.png)
Fat Dad Fishing Show
Join the Fat Dad Fishing Show on our quest to help the average saltwater angler to catch more fish and have a better on-the-water experience. Each week we will be covering topics to help anglers get the most out of their time targeting multiple species spanning the entire east coast of the USA. We will cover fishing for flounder ( fluke ), striped bass, weakfish, sheepshead, bluefish, tuna, and many more. On some episodes we talk in detail about how to catch flounder, while on others we will take a deep dive into saltwater fishing gear. While our home area ranges from DE to NY, we will speak with guests throughout the east coast. If you find value in the podcast, or are entertained please consider following the podcast, sharing with friends, and leaving a great review. All of these help us to reach more anglers and draw more guests! Tight lines!
Fat Dad Fishing Show
EP 40: Chasing Albacore: The Thrill of Run-and-Gun Fishing with Rob Crossley
False albacore season is approaching fast, and we're diving into everything you need to know about targeting these explosive gamefish. Rob Crossley shares his expertise on gearing up and tactics for the brief but thrilling albie run that hits Northeast waters in late summer.
• Using fast-action 7'3" rods with more glass for the right balance of accuracy and strength
• Selecting 20-pound braid with 20-pound fluorocarbon leader for optimal casting and fighting power
• Choosing epoxy jigs as primary lures and switching hook orientation for better hookups
• Approaching schools carefully—staying 10-20 yards back while casting beyond feeding fish
• Looking for birds, single jumping fish, and "nervous water" as indicators of albie presence
• Expecting different feeding patterns throughout the day with early morning, mid-day and evening bites
• Understanding the importance of mimicking exact bait profiles albies are targeting
• Watching for late August/early September storms that typically push albies inshore
• Differentiating between false albacore, bonito, and Spanish mackerel when they're mixed together
Get your gear ready and keep an eye on the weather—when albies show up, they'll be here and gone before you know it!
Your go-to shop for top fishing gear, apparel, and kayak essentials in South Jersey.
Quad State Tune For Your Toyota Truck
Custom engine tuning for peak performance for Toyota trucks. Improve power and performance today.
Richard Natoli Real Estate
Helping PA homeowners buy & sell with confidence—honest advice, expert guidance, real results.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Fat Dad YouTube Channel: (569) Fat Dad Fishing - YouTube
Fat Dad Instagram: @fat.dad.fishing
Fat Dad Facebook: (7) Fat Dad Fishing | Facebook
You know you want to stay with the pack. You know run and gun. You know you can get on them. You know you might get two or three casts on them and they're gone. They're, you know, 50 yards that way already.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Hello and welcome back to the Fat Dad Fishing Show. I'm your host, rich Natoli, and this is going to be a cool show. We're going to talk about a species that we don't talk about nearly often enough, but there's good reason. They're not around often enough Fewer and fewer days every year. But tonight we're going to be talking about albies and albie fever, whatever you want to call it. It's coming soon and when it gets here it's going to be here and gone in a hot minute. So we have Rob Crossley coming on.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:You may have seen in the August edition of the Fisherman Magazine his article in there on targeting false albacore, so we're going to go into that with him in a little bit. I'm going to hit the sponsors first, as we do every episode. But before we do that really quick, if you're new to the show, thanks for for listening, thanks for tuning in. If you enjoy it, just please hit, follow, like whatever it is that your platform supports. Leaving a review is always helpful. It helps us to get guests. But yeah, we're gonna. We're gonna go quick into this. So let's hit the sponsors.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:The first one for a sponsor of this show ever is the kayak shop that I use. It's Great Bay Outfitters in Tuckerton, new Jersey, on Radio Road man, if you want an old town, if you want a native, they got other brands in there as well. You definitely want to go in there. Swing into Great Bay. They've got it for you, and not only the whole kayaks. They have them, they have the new ones, they have used kayaks also. You can rent kayaks. You can buy a floating dock at the shop. If you want a floating dock, you can buy one there. But you can also get all the parts that you need and the accessories. And we know as kayak fishermen that we accessorize like I don't even know like what, but like crazy people we spend more money on the accessories than the kayak often, and Paul and his team are there to help you do that. So if you need anything, swing by the shop, tell them. I said hi, and these tunes are for Toyota.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:So Toyota trucks. Look, it's not just the trucks, but it's also the 4Runner. You got the 4Runner. Yeah, you got the Tundra in there, the Lexus 460, 470, but this is going to help improve the performance of the engines. Kevin's the guy to reach out for any information on this. It will help with those Tacomas and any of these trucks that have the gear finding issues where gear hunting, it doesn't quite feel like it's in the right gear. When you're on the highway, if you're towing a boat, you'll get more torque, more horsepower, more efficient fuel mileage. So reach out to him. You're going to be in good shape.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:And then me for real estate. Southeastern Pennsylvania is where I do it Residential. If you want to do commercial, I can at least help you to get somebody that's going to help you with commercial. I do very little of it. It's not my wheelhouse, which means I'm not going to pretend it is, but I do have some great contacts in commercial as well. So if you have any needs in Southeastern Pennsylvania, reach out to me, 267-270-1145. And we are going to jump into this real quick. So I'm going to bring Rob on screen right now. Rob, welcome to the show. Good to see you. You too.
Rob Crossley:Thank you.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Yeah, we were talking I'll share this with everyone. We were talking before we came on and it seems like I'm kind of going through the century team with guests, you know I I think it says a lot about century, the, the quality of people that they have representing the brand and everything. So I mean we've been through. You got Kwa on George and Frank and you and who knows where it's going to end, I'll just keep going. I mean frank and you and who knows where it's going to end, I'll just keep going.
Rob Crossley:I mean great guests, so welcome it's good to see you.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Thank you me too. Yeah, so the what really? So we had been friends on facebook for a while, so I I kind of follow, you, know what you were doing and everything. And when I saw the article pop up for the fishermen, I was like like, oh, now I can reach out to them and see. If I read the article, I was like, yep, this is good and false. Albacore are one of those. They're one of those weird species. Like they're, everybody wants them when they're here and everyone misses them when they're gone. And it's so fast Like what's, what's, what's? What are you thinking about? The time period from when it's going to start this year?
Rob Crossley:This year. I think it's going to be a little later, I don't think it's going to be the end of August, beginning of September. Last year there was more I don't know, like offshore, a little bit like the total wreck. The guys were, you know, digging them up with the window all summer and I still haven't seen an Albie inshore yet. I mean I see the guys catching Benito, like Monmouth beach area, not the wrecks, but nothing, nothing as far as like where I am going to get light, not only the state park.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Yeah, I, I haven't heard really of anything insh at this point and even because I don't even like popping off yet, or nothing no so I, I don't know you know I I do find it like really interesting though that, look when it kicks off it's not just. I know we're going to talk primarily about the album, the false albacore, but that's not all that kicks off. At the same time there are multiple species that tend to travel together. So you've got the bonito, which a lot of people like because they say they're tastier, and I do want to talk to you about that. And then you have the Spanish Mac.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:The Spanish Mac's in the mix, yeah max, the spanish max in the mix, yeah, yeah. So, so when, when it starts kicking off, my first question, the really the big question that I had, is really simple are you going out to target the albies or are you going out to target any one of those three? What? What is your personal goal when you hear that the albies are on? Because you're going to?
Rob Crossley:get them all once they're in, once, I you know, once they come in.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Short, strictly albies that's all I'm going after you know they're just addicting and they're explosive.
Rob Crossley:It's so much fun to fight. You know I get ramped up and you know I start yelling and screaming. It's a good time they're crazy.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I mean the fight on them. You would think that they're twice the. I mean the, the, the fight on them. You would think that you would think that they're twice the size. Yeah, now I, I've I've caught a lot of false albacore. I don't consider myself to be an expert by any means. I'm more of the, the geeked up, you know fishermen, just tossing as fast as I can. You know, I don't really have much skill behind it.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:It's just trying to get it out there and reel it as fast as I can. I don't really have much skill behind it, it's just trying to get it out there and reel it as fast as I can. What is your technique that you're using? Well, actually, let's start at the beginning. Your sentry rods, let's start. You're going out. What are you bringing with you?
Rob Crossley:Let's start with the rod and the reel and the weapon. The weapon wrecker or the weapon junior wrecker is what we call it. Seven, three. The rod has we put more glass in it this year, for last year I used a five power which is half to three and a half a little overkill. But it's got a lot more snappier tip, which I like because it'll be able to punch that epoxy jig out to where I need it. And accuracy is pretty much everything with these Albies. You know 20-pound braid, you know your favorite choice of braid, whatever I stick to. You know I've been using a lot of Silk Ocean, which is more of a PE. It's very thin and it's very smooth and it casts like butter. But Cortland is great.
Rob Crossley:I've used Cortland forever, but that, really the Silk Ocean, is what I've been using for the last two years and it's really a game changer so I've never tried that yeah so it's really makes a difference.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Makes a big difference is it? Is it like the different braids?
Rob Crossley:it's one of the eight weave, you know. But it's a different. The way silk ocean stacks the, the braid, like the fibers, it's very, not traditional, like courtland and power pro, it's very. It's stacked differently so they can get the diameter smaller and tighter.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:That's the reason really yeah, all right, I might need to try that. I, I uh, I found, you know, I experimented with a lot of different ones and I found, like you know, the big difference for most of them now Cortland is.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I like Cortland a lot but I kind of failed me you know, no, no, and I started with Cortland back with fly fishing. I mean, that's where I started with it and I just kind of carried it over. But I noticed that a lot of the mid range ones, it it just. It was like the surface you know, is it slick or not? And I was like I don't care if it's slick or not, if they cast better, cast better. And a lot of the times it was the one that wasn't quote unquote slick, that casted better in courtland.
Rob Crossley:You know, let's say, like 15 or 20 pound test, it's only a four carrier weave, you know, it's not even an eight carrier or a six calorie. I think once you go up to 60 pounds it's a six carrier, and then 80 it starts at an eight carrier. So four, you know, four carriers. It's rough, you know, but it's, you know, it's very abrasive resistance right it's. It's good, everyone has a preference yeah, so okay.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:So you're gonna go with the 20-pound. I love that.
Rob Crossley:What kind of leader are?
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:you putting on there 20-pound leader.
Rob Crossley:I'll use a VeroVos the Ocean Record. It's a great leader, it's probably one of the best. And then the Azuri I'll use the 20-pound Azuri. The pink whatever the pink one is.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Yeah, yeah, okay, all right, Makes sense Now, and what reel are you throwing on that?
Rob Crossley:4K Stratix works Okay. Daiwa Surtate 4000 works Okay.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I noticed last year 4000 class.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, 4000. 3000, 4000 class. I used the VR50 a few times last year. Just doesn't have a fast enough gear ratio to burn it, you know. So then, it's hard.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:That's what I was going to ask about, because, you know, the the most important thing to me, I thought and you'd maybe validate or tell me I'm absolutely batshit crazy is the speed. You know, know, I mean it's, it's get it out there and get it in as fast as you can. So it stands out against everything, and so that's it.
Rob Crossley:So you want to separate that jig from everything. Everything else, yeah.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Everything else. So it's it comes down to the gear ratio as your base. Now let me ask you this when you're reeling it in and it's it's humming in, are you also doing I? I, I got yelled at for doing this. I was also doing a sweep with it to kind of speed it up even more. I got yelled at with some old dude, you can yeah. Do you do that, or do you just crank it as fast as you can?
Rob Crossley:I crank it. My son will do a little sweep every once in a while. He'll pause it and then crank it. Do a little sweep every once in a while. He'll pause it and then crank it. Pause it, sweep it and then crank it, but he gets bit just as much as I do.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Okay, it's one of those things, your son and I aren't crazy, we just do it differently. Yeah, all right, so you're out there doing it. It's going to pick up soon. You got your sentry rod, you got your Stratica on there, your 20-pound braid, what are you throwing on the end?
Rob Crossley:So I'm using the epoxy jigs. So here's one, here's a UVT. This is a three-quarter, or one ounce a three-quarter, and then it's got a single inline 1-0. And you want so here's the thing, lot of these hooks or or jigs, they're coming with this hook facing down. I don't know if you can see that yep right.
Rob Crossley:So when this is swimming through and you stop it and pause it, this hook closes. Wants to just gravity, you know whatever. Just wants to close, wants to swing down. So if you, if this, if you take it off the split ring and switch it where the tip, you know know the barb is facing up. So when this thing swings down, you're always going to have an open point for the fish to grab versus it coming this way in the package. You're going to miss that bite every time. So always swing or switch the hook to the barb up that's a good tip.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, that's a very good tip, yeah I don't know why, I don't know if they just don't know the difference.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:But it's, it's not right honestly, I wouldn't have thought about it. You know what?
Rob Crossley:not only would I not like, tuna fishing, you know so tuna I I know I've always switched you want the bar to be facing up and out I feel like an idiot.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I've never changed an epoxy jig yeah the other way never, I never even thought, but but like you said, for here's a hoagie and this is.
Rob Crossley:I'll just flip it upside down. But yeah, here you know you don't want that right you know, swimming across the water, you stop it or anything, or they hit it and boom, that hook is gonna close, at least if they hit it. That barb is always accessible.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:It's always gonna grab, no matter what yeah, that's, that's some good information right there, and I gotta go do that because I've got a whole bunch of them. I read the article and I got my stuff ready, so I actually made a whole new box for them. I don't even know if I'm ever going to get to go Right Like so I probably won't, because it's like you know, like you said in the article, it's here and it's gone like really fast and I probably will miss it, but I'm ready, I'm totally ready, but I got to switch the hooks.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, yeah, I got to switch them. When you see those first few fish caught, you know obviously I can't. I can't be out there every day. I have a job you know, right, but you know a lot of my friends are, you know, decarters and stuff and you know they help me out with Intel and you know as soon as they come in.
Rob Crossley:I'm, you know if I find them. I find them, you know, on the weekend, and then you know I'll have to take off one or two days of work and get on them, you know, for them all day, but um yeah, right now I'm just waiting, see when they come in.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Yeah, and, and it is. It has been a weird summer yeah, you have I mean for everything. Temperatures have been all over the place. It was even just in the backwaters. It was 80 degrees in the backwaters two and a half weeks ago. I was out yesterday with Joe John Perry and a couple other people and it was 75 degrees and it's crazy. So it's messed with the fluke bite definitely oh, absolutely.
Rob Crossley:That's why they're all off, you know, at the wrecks now yeah the wrecks are doing well, yeah, backwaters are.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:You know they're still there. It's just it's figuring out. This bite has been terrible, but it doesn't bode well for an early season for these, these fast movers that come, you know, the blue fin and all that coming in tight. It's not. It's just it's not setting up the way that it has in the past so you know, this year was very for the blue fin.
Rob Crossley:It didn't kick off, I don't know, maybe three, four, about a month ago, maybe a month ago, but it's not what it used to be. But it's just because it's just different pattern this year. That's all. Two years ago we had a big squid bite off of Seaside Heights there. That was never going to happen again. That was just a freak thing. We had all that squid spawn and shore and the bluefin just sat there all summer and gorged on it.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I got to tell you I was very disappointed when that whole squid thing came up and nobody told me until it was over. I was, I was so pissed.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I was like I was like you couldn't, you couldn't say anything. Oh, it was epic. What about me? I'm like I don't have any squid gear or anything, but I would have stolen yours and gone with you. But yeah, that was a really well-kept secret for me, at least at that time. Yeah so, but when you go, how are you? Are you going from shore and you're you're finding those jetties or do you have a boat that you're jumping on? Yeah, you're jumping on my boat.
Rob Crossley:I'm an 18 foot seahawk okay I run out of barnagot light and typically I'll start off like maybe a mile two off the off the beach, cruise around. They're usually hanging there. You know there's less boat traffic in the morning because a lot of guys will, you know, run up the beach in the morning. You know either north or south and go to their rep spots, but usually I'll hit them, you know, go out north and maybe go about two miles north and usually they'll pop up there and then I'll just keep on on, you know, chasing them all the way to the beach, right, much you know now, what are you looking for when you break that inlet?
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:like what? What's the indication? Are you just looking for birds, or are you looking for?
Rob Crossley:birds. Yes, you're looking for birds, but in the morning there's a lot of singles. They'll just start jumping out, like you know, like carp do, like you know, singly, just jumping out for no reason. Once you can find and locate that, then usually as the sun comes up, more they'll be on the bait and birds will be everywhere and there'll be a full friends. You know full feeding frenzy, but I usually look for the singles first. You want to be able to find them first yeah, okay, all right.
Rob Crossley:So you're really off there and you're just scouting, you're just you're just driving scouting you know, just kind of just cruising around until I can find, you know, a patch of albies, and then I'll start casting on them. Then then at that point you know, you're gonna see what their pattern's doing, you know right, whether which they're going east or west or north or south and see what they're feeding on, because that's a big part of it, I think. You know some guys it's like, oh, they're gonna eat anything, but no, like I. You know, I'll throw this jig here, and if it's a pink, they sometimes they won't touch it. Then I go to a chartreuse or a different style like this is a UBT Albi. Daddy, right here it's different, yeah, different bodies, all different profile. Yeah, so I just keep on switching it up until I get bit on one and then I just throw that and then an hour later it changes Right, either they want something more silver and a slimmer profile, but it's just, you just got to keep playing with it.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:So you're heading out with multiple rods already ready to go.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, usually I'll start.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I'll just bring two, two, okay so you're not like a bass fisherman with your whole front deck loaded.
Rob Crossley:Two is quick. You know I can if I have to just cut it off and and uh retie, it just takes a quick second okay, all right.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:So you're out. You're, let's say you. You break the inlet. You decide I'm heading north today. You see them up in front of you and this, this, I think, is going to be important, because there is a difference between happening upon a school of fish or some birds and starting to fish it, and what is truly the running gun which this is like. There, there's a way that you should do it and there's a way that you should not do it. So you're, you first break. Now, let's, let's take all the pressure off. You break the inlet. There's no one, it's just you. And you're cruising up and you see, okay, I can see the single come out. I can see some birds starting to form up. I found them. What's your approach? It's just you and a buddy on the boat. What are you doing? How are you approaching that school?
Rob Crossley:So I'll approach it pretty slow and try not to run in there hot and heavy and then just start. We'll just start firing and cast, you know trying to be, you know, proactive with it, and just start, you know pausing if they're you know they're feeding in front, just you know, just start. You know throw over the, over the pile, whatever bait they're feeding on, and throw past it and then reel through. You know, just burn through.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:That's all I do, okay but you're, you're, you're getting up ahead of it. You're probably what matching it, seeing which direction it's going, getting around it.
Rob Crossley:You can either get ahead of them, cut them off or stay behind them and just you know, just fish from behind. I always felt that was better.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I always like coming up behind them, coming up behind them and hitting them that way, because then you can fish them and then see which direction they're going.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, actually going they're fast because they're gonna just keep on switching directions yeah you know, but yeah, that's the best way is. You know you can either there's two ways of doing it come up behind them real slow or get in. Get in front of them and then just you know idle and wait for them to come closer and closer and then start bombing. You know your jig in there you keep the engine running yeah, I keep it running. I've never had a problem with it running, you know. Okay, all right, I've seen.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I've seen a lot of different approaches, most of them I just think they're crazy and they don't know what they're doing. They get, I guess, too much adrenaline, so you start pulling up on it and they will run up the back and they will run into the middle. Obviously, that's the worst, for no matter what you're fishing for, that'll send them in 10 different directions and down. But the one that I see a lot is they'll come up behind them to come off to the side and then they'll try to loop around them and they cut the engine dead and just coast right into the middle of them.
Rob Crossley:Yeah.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:That also sends them down.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, yeah, yeah, cause you're coasting, they're going to hear that. You know they're going to hear the boat coming. You know waves are still like pushing either side. Yeah, I don't, I don't see a difference there so how?
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:but that that's the question. Then. How far off are you staying from these, from these feeding frenzies when you see them long casting?
Rob Crossley:or are you just, you know, 10 yards, 20 yards, 20 yards, if that you know 10 yards 20 yards 20 yards. If that you know, I get up pretty close, okay, and just start bombing them.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Okay, all right, that's much easier than I did it in the past.
Rob Crossley:No, there's times where they're really finicky and you know you want to stay with the pack. You know run and gun, you know you're going to get on them. You might get two or three casts on them and they're gone. They're 50 yards that way already. Then the guy just keeps moving, bouncing back and forth. Then when they get really thick you can just stay there. The bait will just stay by the boat because it's like a shelter for them.
Rob Crossley:That's when the elmies will just sit there and crash right at the boat. At that point you can just turn the engine off and then fish for them. That way, you know, you might pick two or three or four out of the bunch there, and then they're gone I mean that would yeah, that would be a nice.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:You pick three or four out of one bunch, then you're in good shape yeah, yeah, I mean typically it's.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:It's maybe one for me by the time you get it in and and get back out there I for me, it was always. It seemed like it in and get back out there. I for me, it was always. It seemed like it was always a single here and a single there, and then you're back on the throttle and flying around. But let me ask you this what so? Just to qualify for people, what are they typically feeding on?
Rob Crossley:Spearing, spearing. So their rain bait is mostly what they're feeding on. But last year wasn't the rain bait problem, you know, there was no rain bait. They were feeding on baby bluefish so that's what we had last year with baby bluefish. I've never seen that before. But we've, you know, talked to Greg at Fisherman Headquarters and I'm like what the hell is this? And he's like I think it's a bluefish.
Rob Crossley:He goes I don't think it's bunker because it's all silver. It's silver with the big eyes. I called the gym Jim Hutchinson about it and he's like I think it's a bluefish. Then the guys in the cape confirmed it. It was like yeah, there's baby bluefish, something I've never seen before.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:That's the picture in the article right. Yeah, that's the picture in the article right.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, yep.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Okay. So that's why I asked. I was like I'm going to look like such an idiot. I don't know what the hell that was. Yeah, it's a baby bluefish. Okay.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, and that epoxy had a tactical angler's clip, so it's not all the time you have to tie on.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Right If the fish are.
Rob Crossley:That's another thing, like if, if the fish, or depending on like profile and colors. I'll just leave the tactile angular clip on and, just you know, swap in and out, in and out, different color, different profiles.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:So you get a bit yeah, but okay, I well I'm. I'm glad that I asked the question, because I I wasn't sure I was going to, because you look like a look, as long as I'm not the only one that didn't know, I'm good you could have said like, as soon as you said spearing, I was like that wasn't a spearing. Yeah, I don't think. Yeah, all right, so I was shocked, but that's interesting because that's an entirely different profile too.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, but that's interesting because that's an entirely different profile too. Yeah, and that's why this Albie Daddy right here kind of worked really good last year, because it kind of fit the profile yeah.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Yeah, albie Daddy, who makes that UVT?
Rob Crossley:UVT Fishing. Okay, they're out in Massachusetts.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I'm not familiar with that one, but that looks like you do they're big into tuna jigging.
Rob Crossley:They make tuna jigs.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Okay, that's probably why I don't do any more. And I did the tuna 20 years ago. I don't do that anymore. Yeah, yeah, I can't cast that far, can't quite hit it, can't quite hit it, all right, so you're out there, you pull up on it, you're throwing out the, the epoxies. Tell me right now what was the best story from last year? Like, like, like. Here's the thing. There are people that are going to watch and listen to this and they're going to be like, not the funny looking fish. It doesn't quite look like a bonito and it's got those weird squiggles on it. And, yeah, why would I want to catch it? You know, know they're, they're so explosive.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:They get so addicted to this you know, like Scotty sevens is an absolute maniac. As soon as they hit, it's like he's done everything. It doesn't matter. I don't even know if he's like sleeps. I think he just sits up all night twitching, waiting for the next, you know, the next morning where he can break the inlet.
Rob Crossley:That's how I am, yeah. So what is it about this fish that draws you for this one to two-week period every year? I think it's just because it's an insured fish that you usually don't get. It's a change-up. You're bringing kind of like a tuna aspect of it. You're running the gun and it's a crazy bite. You have albies blown up on bait going topwater crazy. They pull drag. Some guys are like you're just loosening the drag up. No, they pull some serious drag, Like it's almost like. You know, there's definitely 12 pounds of pressure on these fish easily, you know it's a lot.
Rob Crossley:That's a lot, but yeah, it's just. I don't know something about these fish.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:They just get me fired up yeah it's, it's almost like the I. I kind of think it's similar to sheep's head right now for the backwater guys. Yeah, it's because you you couldn't catch them before and they were. You know, everybody wanted them and I don't know. I went today's monday, I went yesterday and I couldn't do it. I was like I caught a lot I didn't catch. I didn't catch any yesterday. I was like I'm going to move on, maybe fluke. And I moved on because it's not as what used to be special to me to catch a sheep's head. It doesn't feel like that anymore.
Rob Crossley:They're fun yeah, yeah.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:But it's missing that one piece, and that one piece is the scarcity there's. It's not. There's no scarcity there anymore, as far as I'm concerned. But I think that's a, that's a big part of it. But when you're out there, I mean how often. One thing that I haven't run into is I have never, in the real close to shore, bites, I've never pulled a bonito out with these've pulled a lot of Spanish mackerel.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Actually, I probably caught more Spanish mackerel when I was targeting albies than albies, but what do you find is most often going to be the bycatch when you're targeting them?
Rob Crossley:The afternoon bite Just before sundown is when you'll see Spanishanish mackerel and the bonito mixed in. Okay, when I've caught the most you know as a bycatch all right so they're not on that early morning bite.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Typically they're later by themselves.
Rob Crossley:They get, you know, in in a big wolf pack, you know, just feeding on all that bait, you know. And then late, you know, it comes in waves. You know you have that morning bite and then, and then you have a late, the late morning bite, and then there'd be, like you know, a lot of boat traffic kicks up and and then you know that dies, like the afternoon fight will come back on, maybe like around one, two o'clock when the boat traffic dies down. You know everyone's done fluking and they all go back in. You can kind of separate yourself from the fleet and you'll find them, you know, in small groups. And then you know, two hours before sundowns when they go, just like that do you know?
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:so when that bike cuts off, is that just, can you tell that they're still there, they're just not feeding no, they, they totally shut off and they, they probably book it offshore a little bit okay, Okay, so they're gone. They're off the electronics and everything. They're just gone. No sign.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, because in the morning I'll chase them one to two. I'll start off at one to two miles and then I would follow them all the way to the beach. And it was around like 10, 11 o'clock. They start pushing back offshore. So now you realize you're like one back to where you started and then, yeah, and then it just shuts off and then they're just totally gone. You know, don't know.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:That's interesting so so your star, I mean that that's. That's something that I don't think I've ever heard shared is that you're starting a little bit off and you're you're catching them on their way in in the morning. You're following them, you're stalking them in, you're stalking them back out and then they disappear and then they'll be back for dinner and that's where you've had your drinks and your food you've rested and you're heading back out gassed up. Yeah, and burning more fuel.
Rob Crossley:Man, and they're even more pushed up on the shore. You know you'll get them like. You know you can cast into the wash sometimes yeah, I'll tell you what.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:When the albies are up in the wash, that's insanity, it's fun. Yeah, the surf fishermen, I mean that's like. That's like throwing elbows, and it's never towards each other, it's like they're never angry, it's just trying to get that position and and because it moves so fast yeah, yeah and they're in their own you know two feet of water, three feet of water.
Rob Crossley:You know the right on top of the sandbar crashing that bait and everyone just you know going crazy, because it doesn't happen very often anymore. It. It used to but not no more.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I would say land-based. If it were me, I would be fishing the jetties at certain inlets. It's easier there and that's typically where I'll do it. I've seen the blitzes on the beaches but I was never fishing at the time. It only happened I think maybe twice, but it never fishing at the time and it only happened I think maybe twice where they were. But it was absolute mayhem and it was hilarious because you see all these old dudes like pushing they weren't pushing each other like mean, they were just kind of like shouldering in, doing an underhand flip and then the next guy's coming over tom, like working their way down the beach. It was hilarious.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Whatever you know, ava jig bucktails, whatever they were throwing, anything yeah yeah, but a lot of people weren't catching yeah there were definitely yeah yeah, there were definitely guys that were catching a lot, and then there were some that just weren't catching anything. They were probably the guys with bucktails or something, you know. They were fishing for something else and this popped up.
Rob Crossley:They tried to get in and that happens, you know. Same thing on the boat. You know I'll, you know, find big, we'll find a big pocket of albies and bait and you know, 10 boats will be rolling in and no one can figure out why they can't catch them. You know.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Yeah.
Rob Crossley:But you know everyone, you know we had one fish last year and I don't know if you what's his name, mr Zach Flake, there does the fly charters, and you know he was up there fly fishing with his guys and uh, one boat came in the middle of us and he's like what are you guys using Mojo's? We're like, no, not using Mojo's.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:No, but now do you want to try a Mojo?
Rob Crossley:Yeah, yeah, so he so yeah. So he was trolling mojos for a while and then I was finally getting one. I threw a jig in his boat and he was like, oh okay, I'm like, yeah, that's not a mojo.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:No, that's a whole different thing. Well, that's what you get. I mean, that's how people break into it.
Rob Crossley:You just use what you got.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:But I found one thing Look, if you're going to have a jig for nearly any kind of fish, it's the hobie epoxy. Yeah, absolutely, I mean those epoxy jigs they were the hoagies. They're, they're awesome. I mean you're talking striped bass, weak fish, blue fish, pretty much you can get flounder on them if you, if you want to go for fluke with them, you can get those tuna. I've caught tuna on it, mahi I mean it's pretty much anything yep but you gotta fish it slower for some of those.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:But but the point is, if you don't have the, the hoagie epoxy jigs, I would pick up some. They're not cheap, so you know 10 bucks now yeah, they're like 10 bucks each, 12, but depending on where you get them.
Rob Crossley:But they're really reversible. What's that? A 007 works. You know, I've never used that A 007. It's like an. It's an Ava jig, you know, it's just.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:It's just a smaller, oh oh, oh, okay, I got you.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, yeah, okay, yes, I do have this Put a single hook on there. I don't use trebles, the troubles just pain in the ass to get up, you know, because most of the time, like I can just grab this jig and the hook will fall right out. You know you can just move it a different, remover it and it just pops right out and send that albie right on its way, you know well, that and that's a.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:That's a big thing. You're not. So let's, let's talk. Well, let me, let me get this question, this question, first. This is in there, from James Flynn. So this question what's the one thing that you're looking for that says it's time to start targeting them, what, what, what's going to indicate? Now, let's say you don't have your network of captains reaching out to you. What are you going to look for as just the regular, everyday fishermen that's going to say, okay, I'm going to actually start targeting these fish right now.
Rob Crossley:So you, I guess. So the best thing we do will be, you know where, you know, if you're coming out of an inlet, go, you know, one to two miles off the beach and see if you can find some birds working on some bait. And then, or you can, you know, see if you can find those one or two pop-up albies. You know they'll show themselves. You know they're kind of like just cruising, like porpoising, like they'll just come up, you know, up out of the water they'll show themselves and then they'll find the bait right away. Usually the baits are, you know, not too far away and just you know, start from there and then once you find them.
Rob Crossley:You're just going to be following them around pretty much, you know yeah, just stalking them all over the place until you lose sight.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Yeah, so, but you're looking for, you're looking for the first big push of the offshore baits in towards the beaches.
Rob Crossley:Yes, yep, so storms so yeah, so at you know, every year, usually at the end of august, we'll see this like three day blow and it always has like a big swell that comes with it. It's a northeast swell and it just it's going to push all the bait and the albies into. You know, offshore to inshore. You know it's going to push them off the wrecks. And you know, once that storm's over, usually it's game on, it's always hit, that storm always rolls through. It's always like that late summer storm. We're going to have one next week. Now we've got that hurricane coming up Late August.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:That could be it, that's it. That's what everyone needs to look for.
Rob Crossley:Wait for that storm to roll through and then start fishing, hopefully. Yeah, wait for that storm to roll through and then start fishing. Okay, it's going to be everywhere, hopefully.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Well, if they are, I might take a day off of work to go down. My wife doesn't listen to this so she doesn't know, but I'll just tell her I have appointments, I'll run down. Maybe I'll meet a client down there, so I'm sure James will be out there as soon as that that happens. So everybody watch the weather and look for that, and now wouldn't be a bad time to start reaching out to people that might know for sure that and just say, hey, if you hear, will you just give me a call yeah, because this.
Rob Crossley:You can miss this really really easily yeah, they come in, they come in quick and then you know they're like pretty much unnoticeable, you know, because there's not a lot of guys that target this, these fish. You know right, you know up in the kpa there's a lot more guys that are, you know, do charters and but there's not that. You know most of these guys don't care, you know they're charter guys or tuna fishing or food fishing. You know it's not, it's not something that they advertise, but there's are a few guys that do and you know, once they roll in you got to jump on it because it can last one, two, three or four days, and then you know they're gone.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Yeah.
Rob Crossley:And then you won't see them. But then you know, usually we'll see a good push in October or November. There'll be. You know some pop-ups, you know when you're bass fishing there'll be. You know some pop-ups, you know when you're bass fishing there'll be. You know albie feeds, you know a little, you know like a mile off you're, you stumble into. But yeah, the early the, the late august, early september, that's the big push and that's where you want to get on. That's the big body to fish all right, and we've got.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:So keep an eye out, guys. We've got a potential start coming, just like we see. You see it with striped bass too. You get a certain storm at a certain time, and we've got. So keep an eye out, guys. We've got a potential start coming, just like we see. You see it with striped bass too. You get a certain storm at a certain time within a few weeks, and that typically the wave comes up, yeah, yeah, it just, it just kicks it off and then it gets going. But let's go back.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:So you were talking about using those singles, those single hooks in the inlines. I also don't use trebles, for the only time I use trebles honestly at this point is if I just don't have time to switch the treble because I bought the yeah, the the lure on the way to the water, or if I'm doing freshwater fishing. You know, for trout, you know, like the old meps, things, yeah. But otherwise I'm using single inline because I haven't seen really any difference in hookups. But I have seen that you can lose a lot more fish with trebles, in my opinion. But even if you go beyond that, I think it is important to mention to people the majority of people that harvest albies are don't rate them as a great tasting fish. No, they have to do like magic to make it palatable. So these are not fish, generally speaking, that people like to eat. So this is a time where you definitely don't want to be damaging the fish.
Rob Crossley:Um, you're not going to. They're not a hardy fish, they're. They're almost like a bunker. You know you snag, you're going to snag that a hardy fish they're. They're almost like a bunker. You know you snag, you're gonna snag that fish and then it's gonna bleed out pretty fast and it's gonna die yeah, and and so you don't need the you know treble hooks.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:It's like, oh well, I'm gonna keep it anyway. In this case you're not. So you know it's, it's a, it's a good time to. You know, use those, those single in lines, because these fish are not going into it. I mean, there are some recipes. I've heard people say that they can be made palatable. I've never heard anyone say I have an awesome way to do it, yeah no, Benito, yeah, absolutely Benito yes, and that's where people get screwed up, because they confuse the two.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, they confuse the two, and Benito is great for a sashimi. So you get that fish on the boat, you bleed them out real fast and put them on ice and that fish is amazing yeah.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:But that's not the case for this. So I just wanted to bring that up because, look, it's not a trash fish, this is a sport fish that people just don't eat. So just be careful with them. You do have to handle them gently.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, and it's not a false. Albacore is different from an albacore. They're not the same. An albie has nothing to do with a tuna family. It's a mackerel family. That's why they're oily and they taste like shit, but it's a hard-tailed fish. It's similar. It is a hard-tailed fish, so it's kind of like a tuna, but it's not. People get that. No.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:And it doesn't have the same. It has a really good fight. Oh yeah, it doesn't have the staying power or anything of a tuna the sizes are different.
Rob Crossley:An albie here, is like five, six pounds. Eight pound albies is a good one. They're a little bigger offshore, but those big fish don't come in close.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I would love to get out there and get some bonito. When those albies come in, though, because those are good. I remember catching those when I was younger, and we would just eat them and throw them in the cooler, and when they got cool, we would just cut them up and have them for lunch.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, and if you're out fluking right now, bonito are everywhere. I don't think they're going to be on top right now, but you have to jig for them. You'll see them in schools. They'll school up like a bluefish, you know.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:You ever do that, you ever go out and target them.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, yeah, every once in a while.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:You know, if I get bored with fluke and I'll just go out there and find, you know, a patch of 60, 60 gram tuna, jig, you know okay, or you can use an epoxy jig.
Rob Crossley:Are you slow pitching at all or are you just doing yeah? Yeah, you know slow, you know real. This is the content you know slow, you know slow pitch up and down, up and down. Or you can do a speed jig.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Don't hit a speed jig too yeah, so the speed jig, though, is typically well, no, I guess. Yeah, if you drop it and just reel it real quick.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, drop to the bottom and just reel it up real quick and you just give it, like you know, a motion of, like you know, jerking the rod and yeah, it's a lot of work. You know, tuna guy, it's a tuna thing, but you know.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:But it's, it's effective for those, but, but I think that's a. It's a good point, though, that the bonito you can catch them the same exact way when they're mixed in with the albies yes, yes same with the spanish mackerel, but if you're, if you're going for bonito, it is not the way that you're typically fishing for them for offshore. Yes, I mean it's, it's different, it's a lot of it, I think, has to do with the depth, because you know once they get inshore they're under 30 feet, under 50 feet of water.
Rob Crossley:They're just kind of moving yes and they're attacking the base and bait on top right, right, so you're not so much. You know they're, they're, they're probably more mid-column. You know, whatever they're feeding on the baits mid column, you know it's not not up top and especially not that deep of water because, like the rats right now they're in like 60 feet.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Yeah, 50, 60 feet, yeah man, I want to go now. Yeah, it's almost time I'm ready. It's almost time I'm I'm ready to go. I gotta work on getting the right rod though, because I don't have one. Let's go back to the rod real quick. What action do you have on that rod? Are you using the fast action?
Rob Crossley:Fast action. Yeah, you want a fast snappy tip.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Fast or extra fast, but you want to stay away from the moderate.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, yeah, because you're going to lose a little distance. Yeah, I like to throw a little hard one. Cast an epoxy jig and look for a little snap at the tip where a moderate rod. You know you have to let that rod load up, you know, let it do its job. But yeah, fast action is all you need. You know 7.6 is all you need.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:That's the difference. You're using rods that are not going to snap when you load them up. I don't. I don't have a rod that I still use, that I trust, to fully load on something. It's a whole different thing. I I have some customs from years ago that I I used for a long time and I fully. I mean I whipped those things and I got everything out of them that I could. But these, you know, like even the tfo that I typically use for most of my inshore stuff, I don't trust that thing. You know it's rated up to whatever ounces. I'm like I don't think so, I don't think it. I don't think it's going to work.
Rob Crossley:TFO is a fast action rod. It has a nice snappy tip to it.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:It does, but it's a different thing.
Rob Crossley:Break on fish and casting the brakes. It's one of those things.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I don't own St Croix anymore. St Croix anymore. St Croix used to not break.
Rob Crossley:Used to not break. Yeah, those premier series rods were, were great, you know. But those avid rods and emojis I don't know, they just went a different direction and I just never recovered from it.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I almost bought a mojo. Until I tried one. I was like this, there's, this is not, this is not right, and I'm not hating on saint croix, saint croix, I'm not either.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:But damn you know, I don't know what, what, what they're thinking there yeah, there, there is a big difference in quality, though the only, the only rod that I hate on, the only one that I truly hate on, is ugly stick and the and it's not ugly sticks fault. They for what they are. They're exactly what they say they are. They're like the nearly unbreakable rod family rod yeah, but.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:But what always bothers see I could talk to a rod guy about this. What always bothers, see I could talk to a rod guy about this. What always bothers me about that is fishermen have bought into that being the most important thing. A breaking rod should be like the least of your concerns on a fish.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Because if you're breaking a rod on a fish and look, I got very good friends who will say, ah, the rod broke because of the fish, I'm like, no, it didn't, it was you. Oh well, it did this movement. I'm like, so it was you. You didn't accompany the movement with the proper movement of your hands and you had too much drag and you tried to horse it this way, or you high-sticked it and people high stick all the time and don't realize it. But the ugly stick, yeah, it probably won't high stick, but it also it. It also is just such terrible action. As far as for the way that I fish, at least noodle, it is a noodle and I just try, I try and I listen. I say this I have an ugly stick literally in my truck right now that I do bring with me for fresh water. I bring an ugly stick as one of the two rods that I always have on me.
Rob Crossley:Because you know it's not going to break.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Well, that's why I have it. If I want to go for a catfish and I'm going to grab some bait and throw out one thing, that's the catfish rod or the carp rod, because I can set the drag tight. I can literally stick it in a in a in in between the rocks on the dam and it's not going to break yeah, it won't break.
Rob Crossley:We'll lock it up and stop that fishing right, exactly, but I'm not.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I'm not using that for what I'm tossing no no so yeah I just had to bring that up, man it's. I think that the rods make a lot more. It changes your experience. On the water, yes, and a fish like an albie. You're going to feel the difference between and it's not price, but you know, let's just use price as the gauge a 400 rod is going to feel a lot different than that $70 rod. They both can work, but the experience of it is so much different.
Rob Crossley:So much different. It's crazy. And the confidence you're going to be able to, you know, have with that. You know it's a better rod and you know the more versatile that rod is going to be.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Yeah, I use it for my fluke. Once. I have a really inexpensive custom that I use all the time and I really like it, but it's heavy and it wasn't until I decided I'm just going to start using my slow pitch another custom much more expensive but still not top of the line. And the difference is it's like night and day and you think that the slow pitch, this little thin rod, is not going to handle a cow nose Ray. But I literally boated a large cow nose Ray on this little thing and you know I I don't know that I could have done it with the bigger rod. I think it actually probably would have snapped it.
Rob Crossley:We snapped it, yeah, cause? Cause the probably would have snapped. It was snapped it? Yeah, because because the it were locked up.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:you know the the locking point of the rod's gonna, you know, be where that rod's gonna break, you know or again you can, you can feel where that is, you know when you're at that point and it gets to that point and it was just a weight thing, you know this is where it's gonna you know more likely gonna break, yeah, but that's where slow pitch comes in you know it's going to, you know more likely going to break, yeah, but that's where slow pitch comes in.
Rob Crossley:You know it's great because you can parabolic and you can really put the heat on a thing.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:You know, I love that thing. I use it. I use it when I shouldn't just because I I I like it, it's fun and that's why it's fun to fish with. If I were in a tournament I wouldn't necessarily use that. Yeah, that's where I get more serious and I use what I'm supposed to use. But you know, I'll try to catch things on that that rod, just to catch them, yeah yeah, I hear you so we're coming close to the hour.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Do you have any like any big tips for anyone that wants to get into this style of fishing, any like experiences that you want to share with it? I the one thing I would say. I know it can get frustrating for people starting out and if you're not on it, you're not on it yeah, well, yeah.
Rob Crossley:So the gear, you know, starting with the right rod and reel, obviously you're gonna want to have the right setup. You know, anywhere from a 10 footer to a 7.6 half ounce to. You know, one and one and a half-ounce fast action, something that you're going to want to start with, a 3K or a 4,000-size reel, 20-pound braid and 20-pound leader. Fluoro is a good start, you know. Then you're going to, you know, buy a handful of epoxy jigs. You know, maybe buy a pink one and a silver one, a chartreuse. That's three main jigs you really need. It's only really neat. I don't really throw soft plastics because the fish here are so picky they don't really buy. It's different in the Cape, where you guys are using those albie snacks. It's not needed down here. Just a plain old epoxy jig or 007 or one of those helix or hex, hex, diamond jigs, wherever they are yeah, or deadly dick.
Rob Crossley:Deadly dick works fine. That's a good start. And then you know when you're on the boat and you know kind of wherever you're coming from, if you're going going out the mask on, or you know you're going out boring good light or wherever. Just you know kind of go to an area where there's a close enough wreck, maybe you know like one to two miles, and and see if you can find fish.
Rob Crossley:If there's nothing there, then start moving yourself, you know, closer to the beach and then just you know, once you find them, you know it's kind of like gotta be patient, you gotta be, you know, closer to the beach and then just you know, once you find them, you know it's kind of like you've got to be patient, you've got to be, you know, pretty calm with it and you know kind of understand what they're doing, because they're just going to constantly keep moving following the bait. You know they might, you know, go through a whole bait pile and go right on to the next. Right, yeah, just be patient. And you know you're going to find your cadence. You know you're going to cast into these feeds and you know you can burn it in right away and see what happens, or you can cast and let it sink and then do an immediate retrieve and see what happens, and once you get bit, and then you kind of just repeat that process over and then you know you go from there.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Now let's say you didn't have your boat. Where would you say you know you would? In New Jersey. Let's just talk New Jersey, because that's really what we're talking about right now. And then the New York guy. I know there's a bunch of New York guys. Next week I'm going to share where all I got the stats of Rob. You wouldn't believe like how many people in different countries are regular listeners to the podcast. It's crazy. It's crazy, but New York is actually. We have more New York people than New Jersey people. So you're going to have to adjust because I don't think Rob knows the inlets and the beaches along the shore there. But where would you be going If you just had to guess? Where do you think you're going to start seeing these show up first this year?
Rob Crossley:I'm not going to give away the good spots, but Sandy Hook's a good spot to no, just general areas.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:You're going to go all the way up north. That's where you think it's probably going to kick off.
Rob Crossley:With me. I'm not going to go chase them up north, no, I'm just going to. You know they're going to be here. You're going to have your body of fish. You know it could be off, you know Sandy Hook, or it can be off Long Branch. You know Matalucan area, but they'll all come in at once, not going to just be, they're going to be up and down the coast, you know either way. But yeah, I'm just going to stay local and uh okay.
Rob Crossley:Most likely be on the boat. I won't really target them too much on the beach unless you know I'm on the beach that day.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:They just happened to be there. All right, the land-based guys. Your estimation is you probably got an even shot, no matter where you are.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, fishing off the jetties. John Skinner, where does he fish? Off Long Island Sound? Yeah, it's a little different for him he's a seven-foot rod. They come in super close. Here it's different If can use a seven-foot rod and then come in. You know super close and you know here it's different. You're going to, you know you're going to need, if you're fishing off the surf, you're going to need a 10-foot rod. You know you want to be able to get that distance because you know most of the time they're they're going to be on that past that break and you're going to need a 10 footer or nine and a half to get the distance.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Or start waiting.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, or start waiting. You know, depending on the day, but the conditions always change. You just gotta be ready for it.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I think that's the big thing. You gotta be ready for it, and I do again, like I said at the beginning, I've this fishing. It is freaking amazing when you catch, when you catch on to them and you get a bite going. The run and gun is insanity. I mean, talk about adrenaline and it doesn't really what for me. You, you know you think you got your down time between spots, but to me that's the most intense time because you're trying to figure out where are they going to come up. Where are they going to come up? So you're like looking around, like you're looking for a sniper or something.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, and you can go a half hour and not find them. And then all of a sudden they just, they just pop up. You know, yep, they feel like crazy. And then you know, then they're gone and then it's like you won't see him for two hours and you're like I was trying to go south. And then you go south and it's like they're everywhere and then it's just like what the heck happened? You know, it just died off here and now you got to go south.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I can't tell you how many times I went. So I used to go out this is a long time ago with my buddy Jason, when I lived in Stone Harbor for a summer and he and I would go out every day and we went out. We went out of Townsend when we were around that time of year at the end of August. So we're going out of Townsend and we're out there and we're just, it's kind of the run and gun thing. We had a habit of not communicating with each other. So he's driving or I'm driving, the other one's looking and you're on the bow of this boat and all of a sudden it's like 15 minutes, nothing. You're just kind of, you know just real slow rise and fall, looking and looking. Next thing you know you're going like full speed.
Rob Crossley:You're on your ass, you're sliding down the walk around.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:You're getting wedged in there. It's like, oh, I found him. I can't get up, so yeah. But but it was like always that adrenaline Cause you never knew when it was going to pop off again, and when it did, you just had to be ready for it.
Rob Crossley:Yeah it's, you know there'll be right off the beach and the next thing you know they're. They're a mile off the beach. You know kind of cruise around and you just keep on looking and it's away from the pop up. You'll see the birds. You'll see like three or four or five birds and they'll just start picking away. They'll fly real erratic and that's when you know there's fish under them All right.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Well, people got to get ready. It's going to kick off soon.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, be patient, and patience is the key.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Patience until you get get there, and then it's kind of focused intensity yeah, yeah otherwise you're just wasting your time.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, then it's recent yeah, but you know, a good day for me is 10 fish, maybe maybe a little more 10 fish. 10 to 12 fish is a good day that's a good day, a bad? I think that yeah, like a quick afternoon, like right after work, is probably, or like three or four fish, a little bit more harder to find because the water's not so clear yeah, and I will say this before we go, though it's when they're in.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I'm not saying it's guaranteed that you're going to catch them, but you have a really high probability of finding them. At least it's not like you're going out and just hunting and you may not find something.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:I mean that could happen, but when they're in they're in and you're going to be able to find them. At the very least, the birds will show you where they are. Some of the best time actually to go, my opinion is when you have pretty substantial seas. You know so you're not always going to see them themselves, but you'll always. The birds will always find them for you, yeah yep and blind and blind cast and totally fine.
Rob Crossley:You know, if you, if you don't see these birds breaking, I mean, uh, the albies busting surface and you just see birds just casting the birds, those fish are there, they're just subsurface.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:And they'll come up.
Rob Crossley:Yeah, they'll come up.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:They'll absolutely come up Well, I'm looking forward to well. Again. For those that haven't seen it, it's August 2025. Need for Speed False Albuquerque Tact tactics and gear in the fisherman magazine. It's the new jersey edition. Again. We have a lot of guys in new york and new england that watch and listen to this. Just go online and just go to the new jersey edition. You have access with your subscription to all three, so you should be able to go in and read this article. It's good information. I'm going to follow up with you and see how you're doing. Hopefully I'll get out on a bike and I'll be able to share a story or two, but it's not likely that I'm going to be able to. It's tough when the bike comes in and I'm two and a half hours away and no boat to get on it. And I'm two and a half hours away and no boat to get on it. But I'll be living vicariously through you and all those other guys down there really beating them up. So thanks again for coming on. I really appreciate it.
Rob Crossley:I appreciate it, thank you. Thanks for the invite.
Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing:Yeah, and next week everybody. I think he, I think I hope I have this right. He just entered the chat. Benji crabbing and fishing is going to be on. I think that's next week. I got to double check. So we're going to go into that talk about his charter business, see if he's going to be getting out there with his boat on these Albies. If I had to guess, I'm going to say he will figure a way to do it. So hopefully we'll have some continued coverage coming up on it. So he just said in the chat yes, he will. So all right, thanks again, rob. Everybody, thanks for tuning in. Until next week, until next episode, everybody, get out there, get on the water and get some tight lines you.
.png)
