Crazy Alberto, Crazy Alberto Knie
I nominate Crazy Alberto. I have seen him at a few seminars last year. He always seems approachable. He has quite a few records of large under his belt. Even with all that, I never got a sense that he had an attitude when I or others asked him a question. I would love to have a chance to fish next to him. He appears to be just a regular guy who loves to fish, without the superstar status.
This was published in the fisherman and on Zenos site.
This article originally appeared in the Fisherman magazine
“Crazy” Alberto Knie
In this month’s installment “Crazy” Alberto Knie shares his secrets of hunting for big bass during the month of June. Al is known for turning conventional wisdom on its head, concentrating on tides everyone else avoids abut his consistent ability to cull very large fish has earned him respect all along striper coast. He is a striped bass world record holder with a 45lb bass he landed on 8 lb test in June of 2004 at Shineckock. Although he is as comfortable snook fishing in Costa Rica , tossing fly’s to tarpon in Florida Keys or trout fishing all over the world his passion for striped bass and weakfish keeps him firmly implanted on local the scene during the month of June. Why does this world-class angler choose to fish local waters during this month? Read on.
Hi Al. Tell us were do you intend to fish during the month of June?
I like to concentrate on big fish and therefore spend a lot of time in south shore Back Bay waters. The reason is there is a lot of big baits around in these areas and big baits mean big fish. Concentrate on slack water faze and you will find big fish. You are not going to catch a lot of them but you will definitely catch quality fish.
Do you concentrate inside the inlets?
Yes. The mouths but mostly cuts, coves, rip in the back. You have to think about this now. The last of the flounder or whatever is left of it will stay in the mouth of the inlet or in the back coves very close to the inlet. There is overabundance of blackfish that moves in to spawn in this period of time. Sea robins, small sea bas and fluke are also abundant, so there is a lot of big bait present. That’s were you find the bigger fish. Ninety nine percent of the fish will be caught at night; this is not a day bite. The fish tend to go in the deeper cuts in daytime and they generally never venture into the shallow waters during the day in June
Are you going after these fish with plugs or bait?
I use big plugs. It all depends on where I am fishing. If I fish shallow waters I tend to try to “match the hatch” and the smallest bait I try to imitate is blackfish. You are talking darters, black bucktails and big rubber shads. In rough conditions, a Gibbs bottle plug is a must. Other swimming plugs? Leave them for other months. June is a big fish month, probably the best month for landing a cow. The bigger fish usually get active close to the new moon. Three days before and three days after is your window for big fish.
What about a needlefish, thin profile lures and teasers? We have been told that in June we must try to imitate sand eels?
I don’t use needlefish a whole lot until fall and then it is usually on the open beaches or rocky areas. Sand eels means aggressive, small fish and the pattern that I am fishing is usually big bait. Don’t get me wrong, June is a phenomenal month to catch fish, especially in the inlet areas and you can do quite well with needles and thin profile baits that imitate sand eels. But I concentrate on big fish and thru the years I found out that they feed at different stages of the tide than those small ones. So all you have been taught is true but you have to remember that if targeting a “fish”, that’s easy; there is plenty of fish around in June. Targeting big fish requires a different mindset, as there are not many big fish around. You don’t know how many times people see me on the water as I arrive and promptly inform me I just “missed the bite”. They have no idea that I am looking for one or two large fish instead of just looking to get in on the action. As for the teasers, I don’t use them in June, as they tend to attract a lot of smaller fish
Does color of the lure matter?
I like dark colors but in particular I like olive. If you think about it, sea robins, blackfish, sea bass, flounder, they all have a hue of olive. I have caught more big fish on olive than any other color. I also like black lures but I think olive is a better color. The black is a very dominant color but nothing there is really real black, the darkest color is olive. Most of the lures in my bag in June are a shade of olive
How about presentation?
Retrieve should be kept slow and you should be very, very methodical about it. You have to use all your senses and not just your eyes. You need to listen to sound around you and at times you will also be able to smell the fish in the area. Pay attention to your presentation at night. Striped bass use their lateral lines to feed and paddle tails and big plugs will cause the fish to notice your lure.
Are big fish more difficult to fool with a plug than smaller, more aggressive ones?
Bass are opportunistic feeders and if you can present you plug half way decent they will take it. But if you miss it they will probably give you another shot and that will be it.
Are you looking for a particular stage of the tide in regards to bait and water movement?
Absolutely, I am all about tides. Never on a high tide or a strong moving current. I know this fly in the face of “conventional” teaching as we have been told repeatedly to fish “high water down”. You got to think like a fish. When currents are very strong you find a place you can rest and wait, letting the more hyper and aggressive fish chase the small bait. When the opportunity comes that you can swim freely and chow down anything that you want and the fact that there are lot of big baits around, heck, they are having a feast down there. That’s why the bellies get swollen up, from munching on those big baits. Also, in June theoretically, it’s easier to locate bigger fish.
Theoretically?
Yes, if you know your water well. Great South Bay is great in May but if you are looking for big fish in June, concentrate on Moriches and Shineckock Inlets and even Montauk. Find some deeper pockets around the inlets and I bet you will find some large fish. Think about it, blackfish come in the 5 or six-foot water to spawn .You think those big cows are not lurking in the shadows? It’s all about bait, big bait.
Why is it easier for these large fish to chase the bait in slow water instead of a ripping one? Don’t they always use current to feed?
Not necessarily because in moving water they are always behind something, large fish at least, otherwise they would be wasting too much energy. That puts them in a vulnerable position where they have to rely on their reflexes to lunge at something that is passing by, chase it eat it and then go back to their original position, wasting a lot of energy. In slack water they are free to go and chase the large baits using their speed. Even although I was targeting weakfish that night, my word record 45lb bass on 8-pound test was caught very close to slack water
Tell us little more about your slack water theory?
It’s very, very simple. If you look at the dynamics of striped bass and how it is designed, that wide tail is built for short, lightning fast burst of speed. So at slack tide, not slack current, they can move in the area and chase and ambush big bait at will. At nighttime, especially flounder and blackfish tend to be lethargic and half asleep becoming an easy prey. As the water starts slowing down those aggressive fish will move and the bigger ones will make an appearance. They will pick up leftovers and they will attack the most vulnerable baits. This will all take place in a window of no more than ½ hour and then they move of the structure.
Does weather play a large role in June?
Not really. Weather in June is fairly consistent and it doesn’t play a large role unless you are talking about bunker present along the oceanfront. If there is a good amount of bunker up front a NW wind can be very good for this particular bay pattern as the bunker always feed into the wind, in case of northwest this means tight to the shore. Besides that, the weather in June rarely brings the unexpected. June is, in my opinion, an easy month to locate fish. You know they have to feed and that there is big bait close to shore. They can be very predictable, yes, big fish can be predictable. Once you locate them they will be there night after night, give or take 10 minutes, like clockwork as long as it’s dark.
North shore, you fish there?
If I want to chunk for big fish in June, I go to the North shore. That is not to say that certain areas on South Shore don’t hold big fish, they absolutely do, but if I am fishing south shore I am going with artificials. Think about it, western sound, Hempstead Harbor , Cold Spring Harbor , in May and June there is a big body of trophy fish there. Some of them move along towards Orient Point and some continue onto the Cape but many stay there for the summer harassing bunker. The problem is accessible shoreline to fish from and that’s why a lot of guys shy away from fishing there.
Know your water and be a local fisherman. Why would you go elsewhere when there are big fish in your waters? Learn you water than explore elsewhere
How about weakfish?
I have this big fetish will weakfish. It’s the only fish that can put a hold on my bass fishing. You don’t run into a lot of them and it so happens that late May, early June you can find a decent body of big weakfish. After they spawn they can often be found feeding aggressively. I scale down my plug selection and use a lot of plastic paddle tails and such. Pink is the color and the key is to concentrate on areas of calmer moving waters. By the way, they do feed on slack water, regardless of what we have been told. But for consistency concentrate on moving water.
Any last words?
Know your water and be a local fisherman. Why would you go elsewhere when there are big fish in your waters? Learn you waters than explore elsewhere .The window of opportunity for catching a big fish for the year is brief. June is probably the best month to catch that trophy. If you are looking to catch big fish, a bragging rights fish, that’s the month. There are good opportunities to get a large fish in October and November but the fish are less predictable in those months. After the bass spawn in spring they get into a feeding frenzy and Mother Nature allows all those baitfish to move in the shallow waters. At night time in the moon periods, they are having a feast .If there were ever a period of time that I really enjoy going after big fish, June and October would be the two months
Reply With Quote
