Jack, Ron and Isaac Mizrahi (left to right) with a husky Atlantic bonito.

"Tuna, tuna, tuna! One o'clock, 50 yards and coming fast. "Cast, cast!" I bellowed.

I'm not usually Capt. Bligh, and don't usually scream at my clients, but when pods of bluefin, skipjack, bonito or false albacore are busting the surface right off my gunnel, I get a little animated.

I don't often find tuna when I launch my 21-foot center console from Brooklyn, New York. So when I do, even if the biggest ones might only go 20 pounds, it's eventful. From midsummer through fall, small-boat, light-tackle anglers from the New York area should be prepared for the possibility of sighting these infrequent visitors to our waters.

Dave Fisher took this albie on a Crease Fly off Brooklyn, New York.

Surrounded by the boroughs of Manhattan, Staten Island and Brooklyn, the New York Bight is fed by the fertile waters of the Hudson River, as well as Jamaica and Raritan bays. Each fall this area gets a somewhat consistent run of false albacore. But for the past several years we have also experienced visits from some of their more formidable cousins, like the skipjack and bluefin tunas. Fishing for them was initially a purely opportunity situation. But lately many anglers have become obsessed, so they search the Internet, the airwaves and the ocean for any clues of their arrival. Often the first indication is the radio chatter of fluke fishermen who have spotted a school of albies surface where they are drift-fishing. The heart of this fishery has been the influx of warm, blue water and the abundance of small bait--like spearing, bay anchovies and sand eels--which the New York area has been experiencing the past few years.

Classification

An albie taken on an all-white Clouser Minnow.

Not true tunas, false albacore and Atlantic bonito have been lumped together by area guides under the designation tunoids: They're all "tuna-like" in behavior, making them no less desirable to catch.

Atlantic bonito are the smaller of the two species and make an amazing showing on tackle matched to their size. Usually making a brief appearance sometime in July or August, most years they will only hang around a couple of weeks. Those lucky enough to spot them while fishing for other species may get a few shots.

In 2007 we were blessed with some of the best bonito fishing in memory. For two months, the Rockaway coast was inundated with huge schools and there were many fly and light-tackle catches of larger-than-average specimens. But it was no surprise in 2008 when no local sightings were reported.

There are few fish in the Northeast that evoke as much excitement as false albacore. Pound for pound these are the fastest, toughest fish most of us will ever encounter. Spinning tackle matched to 10-pound mono or 20-pound braid, or 7- to 10-weight fly rods, will handle these brutes that can go from 4 to 15 pounds. False albacore hang around inlets. Out of New York Bight the mouth of Rockaway Inlet and the area around Sandy Hook are two dependable spots to find these speedsters. But waters out 3 miles from Rockaway to Jones Inlet, about 18 miles to the east, also hold these fish. From late August through mid October it's best to look for working birds or clusters of boats with active flycasters at the bow.