Well Mother Nature continued to replenish herself this past week with several more inches of rain falling from the sky and it was still much needed.  The freshwater rivers should be in great shape now, running at more desirable levels which means more oxygen, hungry trout and more intense hatches.  For those a little unstable on their feet, don’t forget your wading sticks. On the salt side, all of this rain will again push the bait (especially bunker) out of the river mouths, so if you are on the hunt from some fresh bait, our recommendation would be to start your search a little further out.  Speaking of bunker schools, there does not seem too much of a pattern when it’s not raining.  I had three reports this past week of bunker being found in some odd places for this time of year, mid sound, tucked up deep inside a local marine and way up river.  After last year and the lack thereof bunker schools, as well as some local institutions hammering it when it was here, there is not too many folks talking about it and its location.  No doubt in fear that the wrong crew may be tipped off and then “poof” they disappear.  We mentioned last week that we thought we saw some sand eels and after getting back out on Sunday, we were proven wrong.  However there are some large schools of silversides that have been pushing through, so the sand eels won’t be far behind. We just restocked are fly bins again with some sweet patterns for imitating these small baits, so stop on down. Onto the report…

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First to check in was Captain Blake who had a trip on Saturday.  After working hard with his client Ian R. for nearly three hours, they had one Sea Robin on the board.  As they began heading back towards Westport, someone threw the light switch just offshore and the water began to boil.  Fish were crashing some small bait and perhaps even some bunker, needless to say, they had fish on top water plugs and swim baits up to 31 inches for nearly an hour before they had to call it quits (see recent catches)

The Micinilio Brothers checked in as well on Saturday, where for them, the fishing was a bit slow and they trolled up a few fish from between 23-26 inches on Rapalas.  Never ones to quit, they headed back out near Bridgeport on Sunday and using 3-4 inch shad bodies were able to drum up almost two dozen fish up to 25 inches.  They wanted to get out and mess around on Penfield, but the weather and seas thought otherwise.

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Sunday afternoon I was in the shop getting ready to close when…wait for it…Don “The Doctor” Rossi came speeding in and was all smiles.  Don continues to get it done having only started fishing the Western Sound less than three years ago.  After trolling some tubes around the Eaton’s Neck area, he had a steady pick of fish.  After getting impatient, he headed out and was happy to come across a large school of bunker one snag, one hook and one cast out later and Don had almost a 27 lb fish!  Not a bad outing…(see recent catches). The day before on Saturday he also trolled up several fish from 18-20lbs off of Port Jeff.

George D. also checked in while he continues his hunt for his 50lber.  He headed down west but ended up stopping off at Rye.  He camped out after having to snag his bait for the schools of bunker  that were rather scattered.  With a few rods in the water, he said it was non-stop, while he could barely bring them in.  All the fish were stout 20 lb class fish with the biggest coming to the net at just under 25lbs.  Nice job George…now come fix my roof!

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Of course the rain put a damper on the fishing for the first part of the week, but Dan K. checked in Wednesday afternoon with a decent report from the Mill Pond.  Silversides were getting hammered by terns and some fish here and there breaking the surface.  Casting some small white bait patterns, he had 7 fish with the largest coming in at 27 inches, but all good fun on the fly rod.

Changing gears a bit, fluke season opened up this past week while the flounder season closes at the end of May.  The flounder fishing has been tuff, but fellow Westport Striped Bass Club members continue to get their fill with some good fish in and around Westport.  In fact I had a report on Tuesday of a 21 inch fluke taken on Monday; of course it was thrown back with the season not opening until Tuesday, but nonetheless a good fish.

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The Micinilio Brothers checked in again after they shifted and decided to take their operation back up to the Housey.  They focused on fishing the upper portion and immediately were into fish on Wednesday evening.  Many fish to the boat casting Yozuri Minnows and Size 12 X-Raps, with five keepers from 30-34 inches (see recent catches)

Well folks that is about it for this week with the rains keeping us off the water for several days.  This weekend is looking perfect, warm temps, clear skies and no wind.  Although for the past two months the fishing has been great, it could blow up any day with the amount of bait in the water.  The sand eels should be popping up any day too, so you long rod guy/gals with no boat will be able to head on back to your favorite shoreline haunt and get into the action. Don’t forget to come in and check out the our custom pre-rigged sluggo boxes as well as our rigged Tube & Worm combos, all you have to do is add water and you will be in to the fish! Don’t Forget To “like” Westport Outfitters on Facebook!

Well that’s about it folks, don’t forget to like us on Facebook so you can receive real time information about the fishing, seminars and other fun events. Speaking of fun events, we are in the planning stages of setting up what will be a “Guide Olympics” that will be open to all. We will have individual competitions like knot tying, casting contest (fly &spin), rigging and of course BEER! If you could send me your level of interest just so we could get an idea that would be appreciated. The weather is looking good for the weekend and even if its not, the fish are here so get on out there!
]]> http://www.westportoutfittersmobile.com/fishing-report-week-of-may-7th-11th/feed/ 0 http://www.westportoutfittersmobile.com/fishing-report-week-of-april-27th-may-4th/ http://www.westportoutfittersmobile.com/fishing-report-week-of-april-27th-may-4th/#comments Thu, 03 May 2012 17:36:36 +0000 admin http://www.westportoutfittersmobile.com/?p=91 Continue reading →]]> Before the report this week, just a few housekeeping items. The ”boyz” are back from school which means I have locked them in the bait room to rig sluggos for our pre-rigged boxes, so come on down and get them while they are hot. Spring is the ideal time to be fishing these weightless and weed less. Secondly, our first Fly-Fishing School with the legend himself, Lou Tabory, to be held this Saturday May 5th is SOLD OUT. The next class is June 2nd and is filling up, so if you want in, either email or call the shop to reserve your spot. For those of you that have been able to attend our seminar series, you know how well the shop is stocked. For those that did not its time to get geared up. Lastly, if your reels are broke, seized or just need a little love, bring them down for servicing, we are running at about a week or so on turnaround so don’t delay…onto the report….

Well a strange few weeks indeed…so after our super mild winter, which for the most part has continued right into April, this past week could be called a relapse as the weather men (& women) warned of frost/freeze warnings nightly. For me, that was okay, for I have been able to dwindle down my wood pile while keeping the fire stoked inside. The cold nights and now lots of moisture has definitely affected the fishing. While the water temps were on the rise, they seemed to have stalled right about 51-52 degrees and that’s surface temperatures. However as we know, fish are very hearty, especially this time of year.

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Our river systems are still packed with Alewives which are insuring a nice big meal for our bass. There also continues to be reports of Blueback Herring too, still left over from the fall and of course our favorite bait fish….Menhaden. When out this weekend, keep in mind that with all of this freshwater streaming down into the sound, the bunker schools that are around will more than likely be away from this freshwater. Now that does not mean that you should not still focus on the estuaries, it simply means if you are looking for bunker, you will need to head off a bit. Lastly, still some sporadic reports of folks taking mackerel, albeit farther to our east, but nonetheless an assortment of forage for our spring fish…and I mean fish(s)….I got a report this week from a good friend who hooked into…wait for it…”yes” a bluefish. With the surface temps being at 51-52 degrees these biters should not be here yet according to the textbook, but hopefully it was just one lost soul…

Over last weekend, those that have their boats in the water were out to take advantage of some decent weather. Don Rossi came in to tell of a few good bass taken on tubes and an even larger piece of structure that cleaned his lead core set up out and he had to be re-spooled(that is what we love Don ). His area of choice was the north shore of L.I. Speaking of LI, we had several folks report in of some nice top water action throughout the north shore while schools of bait were getting rounded up in the confluences of current, with some taken in the 20lb range over the weekend.

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Dan B. scheduled his 1st shakedown cruise of the season with the last day of black fishing. Never one to forget the original task at hand he decided the boat was fine and headed out off of Westport and was rewarded with blacks up to 22 inches and 6-7 lbs. Something told him to flip a few rocks before launching the boat to get some crabs and he is glad that he did…so much for flounder fishing…

Also on Saturday the Micinilio Brothers wrote in after they spent the day picking up trash along the banks of the Housatonic River. Once again these guys are constantly giving back to the river they love so much and the fish Gods rewarded them. After emptying their haul, they picked up a nice fat keeper bass on the troll before calling it a day (see recent catches). Also take a look at some of the crap they pulled out of the Housey…

After gearing up with some new fly line, Cody L. headed out Monday night with the long rod and was tossing some big flat wing looking herring patterns from shore in Fairfield. Lots of bait around and some schoolies and then a nice fat fish fell for the same fly in less than two feet of water that was somewhere between 34-36 inches…no tape……(see recent catches).

Will H. also checked in who has been scouring the coastline looking for new access points throughout the county. Fishing off of Darien he was into some schoolies tossing his own hand tied flatwings and was rewarded with a good size fish that was about 10-12 lbs.

Fellow members of the Westport Striped Bass Club continue to fish in and around the islands at night chunking with a steady pick of fish to 20+ pounds. The flounder fishing for some has been non-existent, while others red hot, just depends on where you are fishing. Keep in mind that the darker bottoms will warm quicker where these fish will come up to sun themselves…

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Another member called in to tell me that while flounder fishing off of Norwalk, he hauled in what he thought no doubt was the new CT state record flounder, until he noticed its jaw structure and realized it was a fluke that topped the tape at over 20 inches!! If that is a sign to come once the fluke season opens, it looks like it may be a good one.

Weakfish…yes I said it. Unfortunately over the past ten years, the weakfish population has been meager at best. The last I caught was about 8 inches long off of Cockenoe about 4 years ago. While fishing for Albies I had let my deadly dick sink while we waited for them to pop up again and when they did I retrieved my line to recast and there it was. There was however a time when these fish thrived locally and maybe they are making a comeback. Several reports over the past week have filtered in including one that was taken on the fly in the 5 lb range. Another friend of mine reported in that he had taken two off of Westport, so overall a great sign.

This weekend the weather is looking okay as long as the winds subside. The rains may hamper you a bit, but keep in mind we desperately need water. Speaking of water, finally the trout streams are getting back to their normal flow levels and the fish are getting back to their homes. All of the TMAs have been fishing well. Nymphs and Streamers with these overcast skies we have been having will do the trick. Hendriksons are on their way out so perhaps toss some Cahills in the mix and as always some Caddis. As always if you have questions on flies, stop on down, bring your boxes in and we can help you organize them.

Back to the salt…larger herring/flatwing patterns on the long rods will work best if you can throw them. If not, some larger clousers and even some silverside patterns should get it done too. For the spinning rods, the NEW Super Pogies from Bomber are a spitting image of a small bunker. The X-Raps in the size 12 and 14 can be seen as a herring or bunker. The jointed Bombers in the Alewive color are spot on and of course Slug-gos! Whether you rig them on your own or purchase one of our boxes, these things are deadly this time of year…but make sure they are straight as an arrow or you will have little success. Lastly, the old stand by, Tube & Worming. This technique at this time of year is great because you can cover a lot of water and see where the fish are holding. The rod/reel combos that we offered at the seminars are still available. Pre-rigged with lead core, leaders & swivels, all you have to do is add a tube and water and you will be good to go. Whole set up is just $219.95. Well that is about it this week boys and girls. It’s time, get it done and don’t wait to hear from someone else where the fish are…make your own reports and send them our way…see you on the water…

 So if I had a dollar for everyone that asked me over the winter if I thought the season would get off to an early start because of the mild weather, I probably would be paying someone else to write this report, as I went tarpon fishing, but as fate would have it, I never got paid, but I did have an answer. Did everyone look at their trees in December?  I did and if you did you would have seen buds starting to poke through about three months early.  But don’t trees know that the mild weather could have just been a fluke and that the tree brain was smart enough to know this and recall the buds until spring?  The answer is no and is directly correlated with fish.  Like the trees, fish don’t really have a biological clock that triggers when they begin their migration up or down the coast.  Their movements and growth patterns are directly correlated with water temps which of course are directly correlated with air temps.  Many have commented how big the trout are that were stocked by the state a month back giving them kudos for putting their licensing revenues to good use, nice thought, but the size has nothing to do with the state spending more money on larger fish.  Most of the hatcheries inConnecticutare outside, in an uncontrolled environment, subject to the elements.  The trout that were being grown literally outgrew their tanks and had to be released into our rivers and streams early for the simple reason that the state could barely afford to keep feeding them. And how did all this happen again…the mild winter.  However, just because we can point to these several examples, it still does not mean we will get an early season because what we forgot to mention was the bait angle.  Like other species, the bait too needs to be on the same page and thus far it looks like it is.  FromNew HaventoGreenwichand everywhere in between, schools of adult bunker have been seen in pretty good numbers.  Some are saying this is because of the mandatory 31 percent catch reduction for commercial boats south of CT harvesting these fish for their omega threes among other resources. My personal opinion is that since the introduction of this measure just this Fall, that the schools and the number of schools that we have seen are not directly correlated (yet).

 Remember last spring when we also had those large schools of Mackerel in the western sound?  You don’t?  That is good, since we have not seen Mackerel in the sound in decades but that too has changed this year, where reports of Mackerel fromMilford, Old Saybrook and points in between have been recorded.  Last and surely not least, Alewives, a favorite spring bait for hungry bass are in pretty thick thus far, with hundreds being counted on the Saugatuck and thousands being counted on the Mianus at the ladders. This is a great sign for more than one reason…

 So with all of this data, will we get an early spring run.  By all of my accounts, we actually already are.  There has been bass getting caught for nearly a month now.  In fact just last Saturday we had a great A.M. in the river right behind the shop with several fish in the 35 inch range on storm shads and Sluggos.  Up towardsBridgeport, reports emanating from our good friend Jimmy O’s shop have said much of the same, with some nice bass being caught off theFairfieldbeaches during the day and at night.  We need not recall Irene and the no-name storm that put a beating on Fairfield County, other than the fact that both of them really twisted up some of our wading areas just offshore, including Penfield Reef and Compo Cove, as well as Southport Beach.  Before you head out this Spring, you may want to do some reconnaissance first since your favorite rock or bar might be gone or covered.

 So at this time of year, although you may be tempted to go set up on some structure, now more than ever in my pinion is the time to be hitting the estuaries, but not just any estuary, but those that become fresh water eventually, for those are the ones where you will find bait fish like Alewives and silversides looking to spawn and the bass won’t be far behind. Soft plastics are a good start (insert pre-rigged sluggo boxes here) on the spin rods and some larger darker shaded flies for the long rods.

 The one weird link in this whole discussion of an early spring sits about 40 miles to our west and that is the mighty mightyHudson River.  A large portion of ourbig springrun of bass usually comes from theHudsonand thus far the activity on it has been meager at best.  This is after Governor Cuomo banned commercial striped bass fishing on the river in the Fall.  Despite this and a warm winter, the fishing has been very slow where our own Captain Mike Platt has had his boat for nearly three weeks and fishing almost daily. Not even sandworms have been able to get these fish to eat!

 Back home here in Westport the Flounder fishing has been painfully slow, but that can almost be expected at this point do to the fishery as a whole and the lack of folks that  actually partake in it and decide to hold out for  Fluke instead.

 With opening day for CT next weekend, the rivers have been stocked and are ready to go.  Only thing to be aware of is that since these fish were put in at least three weeks early, they have seen a lot of flies, lures and the like, so if you do decide to partake in this “party” they call opening day, you may need to brush up on some patterns to fool this finicky fish.

 Well folks, that is about it.  The game is now, don’t let someone else tell you the fishing is on, but instead go out and make your own report (then send it to us).  Keep in mind that the stage is set almost perfectly for a blow out spring and it could be game on just after one tide, so the persistent angler will surely be one that is well rewarded. A lot of you called and emailed in and asked for a report so we have obliged as we will every week throughout the season, however I want to highly encourage all of you that faithfully read these to get up on Facebook and “like” the Westport Outfitters page.  The nature of these reports are like all, information that may be a day late and a dollar short for they are static.  Facebook will allow us to provide you with real time information.  It also will allow us to communicate with our fans in a moiré personal way, highlight specials and offer promotion for our “friends” only.  Look forward to seeing and hearing from you all soon.  For your convenience I have pasted the FB page link below.  See you on the water….

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 This is also the time of year that theHousatonicRiverbegins to heat up, but it has actually been a bit slow. In fact, a friend reported in that he and crew scoured it this past week and almost found it devoid of life.  Of course things can change with just one tide, but it was a bit troublesome not to find some resident fish beginning to stack up. We will keep you all posted as things heat up…

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 Back on the water, the typical winds and weather kept many off the water, as many more have already thrown in the towel and hauled their rigs. Matt Z. concluded that the Togs are definitely in deeper water while he fished around Frost Point for just a few bumps.  On the way back in, he did manage to troll up 4 bass to 26 inches before calling a day.

 Nicolas N. continues to work the coastline fishing from his totally rigged SUP. HE reported some very cold water temperatures but still was able to pull up a few nice blackfish still lurking around in the shallows.

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The Micinilio Brothers checked in as they went out from the ramp right behind the shop. Within minutes, right off our docks, they were into some schoolie bass on small shads weighted with jig heads.  This action continued for most of the day for these guys, boating nearly 40 bass up to 26 inches on soft plastics and tubes. They also managed several big blues in the river to 13 lbs.  One good sign about the bass was that they were coughing up all sorts of baits, including baby fluke and hermit crabs (see recent catches).

That’s about it for this week, the winds are due to subside for Saturday and Sunday so if you have the means, get on out there, the weather Sunday is supposed to be into the 60s!

PLEASE NOTE WE ARE NOW OPEARTING UNDER WINTER HOURS

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Although it seemed the chunk bite for bass was the best method this past weekend, there is still plenty of casting to do as well and of course, the jig bite will continue to heat up from this point forward.  This weekend are nemesis (aka “the wind”) looks like it will be in check or at least not enough to keep us all inshore with fall like temps in the 50s & 60s.  It’s hard for me not to recommend that all of you go black fishing since it’s been that good, so I won’t, but I will say, if you are unfamiliar with it and want to test your luck, this is the time to do it.  Onto the report…

First to check in was Ken Wells from late last week along with fishing pal Mark Robichaux.  Both had attended several of our seminars in the spring and noted that they were glad they did. They have been tossing poppers in and aroundStamfordHarborand feel that they are finally starting to crack the code, after their first full season on the Western Sound.  They also have been pretty dialed into to casting sluggos as well which have accounted for some nice keeper bas…Congrats guys…look forward to seeing you at some of the seminars again(see recent catches).

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Switching over to the freshwater side of things just for a moment, where the stream flows remain strong with all of this moisture around.  I recently finished up one of my Fly-Fishing schools throughWestport’s Continuing Education program and immediately had several students looking to jump in before the snow flies.  After gearing up one of the students, I sent him to a few sections of theMillRiverthat I really like.  After refining his skills for less than a day on the water Andy S. was already into the fish on his new fly rod (see recent catches).  Andy is a real testament to an angler that listens.  Prior to taking the course, he just had the passion, but not the skill.  After two nights of discussing the sport, casting etc. and several hours in the store, he went out confident enough to get it done and getting it done is what he did. Great stuff Andy, the journey for you has now begun!

 Back to the salt, Jim D. checked in after getting some guidance on Sunday A.M. and reported back via an email on Sunday night that the ground bite was on.  We had convinced him to give black fishing a try even though he had never done so.  The report back was a host of porgies to 16 inches and his fill of 5-8 lb togs…his last comments, “you were right, they do taste good!”  Good stuff Jim!

 Good friend and reigning champ of the 2011 Saugatuck Cup, Captain Matt Gifford was next to check in with this report. His comments echoed mine in regards to the blackfish bite, but there was a lot of boats on the more popular spots so he decided to target some stripers. He said that the bass have been a bit spotty as far as location.  Stacked up on one point like cord wood one minute and then nothing the next, only to return during a different portion of the tide and have them again in thick. Captain Gifford did note a lot of mid size shrimp in the water, which is a very good sign considering there is no bunker.

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Speaking of Captain Gifford, he will once again be heading up our fly-tying classes this winter.  You can find the entire schedule under the “news” tab on the welcome page as well as on our FB page.  You will notice there are no dates yet, since we are first looking to gauge commitment and don’t want to change work/life schedules around if we get little participation. So have a look and see what class(s) will work for you and simply drop myself or Captain Gifford an email.  Look forward to hearing from you.

Jimmy I. checked in Sunday after fishing one of his favorite holes in about 25 feet of water off ofWestport.  Frozen bunker is all that was in the cards, but he and crew chunked up multiple bass to 18 lbs, one of which he submitted for the Westport Striped Bass Club’sCalcuttarunning this month.

Early Wednesday we had a fellow member and champion skier of the US Ski Team out fromUtah.  We actually met fly-fishing out in MT last summer so there was some pressure to make those fly reels sing for he and crew, despite the time of year.  They left the dock with Captain Blake at 6:30 and returned at about 11:00.  All three were determined to make orchestrated casts, so they could all use the long rods.  For the day they had too many fish to count with an overwhelming number of these fish being taken on the fly rod.  Mostly clousers and small deceivers brought all the bass to the rail with only a few blues.  No monsters, but good fun with fish up to 28 inches for some trout guys from out west…

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 Well folks that is about it for this week.  The fishing is still strong and the weather looks like it should cooperate as best as it can for the weekend.  Don’t forget to read over the fly-tying offerings and let us know which ones you are interested in so we can get some dates on the calendars…good fishing…

Well then, I heard they restocked all of our local rivers a few weeks back and it looks like they may just be the place to be this weekend…just kidding…although they did restock.  If fishermen have one excuse that they can always rely on, it’s the wind and last weekend there was a lot of it.  Blowing out of the east in the beginning and then shifting to the southwest, the whole weekend was doling out some very adverse conditions, however there are other options. Yet another benefit of the Norwalk Islands is they offer a good amount of protection and unless the wind decides to blow from all directions simultaneously you and your crew can fine some refuge amongst them. In addition, there are the rivers, the Mianus, Five Mile, Norwalk, Suagatuck and then Housatonic. All of these rivers hold fish at this time of year and at the same time give you more protection from the wind. Case in point, we had a charter go out Sunday, despite the weather, for a grandfather really wanted to get his grandson into fish.  After poking out at the mouth of the river, Captain Blake went to plan B and headed up river, continuing to fish the multiple bridge abutments as well as rocky coastline, features that are present on all of the rivers I listed above. At the end of the day, they were dry, warm and content with the good amount of fish they had all on lures.

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So the moral of this story is nothing new, if you have the time at this time of year, get out and do some fishing.  It also struck me when I used to ski four times a week in college when my buddies would wake up and say, “I am out, it’s supposed to be in the negative digits at the summit today.”  Out?  Why did your parents buy you that $450.00 ski jacket…to wear when it was 50 degrees out?  Another benefit to step up and deal with these fall conditions, as well as skiing for that fact, is the reality that most won’t be on the water or slopes, leaving more un-groomed trails and more fish for the ones that are.  This weekend is going to be clear and yes, a bit of wind is forecasted, but nothing like last weekend.  The bass are actively feeding preparing for a long swim to points farther south in the next two months and the blackfish bite is red hot, in fact I had a buddy limit out on Tuesday in less than an hour and a half!  So, come on down, get geared up and enjoy the last month or so of some great fall fishing…onto the report…

Prior to the winds blowing, we had a late charter come in on Friday, a couple fly guys and one tossing a spinning rod on board Captain Blake’s vessel and not only did they have bass up to 29 inches and blues to 7 lbs on the surface, they had a few shots at albies as well.  The albies no doubt will start to thin out, but there are definitely schools still around while places like Montauk remain on fire!

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Monday, I actually went and did some reconnaissance up in the WTMA of the Mill and it was quite productive with a few browns sucking in a small pheasant tail nymph as well as pretty aggressive brookies.  It’s amazing how hard a 5 inch fish will fight…only if it knew that it was going to be released…The small streams should have plenty of water after this weeks “storm” so go give it a shot.  The fish itself is always bonus at this time of year, since everything else is in transition. As I mentioned above, the DEP did restock so there should be some good fishing to be had by all…

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Wednesday Danny P. checked in who despite the rain, went out for togs.  This is what you have to resort to if you work weekends. He headed out of South Benson and went right to the spindle, where he was the only boat there.  Using a combination of green and Asian crabs, he and crew did not hook a fish less than 16 inches the entire two hour period that they were out, took one two for the table and back in by sundown.  Good stuff guys. 

Thursday A.M. the weather was clear, but once again, the wind was howling.  Dan wrote in to speak of, “yes” some adult bunker schools from a location from shore that he would not disclose (understood).  He was tossing a mix of Rattle Traps and some larger plugs mid morning and was rewarded with three blues to 12 lbs and a striper that was just shy of 32 inches.

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Well folks, a shorter report this week since may have been off the water due to the wind, but as I mentioned at the beginning of the report, get on out there.  Let’s put it this way, come mid February you will be kicking yourselves that you did not while you contemplate shoveling the driveway…AGAIN! 

It is worth mentioning that those who did fish the “Cup” did pretty well. We had an assortment of fish caught including, blues, bass, fluke, porgies and even a few albies. Since the tournament was all artificial, makes these catches even more impressive.  There were only a few boats that did not catch at least something. 

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The bait situation remains quite strong still, with a mix of peanut bunker, silversides, bay anchovies, butterfish and mullet.  The key is finding the feeding fish.  At this time of year more than ever, fish will start to stack up and almost stage before they begin their journey south, so hitting your points, rock outcroppings and underwater reefs will be key to your success.  To that point, its okay to be impatient… Good friend and winner of the spin division at the Saugatuck Cup, Captain Matt Gifford reported that he had fish on every point while he was fishing yesterday, nothing huge but some good numbers mostly all on top water.  In fact, on one of those points, his 7 year old son hooked and landed an 18lb bass on a popper after it knocked it nearly 4 feet out of the water!!

The Micinilio Brothers checked in earlier in the week where they were able to enjoy the string of warm weather.  They fished the mouth of the Saugatuck, the mouth of theNorwalkand amongst the islands. They reported in excellent water clarity reminiscent of spring and a ton of bait in the water that could be easily seen. They had a dozen or so stripers and a few blues up to 12lbs and the bass up to 16.5lbs.  All fish were caught trolling tubes and deep lip swimmers as well as casting Yozuri Crystal Minnows (see recent catches).

Captain Blake took the weekend off, but returned fromFloridaon Monday for a trip that yielded a good bunch of fish, including a fat Albie.  Lures of choice were Sea Rocks and Albie Snax when they were not tossing flies (see recent catches). 

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 Dan and company headed over to some of the rips off of Eaton’s Neck on Wednesday and were greeted with birds working some small schools of bait but no fish underneath.  They headed tighter to shore and began tossing some poppers and were immediately into 7-10 lb bluefish.  Once they got bored of that they headed back to this side and poked around theDariencoastline for some more blues in tight and a few bass up to 14 lbs, great fun on the light tackle rods.

 Matt Z. stopped in with some choice tog filets for yours truly and spoke of a pretty hot Blackfish bite off ofFairfieldwith fish up to 9lbs.  His preferred method is jigging for these fish on some custom heads that he pours himself and they seem to be working quite well. If you have not tried this tactic for Blackfish, you are missing out, so go find that favorite rock pile and get jigging!

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Dan M. continues to hit the Fairfield Beaches pretty hard and over the past week he reports in that it’s been hit or miss, with two nights without a bump, but three is a charm, after he landed 21lb bass on Thursday evening on a Northbar Bottle Nose Darter. It’s a valid point as I mentioned previously about being impatient.  With fish keying in on certain small pods of bait, it is not unlikely for there just to be no fish under the school you are fishing.  Solution, be on the move, just like in the boats.  Dan is normally working the entire beach head from the South Benson pier all the way down to where Sunken Island meets the beach, so there is a lot of walking involved.

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Captain Blake was out again on a charter on Friday A.M. where they had their fill of blues on the surface as well as a few bass tossing Crystal Minnows and Smack Its.  Although no casts were made, Captain Blake was convinced he saw a few schools of Albies that came up and went right back down. 

This weekend is looking okay, maybe a bit moist, but totally fishable.  Let’s be honest, the end is near, so I would be taking advantage of fishing any chance I get from here on in before the snow flies.  A friend of mine posted a short video from last October when it snowed over an inch….I am sure you all get the point.

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Well folks, I try to be on time, prepared and correct in my assumptions (most of the time), however in this case, I was one week off.  Lucky for all of you, I have been talking about the arrival of one of our favorite fall fish for about a month now, so with any luck, you have all been preparing.  Those little mosaics popped up on Saturday with vengeance, perhaps a little pissed off about having to deal with all of that stained water to the east.  Whatever the reason, they are here and all signs are pointing to that they are in pretty thick.  To reiterate, fluorocarbon leaders are a must, I start with 7 feet, but at times on the spinning rods, it may be necessary to lengthen.  A nice fast tip rod to get your lure of choice out in front of these fish (keeping in mind they could be moving at about 30-40 MPH).

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On the fly rods, again, a minimum of a seven foot leader, but have the option of extending if necessary. Since the bait in our local waters is so dense and fruitful, pattern selection could vary.  Personally I like the smaller, slim line presentation of say a surf candy, but outside of some schools of bay anchovies and silver sides, the other baits such as peanut bunker and butterfish are also in the mix, so it may be beneficial to mix in some larger profile flies.  We have two in particular that may be worth a try, some fine peanut bunker imitations as well as a larger butterfish look alike. On the spinning rods, we prefer the Sea Rock Jigs that are close to being out of stock so come down quick. These things are a spitting image of a bay anchovy and of course another go to, the Deadly Dick.  This should do it, make sure your go too rod is rigged and ready to go so there is no delay when you see a school of them popping out.  Lastly, these fish feed in an orderly fashion so unlike bluefish who are in chaos mode, jumping every which way from Sunday, Albies will feed in a more circular motion and controlled action. Don’t chase them, wait…patience will win this game.  This weekend is looking good, so get geared up and be ready for what could be an epic few weeks for the Albies…

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Good friend Captain Matt Gifford checked in with a solid catch of some Albies on Saturday A.M. I knew Captain Blake was on the water with a charter, so I wanted to relay (on the QT of course) that they were around, he simply laughed and attached a series of  four young girls that he had on a charter, each one of them holding an Albie.  On Sunday, it was much of the same, with scattered reports coming in from Stratford to Greenwich, with an equal amount of anglers taking them on both the fly and spinning.  The weather man seemed to be covering for the Albies as well, considering their predicted forecast was so miserable for Sunday, there was barely anyone out in a two knot breeze and somewhat clear skies. Those that ventured out were rewarded (see recent catches)

Next up was Steve Eliot who checked in about a trip out to Middleground where he and crew had some good top water blues blitzing in the 12-14 lb range.  Steve noted that he had consistently been doing well at slack tide for these large chompers on the surface.

Captain Blake checked back in on Sunday as well where he fished to get some “me “ time after a long weekend of charters and once again had several Albies all on the long rods.

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The Micinilio Brothers checked in next with a good closing weekend report.  They fished the Black Rock area on Saturday where it started slow, but then picked up as the day progressed.  Tallies for the day were 29 blues, and two keeper bass, trolling from Fayreweather Light to Sunken Island.

Sunday they were back at it, while they fished in the Norwalk/Westport area. Putting down the tubing rods, the broke out the spinning rods armed with Yozuri Crystal Minnows, they managed a few dozen bass up to 31 inches. Thy recalled the action south of Sheffield was spot on…(see recent catches)

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Back up towards Fairfield, Danny has still been sneaking a few quality fish in at the Sasco Beach area, despite the onslaught of fresh water inundating the sound. Fishing Monday evening with the incoming tide, just after dusk, small schools of bait began to move into the belly of Sasco Beach and within minutes were being harassed by 2-5 lb blues. While fishing the edges with a peanut bunker imitation, he landed two nice bass that according to the notches on his rod, were 29 and 32 inches respectfully.  Nice fish Dan!

Tuesday was a day off for yours truly, so I headed over to rthe Saugatuck to follow a tip on the stocking of the fly-fishing only section.  Drifting some small caddis, I managed a few trout up to about 13 inches, but did see much larger fish in some of the deeper pools that had to have been well over 15-16 inches. Don’t overlook some of the great trout fishing at this time of year.  Most if not all of our local streams have received their fall stockings, so grab some flies and go enjoy…it’s hard to beat a nice warm fall day in your waders in one of our local streams and rivers.

Well that is about it for this week.  The weekend will definitely not be a wash out, so make plans to head out.  If you need some more motivation, take a listen to this.  The crew from ASMW out back just finished up at the Norwalk Boat Show where they had one of the largest booths within the entire show and they are lucky they did.  Many boats were sold for spring delivery, however as I write this report, several that were sold are being prepped in the shed for fall delivery.  This means that these folks are so stoked to get out on the water; they are taking delivery of their vessels the second week of October!!

Don’t forget, The Saugatuck Cup is October 8th, only a few spots remaining….