Westport Outfitters Fishing Report: Week of October 28th


AHHHHHHHHHHHH...the wind. The weekend was tough with some pretty nasty breezes once again so we were anxious to get back out on the water early in the week to see if the bait had been dispersed. Finally the real cold snap that we have been waiting for also occurred over the weekend, which hopefully put the finishing touches on the beginning of a migratory bass run. Sunday the reports though began filtering in first from Ted Prendergast who was fishing from shore west of the shop just over the NY border. Armed with a new fly rod set up from the store he landed bluefish after bluefish in a total frenzy up to about 8lbs, with hoards of peanuts all over the area. Next it was Chuck Digiovanna and his Southport Striper Club who had at least a half a mile of breaking fish off of Southport, also on Sunday, with fish up to 15lbs from their trusty Hobie Kayaks. On Monday Rob Capodanno was into some blues from shore off of Fairfiled wading after taking a keeper striper in his new set of Chota Waders the day before. Some fish were just out of reach from shore though�see Rob; you really do need that kayak!!  Tuesday Captain Chris was back at it with a charter that we had donated to the local chapter of Ducks Unlimited. They headed out to the bumps off of Eaton�s Neck with several good sized blues, but the overall feeling was that jigging is slower than normal for this time of year.  Wednesday the kayak crew including Pete Viviano and Matt Mumbach were out at first light albeit they left their yaks at home and stuck with the waders. This turned out to be the wrong move, no fish, but even more frightening on this Halloween Day was that they could not buy a piece of bait, for it was nowhere to be found. Shortly after their departure, Captain Steve moseyed into the shop after returning from a first light excursion on the boat that had him bass on the fly rod up to 30 inches and then his share of blues off of both Sherwood Island and then again off of Southport Beach and Sunken Island in Fairfield. This is a perfect example of just being slightly out of reach of fish depending on where the bait is. Steve was fishing every place the shore crew was just a bit farther offshore.  Captain Chris ventured back up to the Housey on Wednesday as well and trolled up bass to 32 inches on the T&W set ups in the River and then went scouting around with the fly rod for some big blue action on the surface out near Charles Island, in perperation for a trip today.  The albies are definitely not gone yet. We have had several reports all week long that some of these schools are monstrous in our local waters. Up and inside of the Saugatuck basin seems to be the place at higher tides, but these fish are super finicky so keep your baits small and be sure to use a fluorocarbon leader. If you fly fish, you will definitely have an advantage for you can suspend the fly right in their feeding column. For the spin enthusiast, quick retrieve with no stops or the lure will fall out of the desired strike zone.  The jigging has been heating up as well, but there still should be plenty of good action in tight with all this bait around.  Back to the local black fish scene�Orlando (a.k.a. �Black Fish King�) with his trusty first mate Nilda had their fill of blacks to 7lbs. in and around Greens Ledge (see Recent Catches� section below). What happened to all the 9lb fish?? What can we saw Orlando, you have been getting it done all month, there is really no sense of coming into the shop and asking us where the fish are biting since it appears you already know...CONGRATS!  This weekend with the long term weather pattern remaining stable, it could set it up real nice for some classic fall fishing. The front moving up the coast should stay far south and east of us so have no worries. UPDATE:11/2/07-It looks like the weather man was wrong again. The storm is now predicted to be a lot closer than was previously expected-Gusts of 50 MPH or more are anticipated through Saturday. Another reason to head down to the shop!! Mild air temps and a dropping water temp have to turn things on. The Cape lit up over the weekend and then we had reports that the Watch Hill area was on fire earlier this week so the trend would say that it�s coming our way!! Keep the faith for what could be a awesome November!  THE MONTAUK REPORT  Our friend Captain Dean reports that the fishing remains better than good out East in Montauk and the point is still red hot. It has been hard for the commercial bass fisherman to even fill the bass tags this year because the fish need to be between 24�-37� to take commercially. All the fish being caught are well above this 37� inch range with the average fish this week being around 41�. It takes a big fish to turn heads on Dean�s dock at Montauk Marine Basin and when they returned one night with a fish just over 46� and close to 45 lbs, the heads were indeed turning.  The porgies are still in Dean�s opinion the best way to get the big cows. The bottom fishing is starting to get real hot as well with some real nice reports of Cod and Pollack.  Don�t let the cold weather fool you. The fishing is awesome out here at this time of year. For more information, contact Captain Dean Kardamis @ 203.556.3361.  JUST IN-NEW-LIPPA4LIFE FISH GRIPS-All stainless steel with a 10� coiled lanyard. At $34.95 you will all be throwing out your BOGA grips!!  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!  QUANTUM TRUCK LOAD SALE-TOO MUCH TO LIST-STOP ON DOWN!! -- Delivered by Feed43 service