Miss Judy Charters
Captain Judy Helmey
"Kicking Fish Tail Since 1956!"
124 Palmetto Drive
Savannah, Georgia 31410
912 897 4921 or 912 897 3460 fax
www.missjudycharters.com
May 28, 2007
Captain Judy's Saltwater Fishing Report
Inshore Suggestions
Savannah Snapper Banks
Tower of Power
Adapting to Over Come
Anthony Conrad and soon to be June bride Angela are "fish stalkers and catchers" of the finest kind! I would like to say, "right off" that these are some of the greatest suggestions that I have heard in a long time. Not only are they great, but also proven to work! So therefore this brings me to the meat of this fishing report, which offers some really great information that you can use to catch fish that really don't want to bite!
Over the last few months we have been "pounding the king mackerel!" This basically means "throw out the old Drone spoon, pull them at 6 knots plus, hooking up, dragging them in, and throwing them in the cooler!" This fish catching occurrence lasted for about 6 weeks with us charter captains looking like we were "fishing physics!" As with anything especially in the fish catching world things came to an abrupt end!
This past weekend Anthony and Angela took to the high seas in search of some sort of fish bite. This "fishing duo" has a lot of ocean time giving them a "heads up" in regards to the many different feeding patterns that they can come up against. Challenging is the word I would use the most in this particular case. The team had to take in to consideration the soft bite that was now being reported in and around the fishing arena!
Their targeted area to fish was the M2R6 Naval tower. These towers provide a wealth of food for migrating fish to stop off to refuel and also for any of those bottom sorts that want to make this place their home base. This all boils down to the fact that it's a true "target Rich Environment!"
Anthony's first challenge was to catch some live bait. In this case he pulled out the old gold hook bait rig. While using this rig they caught Spanish sardines and cigar minnows while meandering around the legs of the towers. For those that don't know bait doesn't always show up on the surface. There are times when their staging point is deeper. A quick cruise around the tower's leg with the old fish finder on will indicate the fish's design.
I must say this about tower trolling as well as plain old bottom fishing around the legs. It's great until the distress signals sent by the hooked fish get to the other fish staging on the perimeters. When this takes place bait patterns change with them being more interested in who going to eat them whether than what they are going to eat. With this being said, stage you approaches so that if gives all fish population's time to re-group in harmony.
Plan of Attack Number One!
The first attack plan was to set up for drifting with hooked up live baits. Here are the ingredients for this king mackerel rig: The main line used was 50-pound test. On to the main line he on slipped on an 8-ounce egg sinker, slipped "Captain Judy's Stupid Stopper," and then tied on a 60 to 80 pound test swivel. The added small plastic bead keeps the sinker from cutting the line tied at the swivel. To the swivel add 8 feet of 50-pound test leader material. I always suggest fluorocarbon style leader material, because of its abrasion resistance quality. As far as your hook design it's basically up to you. Some fishermen want to go with the "setting itself circle hook" while others prefer the old stand by "J." Whatever style of hooks that you decided either one will work while using this rig set up.
Circle hooks comes in several sizes. We normally use 10/0 to 14/0 sizes. The best way to determine size needed is to base it on the gap between the shalf and the hook's point. The hook's gap size should easily slip over the fish's lip. I like to go with 12/0 to 14/0 size. If the hook's gap is too small, "no hook ups here!" As far as the "J" style hooks I suggest going with a 7/0 size, which isn't too big and isn't too small for the job at hand. Please remember you don't set circle hooks. They are self setting! For "J" styles you will need to "snap set" to drive the point home! Solid sets are better than those wild ones!
Now that you have your rig tied it's important that your hook up your bait fish properly. There are several ways to hook your bait up. It all depends on how you are going to use it. In other words, "are you drifting or slow trolling?" In the case of Anthony, his plans were to do some basic bottom fishing while bumping it in gear every now and then.
Anthony hooked his two drift bottom baits through the top of the eye sockets. This is a great way to rig them up especially when you are planning on just bottom drifting. It isn't the rigged up application for those fishermen that want to give slow trolling a try. Trying to slow troll with this application will not work, because of the "helicopter-ing" of the bait that takes place. It has been my experience that fish run away not too a bait that is wildly swirling around! (AKA helicopter-ing!)
Plan of Attack Number Part Two!
Well using 20 pound test main line attach a king buster that has a 3 foot flexible wire leader. The wire leader shouldn't be over 50 test pound, because you don't want to over power bait used! The color of choice this past weekend was white and pink. Most "king busters" rig go like this: Single strand hard wire (basically called piano wire) as leader, which isn't the braided stuff not more than 30-pound test. The hook configuration is pretty much the norm at least from what I have seen and used. We use a standard live bait hook. The best size is always the one that works on the bait used. When using Spanish sardines or cigar minnows I suggest going with #4, #6, #1, or 2/0 size live bait hooks. The stinger part of the rig is the hook that basically swings free around the mid section on the bait used. Some fishermen bury this hook's point into one of the bait's sides. The best type treble is labeled "extra strong." The most used size is #4, #6, #1, or 2/0. Both style of stinger hook "rig outs" work while using this application.
Anthony rigged up and used this traditional style. This, which normally "failed!" After getting hit after hit he watched as hard earned live bait inventory started to shrink. From what Anthony described it sounded like he was getting "short strikes!" Anthony did what I usually do and that's to carefully check out his hit at bait! All baits that were hit only had their tail sections ruffled, but not damaged. Kingfish weren't exactly short striking, but rather missing the entire baits. Now did they do this on purpose or were they getting bad vibes from rigged baits? Whatever the case may be Anthony came up with a plan. It was so simple I wish has come up with this plan of action. He simply re-rigged while making sure that the wire leader between the live bait hook and stringer (treble) hook swung out longer than the bait use. In other words, the actual stinger hook fell back about three inches behind the bait! The fish that still wanted to make a "semblance fly by" were hooked instead. Thus making this set up called the "Adapting to Over Come Rig!"