Cape Cod False Albacore Charters
Fly Fishing Charters For False Albacore
I’m based in Falmouth, MA on Cape Cod from late August to mid October, giving us ready access to the most consistent albie fishing in New England. Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard including Vineyard Haven, Edgartown, and Oak Bluffs, the Elizabeth Islands, Buzzards Bay, and South Cape ponds, beaches and rips are all close by. Some days making longer runs to the Canal, Hyannis, Bass River, Osterville. Wasque, Cuttyhunk, or Chatham and Monomoy really pays off. I have the ability to easily trailer to any launch ramp on or off Cape Cod if starting somewhere other than Falmouth makes best sense given recent fish activity or weather forecast.
A half day charter is $800 and full day trip is $1000. I accept major credit cards, personal checks, venmo, PayPal, and of course, American dollars. I provide all the tackle, licenses, and plenty of flies and lures. We can plan ahead for the number of hours we want to fish, but can always adjust (longer or shorter) on the water based upon weather, fish activity, evolving family demands.
Albie Gear
I always prefer to look for pods of fish that we can target, but we also spend some time blind casting when they are popping up but lack organization to their movements. I have a full compliment of fly and truly light tackle spinning gear and it can pay to have some flexibility in what you will toss. A 9 weight fly rod is ideal. I do also fish 8 weights and 10 weights. We traditionally have used intermediate and sinking shooting heads most frequently, although I fish a floating line a lot. Most of the bait they target is small - bay anchovies, peanut bunker, silversides, and sand eels - so the flies we use are easy to cast.
I use top of the line fly and light tackle spin gear from Sage, G. Loomis, Nautilus, Bauer, St. Croix, Shimano and other manufacturers. I always have plenty of gear all rigged and ready to go but can happily also give you recommendations on what to bring if you'd also like to utilize your own tackle. Having fly anglers use a set-up that is familiar to them makes sense, and we can always play around with some of my lines on your rods. If you tie, and want to fish some of your own flies, let’s talk about what to concoct as you look forward to our outing.
We use epoxy jigs, metals, and soft plastics from 3/8 oz. up to about 1 ½ oz on 10 to 20 lb. braid with 15 to 8 lb. leaders. It is NOT On Golden Pond angling. Everything happens at a frenzied pace and when you come tight to your first false albacore you will know to the core of your soul why these fish are so special.
False Albacore Season
Historically, albies arrive around Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket first and then push into the waters along the south side of Cape Cod and then into Buzzards Bay, the waters off Chatham and Monomoy, and the Westport River and Newport, RI but the overarching absolute with these funny fish is that there are no hard and fast rules. We grown accustomed to their arrival in early September, but that date seems to shifting into late August. It’s too early to tell if this is a long term trend, but if warmer water temps play a role in the August arrivals, we’ll likely see this continue.
The most consistent fishing takes place in September but there were still fish around beyond the end of October in 2018 and 2017. 2019 was different in many ways, and the fish really disappeared by October 15. Weekends can be foolishly busy but by October there are far fewer people chasing them. It may take a bit more work to locate the fish, but they tend to eat well for longer periods of time with fewer boats around. If we can avoid Saturday, we’ll be happy, but if that’s the day that works, we’ll find our own fish. Sometimes it pays to fish with the fleet, but more often than not I’ve found success away from the crowds.
Bonito, Striped Bass, Bluefish, and Black Sea Bass
Atlantic bonito offer similar thrills and challenges to false albacore. Some years, waters around the Cape are loaded with bonito in August and other years they are far more concentrated in a couple of hotspot locations such as the Bonito Bar, the Hooter, and Menemsha. Early season albie trips offer the best opportunity to also catch bonito, but every year the largest bones are caught in October as the albies start to move back offshore.
We do encounter stripers feeding near the albies and I’m happy to target them but release all striped bass caught on charters. As you may know, the striped bass population all along the eastern seaboard is overfished. The only way we are going to see more big bass to target is by returning fish to spawn and spawn again. I have no squabble whatsoever with the angler who chooses to keep a couple of fish a season, but I'm out there almost every day. These fish are my business partners and returning them is one small contribution that I can make to improving this incredible fishery.
To borrow a trout term, the rise form of false albacore (and bonito) is distinctly different than that of bluefish and stripers. We often work to avoid blues when chasing albies, but they will mix in close proximity, and sometimes you need to roll the dice and make the cast. Big bluefish deserve a ton of respect as hard charging fighters, so when they have bait pinned against some structure and are foaming the water with their feeding frenzy, it can be a blast to chuck a fly or lure into the melee. It’s not what we are seeking, but I’m not opposed to a little gratuitous fun.
The black sea bass population is booming and they are unbelievably delicious. We can devote a little time to jigging a few up if you want and I’m happy to share my favorite recipe that will make you a hero at home. There’s a chance that we encounter Spanish mackerel and they too are fabulous eating fish.
Book a Charter
If you’re ready to experience the addicting thrill of chasing false albacore with fly or spin gear, shoot me an email, text, or call. Let’s fish!