THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411030173
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Tight Lines
SOURCE: Ford Reid
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Looking into the sun, you couldn't be sure but there appeared to be birds - lots of birds - working over fish beyond the outer bar.
``Bluefish?'' one fellow standing on the beach asked.
``Bluefish,'' another confidently answered.
``Big ones?'' the first fellow asked.
``Who knows,'' the second said, shrugging his shoulders.
It might be difficult to tell what is happening when the birds are far off shore, but when they are working close to the beach it is relatively easy to tell what they are following.
If they are hovering over the water, with wings flapping like crazy, picking scraps off the surface, they are probably working over a school of bluefish.
The size of the bluefish doesn't seem to affect the behavior of the birds much. To determine whether the fish are big ones or little ones, you'll have to wait until one jumps or, even better, until you catch one.
If the birds are diving into the water, there are probably not bluefish below. Any angler knows that bluefish in a feeding frenzy will snap at anything that moves, including another bluefish.
Birds know that, too. They might be hungry, but they are not going to lose their heads over it.
If you see birds obviously feeding over fish, and diving into the water, guess trout.
With the incredible comeback of striped bass, or rockfish, in the past few years, that species is a possibility under feeding birds, too.
Occasionally, schools of rock and blues are mixed together in the surf. It is hard to tell that until you see fish, but who cares? Just keep casting and trust your luck.
The other fish likely to attract birds in the autumn surf is the false albacore, or little tunny.
Once you have seen birds feeding over false albacore you will never mistake it for anything else.
Bluefish, striped bass and trout like to trap a school of bait and gobble away as long as food is available.
False albacore, on the other hand, seem to chase one piece of bait at a time. Now and then they will blitz, trapping a school of bait against the shore and staying there for a few moments.
But more often, they are in open water, swimming, always swimming, surfacing in one place, then popping up in another seconds later.
Birds over feeding false albacore will mirror the sub-surface pattern of the fish. If you see gulls and terns flying in rapid, erratic lines, dipping to the water quickly, then moving off in a hurry, you can bet they are working over false albacore.
If you learn to read the birds, to be aware of exactly what they are up to, it will give you a fishing edge. You could, for instance, throw a plug that bluefish would love into a school of trout all day long and never get any action. False albacore are not likely to hit a jig selected and retrieved with trout in mind.
Step one in consistent success is knowing what you are trying to catch.
Gulls and terns can offer a great assist in helping the angler to figure that out. by CNB