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Shellfish Permits at Westport Outfitters

Conservation Director Alicia Mozian has announced that the Westport Shellfish Commission has approved the sale of recreational shellfishing permits by Westport Outfitters. “Now anyone looking to buy a license to go clamming can purchase one other than through the mail or at Town Hall,” said Mozian. Westport Outfitters, located at 609 Riverside Ave. near the intersection with Charles Street behind Tutti Invitata and in front of the Black Duck, is open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. The phone number and directions to Westport Outfitters can be obtained at its Web site at www.westportoutfitters.com .

“The Shellfish Commission was happy to partner with Eric Johnson, proprietor of Westport Outfitters because it would make it that much easier for people to go clamming on the weekends,” Mozian said. “This way, those who decide to go shellfishing at the last minute after normal business hours of the Town Hall or on the weekends, can easily purchase a license. This will increase the number of licenses sold and reduce the number of violations. Also Mr. Johnson is very familiar with Westport and can guide people as to where to access the water either by land or sea.

He will be stocked with all the rules and regulations, tide charts and even clamming rings for purchase.” Johnson said, “I have always strived to make my business part of the community, so offering this value added service to Westport residents and others from in and around Fairfield County just seems like the natural thing to do.” Shellfishing permits are still offered at the Westport Town Hall Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and through the mail by downloading an application, filling it out and mailing it in with the fee and required documentation.

 

 

Westport Outfitters Fly Fishing Schools-Fall 2009

Westport Outfitters Fly Fishing Schools-Fall 2009

During the spring of 2009, Westport Outfitters, in conjunction with legendary angler, product developer and author, Lou Tabory, will continue our quest to introduce the wonderful world of Fly Fishing to beginners, as well as refine those skills of more advanced fisherman and women.

Intro/Intermediate Classes

• October 24th @ 6:00 A.M., Compo Beach, Westport, CT

SPECIAL NOTE: THIS IS THE LAST SESSION WE WILL HOLD
THIS YEAR.  SIGN UP TODAY!!

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.

 

To reserve your spot for any of the above events, call or email (ejohnson@westportoutfitters.com) the shop.  Class size will be limited to insure an effective student to teacher ratio, sign up today!!

Westport Outfitters Fishing Report Week of July 31st Lastly, we booked one more date for this fall with Lou Tabory on October 24th, be sure to read all the details following the report and call/email the shop to reserve today. Cooler water temps, fall breezes and big stripers on the long rods! Sign up today! Well folks, as we stated in last week’s report, the early bird definitely got the worm this week with many catches coming in during that witching hour from about 5:30 A.M.-6:30 A.M. This no doubt reiterates that we are into the summer pattern where you have to focus on the low light/no light hours to get fish into the boat. A note worth mentioning is the fact that the water clarity in shore with the almost nightly rains is holding up quite well. Perhaps the ground is just so dry after all of the sun that it is just sucking it all in. Monday afternoon I was out fishing off of the shoals and it had to have been at least 4 feet, which at this time of year is simply unheard of. On a side note, many of you I am sure read a month or so back of the Town of Westport’s decision for Westport Outfitters to sell clamming permits. I personally went out to some of my favorite soft shell places earlier in the week and absolutely cleaned up with a bushel (there were four of us) of perfect sized steamers that will melt in your mouth. These have really made a dramatic comeback locally without any seeding by the town. This is a perfect activity for the whole family with some great rewards at the end of the day. Any garden pitchfork should get the job done. Call or email the shop should you have any questions about spots and/or permitting. Back to the fishing…During this transition, as we mentioned last week, we will see the sand eels moving out and the peanut bunker and silver sides moving in. Bill Beck reported in that there was a lot of small bluefish off of Compo late last week, no bass, but the bait he said was silversides. To get these blues to the net, Bill had to abandon his favorite soft plastics and switch it up t spoons and the old faithful crippled herrings, hopkins, and deadly dicks. Friday was almost a complete wash out with all of the rain, but Stan did report in a mid morning feeding frenzy of 8-12 lb blues just off of Frost Point smashing small peanut bunker. Saturday was a crazy day in the store with Steve bringing in a picture of a 38 inch blue that was released and not weighed but a monster at that, that had to have been well over 15lbs! George D. continues his conquest and chose to grab some W.O. sandworms and three weighed them off the bottom between 50-60 feet of water out at 11B with a bass on every pass, no keepers, but some stout fish to the boat. Sunday, Cory C. from ASMW along with his trusty first mate Bonnie Roberts were fishing at first light….take note on this one people. I will reiterate to all the naysayers that say there are no bass around and state that they are here, you just need to get up to get them! Cory and Bonnie were throwing poppers at first light and landed a host of blues and bass with Bonnie taking a 35 inch bass that if weighed would have been well over 17lbs by the look of it on 10lb test line! The blues as you will see in the photos were just as large…one last note, please look at the angle of the sun in the picture of the bluefish and the lack there of it in the picture of the bass. Great job Bonnie although, Captain Cory no doubt deserves a bit of credit as well!! Nicky G. reports in after a full day of fishing that started at day break on Monday where he and crew landed a total of about 14 bass all just shy of keepers, but more importantly, all on light tackle or flies. David C. was tossing sluggos while Nicky and Rob P. stuck to the fly rods. Nick had almost all of his success throwing his own creation of a crease fly entitled the “INCREASER.” This hollowed form of the traditional crease fly really got it done for Nick, where they fished in tight up against the islands until the sun came up. As the moved away about a mile off of Goose, they ran head on into a school of blues that were surrounded by 1 and 2 lb fish with fish up to 10-12lbs in the middle. Farther to our East off of Gulf Beach, our own Kurt D. and Derrick drifted some Westport Outfitters eels for several keeper bass at night on Monday and Tuesday. Eels are best rigged from shore weightless, but if any weight is needed at all we prefer a rubber core sinker. If you have any questions, be sure to come by. Back locally, the Fluking remains quite strong, sand eels, as well as squid on your rig of choice will no doubt get it done. Although the number of keepers has slowed a bit, if you put your time in, it will be worth your weight, Sunken Island, Can 26 and Frost Point all continue to produce. In fact, right behind the shop has yielded a few keeper Fluke earlier in the week right in the river at high tide. This weekend is looking good and if the bait trend continues, the peanut bunker will continue to pop and the fish will no doubt follow. Although it may be a bit early to hook them, there are definitely schools of snappers around and these fish will grow on average about one inch per week, so get the kids rods ready for these favorite late summer/early fall fish that will bring them hours of fun. We have kids combos with rod/reel starting at just $29.99 and everything else you would need. To start targeting the deeper rips where bass are holding during the mid day hours, try trolling some tubes with Captain Chris’s T&W combos. See you all on the water!! THE MONTAUK REPORT Captain Dean reports from the wet decks of the “TEASER” in Montauk that overall the fishing is great, with the best of it being the striped bass fishing. If you want to catch big bass, August is THE time to do it. The fall run is great, but for the last several years the most consistent fishing for big bass has been in August. Everything is working, but for the big striped bass the big tube or live bait is the preferred method. The parachutes and umbrellas will catch their share as well, but more often than not the smaller fish. Fluke fishing is still steady, but lots and lots of shorts, with few keepers in between. Offshore the shark fishing remains steady with smaller makos showing up daily. Star Island has it’s Mako Mania tournament this weekend. It will be interesting to see how many Mako’s are weighed in. Locally, some bluefins have been sighted east of the Butterfish Hole and inside the 750 line, but virtually nobody is fishing for them except maybe a half hour or so before setting up a shark slick. Further offshore the yellowfin bite has been steady and we just had a fresh report of some real large big eyes being weighed in on the docks. To book a trip with Captain Dean, please call the shop or him directly at 203.5556.3361. ONE MORE DATE WITH LOU TABORY-October 24, 2009-CALL NOW TO RESERVE! October 24th, 2009 @ 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. See below for important upcoming fly fishing schools and other shop events. FACEBOOK GROUP PAGE, JOIN TODAY! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38347036376 WESTPORTOUTFITTERS.TV If you have been watching the weekly video updates, here is your early chance to get involved with this new cutting edge, HOW TO, WHERE TO, WHY TO site, dedicated to our great sport and improving all of your skills at it…log onto www.westportoutfitters.tv and sign up now!! Captain Chris Elser Fishing Report

The far western sound has slowed down like a snail trail but no worries folks...the Milford and Stratford areas are just on the upswing as this area is more oxygenated during the heat of summer and the hard tails arrive out at middleground and PJ first. We found some decent bass this past week off of Fairfield and Bridgeport but couldn't really take advantage of the eastern areas due to the extreme high tides provided by the new moon. On a positive note...the best tides to catch a fish of a lifetime are typically 2-4 days after the new moon phases at this time of year...teaser :-)

Freshwater Lakes and Streams

We are now in a summer pattern but the water levels remain high due to consistent rainfall so trout fishing remains decent in local streams and is exceptional on the Farmington River with many fish in the 20 inch range being taken on caddis, sulphurs and streamer patterns like the muddler minnow and grey ghost.

Don't forget that Captain Elser is available for wade fishing trips on all of our local streams. Combining over 35 years of local knowledge and experience on CT's freshwater hot spots he will educate you on subjects like entomology, tactics and casting tips!

Lake Lillinonah and Zoar are producing solid smallmouth and largemouth action and you always have a shot at a monster brown trout or pike.

Interested in Fly Casting instruction for fresh or salt water? Captain Chris Elser is a certified casting instructor and will be offering lessons and instruction throughout the winter months. Take advantage of one-on-one personalized instruction at any location that is convenient for you, even your own home! He has all the tackle and can also incorporate a lesson into a trip out on the Sound or inland lakes for trout and smallmouth bass.
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Captain Chris Elser has been writing the Western Long Island Sound fishing reports since April of 2006, you will surely get detailed information on fishing for Stripers, Bluefish, False Albacore and more! Pick up the new isue for the latest!

Tight Lines! - Visit Captain Chris at http://www.ct-fishing.com

Heather above with her July 17, 2009 personal best 52.5 inch striper taken on a red tube and gulp imitation sandworm trolled up on light tackle!