Albie fishing in the NOFO

The North Fork (NOFO) of Long Island maybe know as wine country, but for anglers, it is a great fishing destination.

I don't fish the north shore beaches as much as I'd like, mainly because my boat and wading areas offer similar fishing and are much closer to my home, so every trip to these beaches is a bit of an adventure for me.

Where to fish

A Southold parking permit is required for most locations with beach access in the NOFO, so your parking options could be limited to public parking lots like the NYSDEC Oyster Ponds Boat Launch. Visit the town of Southold website for all parking and related information before your trip, so that your fishing day is not ruined by unpleasant parking issues.

I've caught albies from Plum Island to Sunken Meadow State Park, so they can be found all along the north shore of Long Island. Albie schools tend to move searching for bait, so there is no secret spot for them. Any of the NOFO beaches can hold albies given the right conditions, but the points and coves west of orient point seem to be pretty reliable when it comes to fishing albies from shore during the season. I usually work a beach for the tide, but lots of folks prefer to hit one beach and move on to the next if the fish don't seem to be around.

The Gear

The tactics and gear for these waters are the same you'd use anywhere else for albies, the flies I use are usually small minnows, albie hoes and bonito bunny flies.

Fly rods between 8 to 10wt, 9ft long, mostly with intermediate line and I always bring a stripping basket.

When it all comes together, fish on!

So after several fall trips to the NOFO looking to catch albies from shore, which I may add, happened right after getting the famous "bite's on" call, things finally came together for me in the fall of 2021. I landed several albies on a morning when conditions were perfect, sunny, warm day with light winds, gin clear water and a full tide. The fishing action was great, every 5-10 minutes I'd have a strike, same thing for folks along the beach, but the fly anglers seemed to be out fishing jigs today.

All strikes happened under the surface, the usual albie blitzes or fish busting bait on top never happened. So if you only look for albies signs on top to fish, you're missing a lot of fish. That's why it's always important to get your fly on the water and work it in fishy water.

I used the following flies for most of the day, a simple UV resin minnow with a 9wt rod, intermediate line and 15lb 10ft long flouro tippet.

NOFO albies video

The following is a short video from this day in October, it still puts a smile on my face when I think about the strikes and how beautiful the albies are against the pebble beaches. It's a pleasure not having to lift the fish 5-7 feet above the rocks like in the jetties. Also remember to keep the fish out of the water for as little time as possible, have your pliers handy, if you are going to take a picture have your phone, camera ready to minimize the stress on these fish. I used a GoPro running on a small tripod to record this video, I didn't bring my usual video gear because I had very low expectations about the day, who knew!

If you have any questions or comments send me an email or leave them on the YouTube page.

Tight lines!

- Sergio

New to albie fishing?

If you're new to fishing for albies or want more information, the following video goes into all the details of what to use, where to fish and what to look for, hope you find it useful.