Often it is a triangle but if you sit and watch the fish, it becomes predictable. As a result, when you see a small pod of fish pop onto the surface, you can start to predict where they are going next.
When you place a plug ahead of the fish in a situation where they simply inhale it, that is the moment for me when fishing can turn to hunting and have a very different dynamic.
I’ve long had a romantic affair with this beautiful species. In my first fall on Nantucket, after graduating college, I lived with my rod on my car. I fished on charter boats every summer during college, but the fairy-tale summers would end toward the end of August and I would wash away off-island with the crowds. Even though I was on the water for close to 100 days straight, I never saw a false albacore until that magical fall.
My clearest memory of that fall was driving out to Great Point in my old Explorer. The tracks were always so developed that you didn’t need to focus on the driving. Instead, my eyes were always on the water. I slowed down and stopped as soon as I approached the Galls and I saw fish busting like I had never seen before. For some crazy reason, I grabbed my fly-rod instead of my spin-rod and ran full speed into the water.
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