when acres of glass minnows extend from the beach out 7 or 8 miles. The fishing remains good through the fall, even into December and January. It starts out good and gets better as the water gets colder.

Koraly will chase after schools making a fuss on top and bringing in birds, but if they’re not on top and everything’s quiet, he’ll look for them deep and put his baits on rocky, livebottoms.

“The first choice is finding birds over fish on top, because that’s the most exciting,” said Koraly, who said most opportunities for sight-fishing are early in the morning.

“That’s when they’re balling up inch-long glass minnows that look like a patch of orange or brown in the water. It’s something to see them herd a couch-sized school down to a softball-sized ball in less than a minute,” he said.

“The tricky part is getting close enough to cast without causing them to sound, and it’s best to position the boat to where they’re headed. If you get too close or chase them, they’re gone just like that,” he said.

Because their prey are small, Koraly casts small lures and uses a fast retrieve to keep the bait just under the surface. He has an armory of small, metal jigs down to 3/4-ounce Sea Striker diamond jigs that can imitate an anchovy swimming fast, trying to escape. He also uses long, slender soft plastics in greens or other dark colors on a 1/4- to 5/8-ounce jighead on spinning tackle to mimic sand eels.

He will use 18 to 24 inches of 20-pound fluorocarbon leaders. If he thinks false albacore are schooling with big Spanish mackerel, he’ll often switch to 25-pound leader to avoid cutoffs, but he’ll avoid wire leaders.

“No wire means more hits,” he said, adding that a high-speed retrieve also reduces cutoffs since the fish barely reach the bait and seldom bite ahead of it.

“Sometimes bigger, simpler baits get more hits,” he said. “But a metal jig casts farther than a jighead,” he said.

Jarvis doesn’t specifically target Fat Alberts until he sees them while trolling with live bait or spoons for Spanish or king mackerel or ballyhoo for tuna and dolphin. Fat Alberts average 12 to 15 pounds, but a 20-pounder isn’t rare.

“The placement and speed of the lure makes the difference,” Koraly said. “If the schools are fast-moving, you need to work to stay ahead of them and use a long cast. Let it sink, then wind fast, pause, and then wind at full speed again, then stop.”

How fast?

“Very fast,” he said.

If they’re busting bait on top, it’s all cast, cast, cast. If they’re not busting bait on top, he switches to trolling with different spoons, plastics, weights, and so forth, ranging from a No. 00 Clark to a small Drone spoon. He also searches along tide lines and at rock and wreck sites from a half-mile to 3 miles off the beach.

Never get close or run through the school or they’ll sound,” said Koraly, who is careful when searching for them deeper around rocky bottoms, often switching his depth sounder on when he needs to  and off when he doesn’t.

“They can hear the sonar,” he said.

When he sees fish on top, he tries to get ahead of them, easing up slowly and quietly.  He screws the drag on his reels down tight, as a long fight might kill them. With a tight drag and a short fight, they survive being caught and released.

Koraly said fishing can be great through October and November or later, depending on whether glass minnows or small herring are shad are plentiful. He likes to fish Barden’s Inlet, the Cape Lookout shoals and jetties. They’ll come inside the Morehead City turning basin and gather behind Shackleford Banks.

In the spring, when they’re often mixed with Atlantic bonito, Koraly said topwater or sub-surface plugs will work. He carries Skitter Walks, Spooks or Spook Jrs. Color doesn’t matter.

DESTINATION INFORMATION

WHERE TO GO/WHEN TO GO — False albacore, aka Fat Alberts, live along the entire North Carolina coast and beyond in both directions. The center of action is the Cape Lookout area. US 70 will bring fishermen to the Morehead City/Beaufort area. Fish will show up in March and stay through November. October is the prime month, with sundown bringing offshore fish to the beaches, often within casting range of pier fishermen.

TACKLE/TECHNIQUES — Search for birds and baitfish breaking at the surface. False albacore will likely be among the fish causing the commotion. Don’t charge the school or cut it off; stay clear at all times, getting well ahead of where they’re heading, then moving again after they’ve passed. Long casts with spinning tackle or fly fishing with long rods, and trolling past them when you can do it silently are productive methods. Go with smaller baits when possible. Fast-troll small, shiny spoons or squid, or metal jigs dressed with plastic bodies. Fish with a heavy fluorocarbon leader of 20- to 25-pound test and fish with your drag tight.

FISHING INFO/GUIDES — Capt. Danny Jarvis, Flat Foot FIshing Charters, Swansboro, 828-308-6726, www.flatfootcharters.com; Capt. Rob Koraly, Sandbar Safaris, Cape Carteret, 252-393-2204, www.sandbarsafari.com; Dudley’s Marina, Cedar Point, 252-393-2204; Harkers Island Fishing Center, 252-728-3907; Reel Outdoors, Emerald Isle, 252-354-6692. See also Guides and Charters in Classifieds.

ACCOMMODATIONS — Crystal Coast Tourism Authority, Morehead City, 252-726-8148, www.crystalcoastnc.org; Visit Swansboro, 910-326-1174, www.visitswansboro.org;

MAPS — Capt. Segulls Nautical Charts, 888-473-4855, www.captainsegullcharts.com; GMCO’s Chartbook of North Carolina, 888-420-6277, www.gmcomaps.com.

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