Westport Outfitters Fishing Report: Week of October 20th


You may have heard us use this analogy before, but the current fishing situation can�t be described better any other way�All weekend and into the week the shop atmosphere has been comparable to be a bunch of grown men (& women) waiting around waiting to win the lottery, knowing that they have the winning ticket in their hand, but the announcement that they have won has not been announced yet, therefore we can�t claim the final prize...yet. The lottery ticket in this analogy is the abundance of bait like we have not seen in this area in years. The fact that we can�t claim it yet is the fact that the fish have not really started to move�but they will�they have to.  We moved all of our charters to Sunday with the wind and all boats got into some fish. Captain Chris was on kid patrol and landed his share of porgies for his group and a fat Sea Bass along with a 12lb blue, which took the group by surprise inside of the islands on a popper. This particular family from New Canaan had never really been fishing before so you could imagine the look on the two young angler�s faces when this monster came clear out of the water before the fight ensued.  Captain Rick had a solo gig with lots of scouting to help bring another new comer up to speed on some shore accessible locations but managed a few bass & blues before calling it a day.  Captain Rob was busy getting Les Hall and company better acquainted with the T&W approach on his new Westport Outfitter�s lead core combos with several large blues and some larger ones missed jigging out at the bumps off of Eaton�s Neck..  Back inshore, Bill Becke had his fill of good sized stripers all the way up and inside the harbor on his go to plastic Storm Shads with several 10lb blues mixed in as well.  Our good friend and scout Ron Leong was into some large pods of schooling bass all over 24 inches in the Saugatuck area, giving his Yozuris a break and filtering in some of our never fail Stillwater poppers�I told you they work Ron!!  Jay Thomson was back at it before heading out of town mixing in an assortment of our hand tied flies by Peter Viviano and landed two nice keeper stripers from Compo in the 30 inch range on his trusty Scott X2S fly rod. Jay, you better cool it from shore or you will convince yourself never to buy that boat!!  Captain Chris was back at it up on the Housey on Tuesday with a private charter with several keeper stripers and blues on poppers in the 14lb range. If anyone is looking to investigate this great local fishery, give the shop a call and we will meet you at the ramp on the river.  Black Fish King Orlando has been limiting out on togs up to 8 lbs all week around the islands with a few Sea Bass up to 15 inches in the mix as well. See photos below in "Recent Catches" section. And "yes" we have crabs!  Wednesday A.M. myself and Michael Pryor went out for a few casts before the shop opened and with the overcast skies, I was hoping for some serious action. We immediately ran into some sporadic schools of large blues in Norwalk Harbor with perhaps an Albie or two mixed in. By the time we got keyed in�it was time to open up the shop, but the bait was thick and there was fish busting everywhere!  I know we have been stating this for the past several weeks and although we can�t predict a migratory fishes� movement, it�s going to happen any day now so don�t give up�keep the faith!! Just to put everything into perspective from a historical standpoint, I looked back at last year�s report for the same week and water temps were down around 56 degrees, a far cry from the balmy temps we still are experiencing. Tight Lines!  MONTAUK REPORT  The "TEASER" was back at the fishing grounds this week with much to report. The point has been lit up with birds, blues, bass and albies all week.  The cow bass fishing is on fire right now as well Captain Dean reports. Plenty of bass action trolling or bait fishing in the rips. We had a great day on Friday and Saturday with bass up to 40lbs. Eels are working well and save you the time of catching your own live bait for the tidal rips. The ebb tide has been the best for the crew of the �TEASER� this year. I had reports from some light tackle captains that had large bass �fining� on top and the clients had one exciting trip. The black fishing and sea bass is just starting to heat up as well.  For more information, contact Captain Dean Kardamis @ 203.556.3361.  Cooler water, colder air temps�what�s on your feet or what should be at least is a pair of semi-insulated NEW SERVUS boots-Come have a look. A cold pair of feet can ruin a great day of fall fishing!!  THE JIG IS UP- 6�6 Medium Action Ugly Stick (15-40lb) matched with a Penn 220 GT Level Wind Reel. This stout set up is a work horse put together specifically for jigging the bumps for our fall season here in Long Island Sound. Retails separately for over $210.00, NOW $189.99 as packaged!  THEY ARE BACK!! �RESTOCKED- Captain Chris� Tube and Worm Lead Core Combos-Fully rigged and ready to go. Shakespeare Tiger Stick rod matched with a Penn Sea Boy Reel, leaders, line and swivels included only $169.99. (Retails separately for $199.00) Just add water! -- Delivered by Feed43 service