The Shore Albie Angler Gift Guide

Albies from shore is a game of reach. Bonito show first, off Popponesset in mid-July. The false albacore arrive around August 15, and by September the south side of the Cape is live from the beach and the rocks: South Cape Beach at the Waquoit mouth, the Dowses jetty at the Osterville Cut, the Hyannisport breakwater, the Harwich jetties, and Wasque and Cape Poge on Martha's Vineyard. The same run works Rhode Island's ocean edge, Montauk and the Long Island beaches, and the Jersey Shore, where October is the shore month, then finishes the fall at Cape Lookout in North Carolina.

From the sand you can't chase them. A feed pops up 80 yards out, eats for a few seconds and goes down, and the only thing you can move is the lure. So this lineup is built to cast: heavier, slimmer, shaped to fly into the wind and reach the feed that pops up just out of range. Seven lures, from a flat calm August morning to a full onshore blow. That's the bag I'd hand anyone who fishes albies on foot.

1  Epoxy Jig 1.25 oz “The One-Two-Three”

WHEN  Calm to moderate wind, with fish cruising a long cast off the beach on anchovies or silversides. It's the size New Jersey shore guide Shell E Caris ties on for calm days, and the one to count down off the Hyannisport breakwater when small groups of terns vortex between the jetty and Point Gammon.

FISH IT  Start it the second it lands. Rod tip at 45 degrees or lower and burn it so it rides just under the top with a little bubble trail. Shell E watched one angler crouch, point his tip at the water and burn it that way for over 20 albies while the rest of the beach struggled. Fish down? Count it to them first.

WHY THEY'LL LOVE IT  The original OG epoxy, and from the beach that matters: it lands soft and hovers, so a fish that sees it 80 yards out gets a longer look. Olive is the color I tie on when I can't tell what they're eating.

“This has become my go to for Bonita” Hazen K.

2  Surface Eraser Classic “The Shape-Shifter”

WHEN  Fish on top and inside your range, usually on a calm morning. The anchovies arrive in late August, and South Cape Beach puts you on the Waquoit outflow with the drift line a cast away on the ebb. It's also the fix when they blow up on top and won't touch a jig.

FISH IT  Keep the pops short and sharp so it kicks sideways: wrist, not arm. Swirls and no eat? Let it swim slow just under the top, or dead drift it on the current along a jetty. Loop knot, so it can swing.

WHY THEY'LL LOVE IT  Off the beach there's no time to retie, and this is four lures on one knot: walk, glide, swim and drift. Amber is my anchovy color, since the real ones look translucent amber in the water. It sold out in 18 hours and hasn't stopped selling.

“...state beach Martha's Vineyard with several other anglers. I was the only guy that was able to hook up.” Sean T.

3  Peanut Sand Eel Jig “The Glide Stick”

WHEN  Sand eels. When the surface looks cut instead of sprinkled, the fish are on sand eels and a round-bodied lure gets ignored. Later in the run, when the wind picks up, the slim body still gets out there.

FISH IT  Clinch knot, long cast. Crank-crank-stop so it darts and then glides on the pause, or run it steady through the middle of the column. Fish holding deep off the end of a jetty? Let it sink before you start.

WHY THEY'LL LOVE IT  Hogy calls these slim casting machines, and they are: a through-wired, offshore grade frame and a holographic sand eel finish in a profile that slices wind. Olive keeps it in the earth tones. Sand eels blend in; they don't flash.

“Caught so many fish off this lure” Keith A.

4  Heavy Minnow 1.25 oz “The Bullet”

WHEN  The breeze comes up, the bait is still small, and the feeds start popping just past your best cast. Think mid-September silversides pushed along the beach. It's the wind transition point: the same small profile with more lead behind it.

FISH IT  Speed. Burn it back just under the surface, or give it a count on the drop if they're down; it flutters on the fall. Tie it direct and step up to 15 lb fluoro. The heavy jigs earn the heavier leader.

WHY THEY'LL LOVE IT  Micro metal, mega distance. It's a go-to for surf casting: the Epoxy Jig's shape over a dense metal core, so the small-bait look goes a lot farther into a headwind. The inline single means a quick, clean release in the wash.

“The 35 gram heavy hogy is the jig that I tie on when blind casting.” Joel C.

5  Surface Eraser XL “The Wind-Cutter”

WHEN  Fish up on top but sitting outside normal range, with the wind in your face. First light on an open beach, or a feed working past the tip of the jetty. Bone shows in low light and a chop.

FISH IT  Punch it hard on 20 lb braid, then pop it from the wrist so it darts side to side. Slick water and nervous fish? Slow the crank and let it wake on top. On the pause it sinks level, like a stunned bait.

WHY THEY'LL LOVE IT  Topwater at a range most plugs never reach. The body is built for ultra long-range casting, it's through-wired for durability, and the hook is a laser-sharp VMC in-line single.

“So far, I've caught bluefish and bonito from shore.” William M.

6  Epoxy Jig 2 oz “The Long Ball”

WHEN  An onshore blow: wind in your face, chop on the beach, the water along the shoreline stirred up, and fish still working out front. Shell E lived on the 2 oz for weeks at Sandy Hook when the onshore wind ran 20 knots or better.

FISH IT  Cast into the wind, not down it. You get better control of the line and the lure, and the shape still carries. Skip it fast across the wave tops, or let it drop a count if they're feeding under the chop.

WHY THEY'LL LOVE IT  Into a headwind the shape does the work: it's aerodynamic and it flies. It's properly keeled, so even burned through a chop it swims instead of spinning. Pink is the attractor, the color the fish can still find in stirred-up water.

“...good to reach the backside of the outside wave for travelling bass. Bright enough for rough weather murky conditions.” Andrew J.

7  Heavy Minnow 2 oz “The Wind Beater”

WHEN  The feed is 100 yards out and nothing else gets there. Big wind, bigger bait late in the run, or bluefish mixed in with the albies.

FISH IT  Load the rod and launch it past the feed, then crank hard the moment it lands; it wants speed. Feeds sinking before it arrives? Count it down a few seconds and work it back through the middle. Blues around? Go to 30 lb braid.

WHY THEY'LL LOVE IT  On the beach you can't get closer, so the lure has to go farther. Three inches of bait with a solid metal core, an HD holographic finish and a laser eye: it gets 100 yards out and still looks like food when it lands. Green gives them a second imitator shade in the heavy class.

“when it's windy, heavy minnow jig will help you” Ryoji H.

On foot: a 7 foot medium-heavy spinning rod, or a 7 foot 6 inch rod when the fish sit outside normal range, with a sealed 5000 to 6000 reel, because sand gets into everything. 20 lb braid to punch the wind, 30 lb with the 2 oz jigs when blues are around. Fluorocarbon leader, 3 to 4 feet: 12 lb on the 1.25 oz Epoxy and the Classic in clean, calm water, 15 lb on everything heavier, 20 lb as the ceiling around rock and bluefish. Tie direct: loop knot on the Surface Erasers, clinch or Palomar on the jigs, no snaps.

Crimp the barbs and keep it quick. Unhook it at the water's edge, and if there's a photo, take one and get the fish back in.

The smaller the school, the bigger the manners, on the sand and on the water. Fishing from a boat? Read Best Albie Lures for False Albacore, my boat-side albie lineup. And for everyone on a crowded fall morning: my albie season etiquette.