Westport Outfitters (Norwalk) Fishing Report

• The near shore fishing continues to provide fly and light tackle enthusiasts with good action for schoolie bass and small bluefish. We have had reports from shore anglers catching fish up to 22 lbs. as well using bunker chunks. Areas up and inside the mouth of the Saugatuck River on the incoming tide have produced some very nice fish all weekend including a 34 inch keeper bass by local angler Nick Randmer on Monday.
  
• Sand eels are still the main food source for shallow water stripers and bluefish and there are plenty of adult bunker in Norwalk Harbor with a few fish pushing them around at day break and at dusk. Fly fishers should try chartreuse/white clousers, epoxy sand eel imitations and olive/white deceiver patterns while fishing the shallows. We have just taken in some sweet new sand eel patterns hand tied by the one and only NJ native Peter Viviano, so be sure to come down and see what they have been hitting.(be sure to read Pete’s contributed article at the end of this report).
• Although the word is surely out about the spectacular fishing at the Mill Pond, despite large crowds on the weekends, it continues to fish quite well during the week after the crowds disperse. In fact, one of our scouts this week got spooked by a 40+ inch fish hunting the shallows at night which caused him nearly to jump out of his waders. The GULP sand eels that have been producing all month have just gotten better with an even more life like CAMO color that we just brought in. We prefer to fish these on a 3/8th oz. jig head with a very slow but jerky retrieve…hold on!!! Spin fisherman are doing well with small Yozuri Crystal minnows and the small Stillwater poppers. Now is a good time to consider using wire tippets and/or bite guard as bluefish are around in a variety of sizes from 12-30 inches. If you've got a lot of patience you still have a shot at a cow live lining and chunking outside the Norwalk Islands and around the deeper rip lines.
• We have received reports of some very large 25-30lb fish on chunks off of Stratford in the vicinity of "Can 2" if you are willing to make the run. There are still fish migrating but the water is warming up fast with 90 degree temps these past 2 days. The larger fish that migrate from the Chesapeake area should have all the reasons to stick around the Norwalk/Westport area with the abundance of bait that has been present, let’s just hope it sticks around. Need some action for the kids? Drop some Porgy rigs and some Westport Outfitter’s sandworms on our local rock piles and you will be sure to get that bend in the rod to put a smile on their faces.
• Across the pond in LI, one of our captains had nearly 20 bass up to 20 pounds fishing around the outskirts of the power plant in the shallows Tuesday afternoon. The crew also ran into some sleeping blue fish in the 15-16lb class that believe or not were running away from plugs and sub-surface lures (now that’s a first). We have been saying it now for a month, but now is the time to get out.
• If chunking and live lining is your fancy, we now have some of the freshest bait around including bunker (don’t forget the custom live lining rigs we make here). If all else fails, try flat lining some chunks which was responsible for several fish in the 20 lb class over the weekend. We have yet to see the fish really settle into the reefs, so we have put the T&W rigs at the back of the bag for now. However at the time of this report our scouts Matt and Steve had bagged a 41 inch fish inside of the islands using this technique (see homepage or below "Fish On" photo). The fish are here, so throw the kitchen sink if that is your method; the percentages are surely on your side.
• The inland lakes like Candlewood, Lillinonah and Zoar are fishing well for very large smallmouth bass using spinner baits and deep diving crank baits. Fly fisherman can get in on the action using large clousers with rabbit fur strips and also fly rod poppers just before dark. Largemouth fishing is going well also near points in the lakes. Pike have settled into their summer patterns and are holding in deeper water in Lake Lillinonah. Try 3 waying large suckers or pond shiners for the pike that are suspended in water up to 50 feet deep. Trout fishing is slow in most areas due to low flows, but the Farmington is always a good bet in the heat of the summer as the cold water flowing through the bottom of the dam keeps this fishery active all year long. If you are headed up that way, be sure to bring the gear!!