Our first charter of the season was with Murray Verlin of Westport and his chauffeur, Donnie. The twosome brought in 20 striped bass and one keeper fluke at 19". All were caught on light tackle around the Norwalk Islands. Dan Messervey of Westport and his brother-in-law--Robert White of Vermont--caught 11 bass and one bluefish that weighed in at 7 pounds. Most of the bass were brought in using bucktails--as the stripers were feeding on the surface in Westport and Southport. Neil Boyd of New Canaan, who brought along his father--visiting from Utah--as well as long-time buddy, Paul Thompson--for their first experience fishing Long Island Sound. It was a great day for everyone, with a catch of 23 striped bass and a bonus 19.5" fluke. The action was around Southport and Westport, as it had been on the previous day. With Bryan Kerschner of Norwalk we caught eight stripers ranging from 26-31"--with three keepers in the group, caught midSound. While blind casting, we plugged up blues up to six pounds--and then on the Long Island side we baled porgies from 13-16". Our final trip of the week was with our regular, Henry Calum of Greenwich, and four guests. The group brought in a great catch of porgies up to 18", some blues 4-6 pounds, and one striped bass 27.5". Lots of baitfish are everywhere in abundance--with a greater-than-usual early influx of bunker and--within the past several days--a hatch of sand eels. The blues are making their appearance mid-Sound, in 60-65-foot depths. Fishermen can try blind casting with Creek Chub lures, looking out for surface swirls and dips.