Westport Outfitters

• The transition into the fall fishing season is upon us. The peanut bunker are becoming larger while the snapper blues continue to grow about one inch per week, offering our local fish a smorgasbord of table affair. At the time of this report, a cold front is quickly moving out, so it will be interesting to see how this weather affected our fishing here at home and more importantly if it scattered the bait again. The bunker in and around Norwalk/Westport area continues to be hit or miss, with larger concentrations to our West.
• The Bonita have arrived in mass and were all the craze over the weekend. We had at least a dozen customers get into these fish with about half as many bringing some to the boat up to 8 lbs. Deadly Dicks are the lure of choice, but Geoff and Tim wrestled one to the boat while trolling!! (see new homepage photo). It is very important to note, that when these fish come up, they rarely have a pattern like Albies, so try and cast where they might be going and not where they are. Fly selction should be small silver side patterns or lighter colored baby bunker imitations and snapper patterns.
• The charters that ventured out early in the week still relied on the go to lead core trolling set ups and managed bass up to 34 inches and blues to 12lbs. This week in particular we started chunking a bit more at some of the usual haunts like Frost Point, Penfield Reef and Sunken Island and were rewarded for doing so. We normally are not big fans, but non stop action can always change this. Unfortunately with the weather that moved in Friday and Saturday we were forced to cancel some charters and resorted to Porgy fishing on Saturday with non stop action.
• Inshore, the striper bite continues to be at first light and just before. Before the sun comes up, we are still using soft plastics like the Storm and Tsunami swim shads but as soon as the sun appears, so does Mr. Bluefish so switch out to a hard bait like a Rattle Trap or Crystal Minnow. Also try the old faithful Bounders, preferably silver in color. This age old lure can be slow trolled or simply retrived and it is easily taken for small bait fish. Flies to go out with should be small baby bunker patterns as well as some hand tied snapper patterns.
• It’s that time of year again to break out the Diamond Jigs. Although as usual, the normal ledges off of 11B, 28C and 13 will no doubt start filling in, this technique can also be utilized closer to home. Our preferred method is off a three way swivel with a Westport Outfitters hand tied teaser on a stiff piece of fluorocarbon. A blue or green deceiver or baby bunker pattern could be just what the doctor ordered.
• The snappers are getting bigger and putting up a heck of a fight, get the kids out there this weekend for one last hurrah before they go back to school!
• As we mentioned last week, with the water clarity above normal, a crisp fall like air to the weather pattern, cool nights and loads of bait, this fall could really turn out to be a good one, so get out there!
• Inshore things remain a little picky with both the stripers and fluke. Fluke fishing is producing a lot of fluke and some very nice ones, but it seems that the fluke population has been pretty much picked over by this time of year.
• MONTAUK REPORT: Captain Dean reports from the decks of the TEASER in Montauk …We had a little taste of fall on Saturday with a fairly strong little north wind. Only a few boats got out in the morning, but most were able to get the afternoon in. Canyon range boats heading out towards the edge are coming back with mixed reports. Sunday afternoon I spoke to two captains just back. One had a mix of albacore and yellowfins. The blow on Saturday mixed the water up considerably lowering the water temps down to as low as 68 degrees or so. Otherwise everything else is the same, with all the action below the 450 line (about 50 miles offshore).
• The shark action remains fairly steady with a good amount of small makos being caught daily along with some bluesharks. A couple of giant tuna's have been brought into Montauk this week, one was over a thousand pounds. All caught southeast of Block Island.
• A CALL FOR ACTION!! Westport Outfitters is proud to be helping to gather used fishing equipment for the JCCA campus in Westchester County. The JCCA supports children from ages 6 to 17 that have been abused, neglected or are just unwanted. All are emotionally disturbed, some have reduced mental capacity as a result, but most are still wonderfully resilient and are finishing school and hope to lead a better life.
• Most all of them love to fish, while the staff takes them on outings to local lakes and ponds and they make a few trips a year to Captree for a day on the saltwater. Fishing as we all know can be a very calming influence and we are hoping to assist this local group in any way we can. If you have any used gear that is taking up space in the garage or shed, please bring it by. Even if it’s in sub par condition, the kids have learned to re-wrap eyes/guides and break down reels to make them usable again. Since they don’t have access to a boat, we are mainly looking to get light saltwater and freshwater gear. Anything you don’t want, please drop it by the shop. For those requesting it, a letter from the agency thanking you for your tax deductible donation will be available. Let’s show the group how supportive the Westport Outfitters Crew can be!!