Westport outfitters report 7-22

[Fishing Report]

Week of July 15th-July 23rd

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS! I AM CONDUCTING A KIDS FLY FISHING SCHOOL NEXT SATURDAY, JULY 31st AT PEQUOT LIBRARY IN FAIRFIELD FROM 11:00-2:00. DROP ME AN EMAIL OR CALL IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN LENDING A HAND. THANKS FOR THE CONSIDERATION.

THE NEXT DATE FOR THE W.O. /LOU TABORY FLY-FISHING SCHOOL IS JULY 31st…ONLY A FEW SPOTS LEFT!

PESCA MAYA TRIP MOVED TO JANUARY. CHECK UNDER THE “NEWS” SECTION FOR ALL THE DETAILS!

ALL NEW SMITH/ACTION OPTICS ANGLING SUNGLASSES HAVE ARRIVED!!

SEND YOUR REPORTS AND PICS VIA EMAIL TO ejohnson@westportoutfitters.com!

Well folks can you remember in years past a summer with so much consistent heat and so little rain? With the exception of almost nightly downpours mixed in with a few twisters and you have the summer of 2010 at a glance in and around Fairfield County. Water temperatures are hovering around 74 degrees on the surface but are surprisingly quite cool below. Early morning and deep into the night are going to be your best bet for some good fish, however the high hot mid day sun fishing has also produced some quality fish as well.

Let me digress…there is a lot of emphasis put on fishing in high light conditions and the lack of success, do to higher water temps during these hours equaling less oxygen etc. A good friend of mine is a guide in R.I., some of you may know him, his name is Ryan Sansoucy. Ryan is a dear friend a great fisherman and focuses his fishing efforts on the South County Ponds. These ponds, although getting a nice flush daily, get very warm in the months to come, some even reaching nearly 80 degrees. So what is one to do when this happens based on what we know in regards to higher water temperatures? GO FISH! Striped Bass are one of the most opportunistic feeders in the ocean. Although picky at times, their ferocious diets rule their day to day operations. In the ponds in R.I. it is not out of the ordinary to see 40 inch fish cruising in the middle of the day in less than a foot of water that is very, very warm? Why are they their? FOOD! Crabs, sand worms, sand eels, shrimp, you name it. So basically the moral of this story, be aware of your variables including but not limited to, bottom contour and consistency, available food sources, tides, time of day, lure/bait selection and of course water temperatures, but don’t for one second think that it’s the most important variable, food is and lucky for us the food sources this summer have been better than good.

One often overlooked bait/lure at this time of year is crabs. Calicos and Blue Crabs as well as Green Crabs have been everywhere and the fish are all over them. To my previous point, crabs in general are in shallow warmer water and we have witnessed 20 plus pound fish hammering them right here in Westport this past week. Try the CW Crab lures as well as the Gulp imitations to get this done. On the long rods, we have some sweet crab patters as well to get it done, so get on out there and try filtering these lures/patterns into the mix…you will be glad you did.

The Micinilio Brothers were at it once again and believe it or not wrote in that even they felt the fishing was a bit tuff over the weekend. After working the Bridgeport area they retreated towards Stratford and were able to tube up a few nice fish up to 32 inches (see recent catches).

Recent W.O. convert Don Rossi continues to make fishing his new favorite hobby, however there is one thing he has yet to accomplish and that is to convert his girlfriend. Without this happening, we all know the end game, so Don headed out Sunday and fished mid sound where he got her into her first fish, so the rest should now be history. Kerri Kulesza, successfully hooked, landed and released her first fish, a healthy 24 inch striper (see recent catches).

Monday I fished the outgoing at Ash Creek with some crab patterns on the long rod and only to reiterate what I stated above, had two nice fish up to 29 inches. The pattern was one of the Kung Fu crab patterns we sell here at the shop.

Rick phoned in a report from Tuesday where he had a pretty good bass blitz just offshore of Sasco Beach that could have been easily targeted from shore. They were on small baits with no blues in the mix at all. The fish were up for approximately 25 minutes with the largest fish falling for a Montauk Mikes that came to the nest at 34 inches.

Before the storms on Wednesday the Micinilio Brothers were out doing what they do best and had a host of bass with 15 keepers in the mix up to 32.5" and 9 blues and one monster 15" porgy that almost got eaten by a striper as they reeled it in.

Also before the storms on Wednesday Cody and Taylor Lapnow were getting their fix before a family trip to Wisconsin this coming weekend. They scouted out the Westport coastline while keeping a close look to the skies and ended up just off of Slates where they were greeted by blitzing fish spraying bait out of the water…but what was it…silver sides…no…sand eels…no…Peanut Bunker…YES! That’s right folks our first confirmed sighting of our second favorite bait. This is a great sign to come…

Well folks, after the storms this week, we may just get a day or two of reprieve from the heat, but it will be back with us for the weekend. The fishing remains strong just be sure to either get out early or stay out late. If you choose to fish the high hot sun, be sure to not to overlook some of the shallower spots where we continue to do quite well in the middle of the day. This is also a great time to start focusing on trolling T&W. We have some ready to go combos that we built here that are rigged with lead core and perfect for covering water to find the big girls.

I heard a report from an old friend who personally witnessed some tuna species bouncing about off of the Niantic coastline this week…but we will save the ending of that story for another day…tight lines.

2010 Lou Tabory/W.O. Fly Fishing Schools-SIGN UP TODAY!!

July 17th @ 6:00 A.M., Compo Beach, Westport, CT
July 31st @ 6:00 A.M., Compo Beach, Westport, CT
August 7th @ 6:00 A.M., Compo Beach, Westport, CT

This intro/intermediate course will begin promptly at 6:00 A.M. in the water, in your waders. Lou and the crew from W.O. will work with you in learning the general casting stroke for fly fishing; teach you how to read the water to identify bait movement, current, structure and feeding fish patterns and lanes. You will have the opportunity to cast some additional rods with varying types of lines for saltwater fly fishing. After the fishing, we will return to the shop where Lou will go over several formal slide presentations, that will reiterate what was learned on the water, including gear selection, knot tying, fly presentation and much, much more! After lunch, we will have an extended Q&A and then finally return to the park to wrap things up with more hands on casting. The day will end at approximately 3:00 P.M. Cost is $150.00, which includes a light breakfast, full lunch and refreshments throughout the day.



Eric C. Johnson

Westport Outfitters, LLC

609 Riverside Ave.

Westport, CT

06880

www.westportoutfitters.com

www.allseasonsmarineworks.com

p-203.341.9490

f-203.341.9423

ejohnson@westportoutfitters.com

TAKE THE FAMILY FISHINGTM