You could I guess. Would make more sense to me to use a 10wt and land them in a reasonable time frame. An 8 is a little on the light side for catch and release fishing.
You are talking true albacore pacific offshore, correct? I would agree with Sean, an 8wt might be a little light to get those birdfins up from the depths especially if the captain is not going to stop the engine for each hookup. Maybe even a 12
Don't think there's too much C&R in true albacore fishing... there wouldn't for me up to the legal limit. That is some of the best stuff I've eaten from the sea, whether served tataki style (original Japanese seared / sushi middle with light ponzu sauce and chopped onion wafer thin), on the grill, or even home-canned with a little olive oil, cider vinegar and pickling spice in mason jars. It takes months to be able to stand tin can tuna after eating this stuff.
I don't think they are endangered, if so I would lay off and probably try to solve the chinook on the fly enigma closer to shore or something.
As tasty as these things are, no, i'm not releasing them, only if they're too small. c'est moi et mon pere, so stopping and/or chasing is not a concern. they're starting to come in pretty close, around the 250-300 ft range, water's warming up a titch. just gonna troll around with a couple teasers and look for a feeding school. toss a fly at the smaller ones and hold on for the ride:hihi: Any fly suggestions? will a large clouser type work? what's good here?
They've got to be big into pacific herring, whiting and candlefish. Probably love those pacific squid too. I bet the bigger ones are all over the horse macks.
A seahabit, deceiver or clouser 1/2 and 1/2 should do the trick - my guess is that they aren't too picky once they are on the bait just come close to it.
How far out from shore is 250-300ft where you are? Where I used to fish off the WA coast you could broad jump from the shoreline into 100ft.
I'ts about 15 miles out. there are reefs and shallower water inland. you have to go nearly to the shelf to get deep water. Thanks for the tips. Any more are welcome, never gone after these b/f.
I hope your rod is warrantied. The folks I know who have pursued Pacific albies used 12 wts and worked extremely hard in protracted battles. Even a 5 lb tunoid can be a major tussle on a 10 wt.
As tasty as these things are, no, i'm not releasing them, only if they're too small.
You're kidding, right? Are you planning on eating the albies you catch? Good luck!
What are you talking about? What is wrong with eating an albacore? They happen to taste quite good. Yes, my rod is a TFO professional, and it is def. warranteed.
albie on 8 wt: Sorry, I assumed when you said you were fishing for "albies", you meant the false albacore species commonly referred to as "albies". Since no one would eat a false albacore (albie), I expressed my surprise, that's all.
Oh, that's quite alright with me. No, I'm talking about the true pacific albacore, not the frauds:chuckle: I'll be after them fairly soon too
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