I have a difficult time distinguishing between the various tunas such as albacore, false albacore, skipjack, bonita and who knows what else. I sometimes think that that is the power a professional fishermen has over me. He doesn't know the difference either, he's just smart enough to use one of the names in a very confident manner. To solve the problem of being unable to correctly identify these fish, I have created one name to use for all. A characteristic of any tuna is that they travel in schools.
False albacore are no different.
These schools, which can be quite large, move in and around Beaufort Inlet and Barden's Inlet at Cape Lookout to feed on bait fish such as glass minnows. When the two meet, a feeding frenzy begins. The water literally boils with activity. This area of feasting fish and turbulent waters can be 50-100 feet across, with false albacore jumping everywhere. Now you know why they are easy to find.