Captain Judy Helmey
Miss Judy Charters
'Kicking Fish Tail Since 1956!'
124 Palmetto Drive
Savannah, Georgia 31410
912 897 4921 or 912 897 3460 fax
www.missjudycharters.com
September 22, 2008
Happy Fish Day!
Saltwater inshore, offshore, blue water fishing report, Freshies Suggestions, and 'Little Miss Judy's story! Thanks for reading! Captain Judy
Offshore Report
Savannah Snapper Banks
Bagging in your line
Before I get into the meat of what this is all of about I guess I should explain what the heck 'bagging in your line' means. I will explain with an example. Let's say, 'you are fishing in 100 feet water, you have dropped down, don't feel anything, retrieve you rig, and your hooks are empty.' Here's what happen'somewhere between the surface and the bottom, current grabbed the line and pulled part of your line 'out of line.' When this happen there is absolutely no way to feel the fish biting away on your bait, because the bag caused by the current doesn't allow a direct connection with the fish. This is called a 'bag in your line!'
This also can occur when the boat is drifting against the current. In other words the wind or wave action is stronger than the current itself. Although your boat seemly is drifting with the winds and waves it is indeed not. It's actually drift opposite direction, which definitely can cause a big bag in your dropped rig. Those trying to stop the boat so that it will drift back over the live bottom spot sometimes have a hard times dealing with this sort of confusion. I must say, 'I have been fishing for many years and it still on some occasion stumps me!' I can say one thing for sure it certainly is very frustrating at best!
Now that you know what causes this problem here are a few pointers on how to correct and conquer this situation. You can double your sinker used. This might make it harder to reel your fish in but at least you get notice of the bite. When doubling sinker, you should drop bait to the bottom and quickly take the slack out of your line. With the heavier sinker used it allows you to pull the slack out better. The less bagging or if you want to call it 'slack' the better chances you will have in getting a solid set up.
The sinker idea isn't prefect, because you might already be using 16 ounces of weight. With an additional weight, which means now with this addition you will have 'too much to reel in!' If this method works for you I suggest going this route.
In our case we are already are using 16-ounce bank sinker. If we added a sinker the weight would be too much. So therefore I instruct my customers to drop to the bottom and feel the bottom with the sinker. To do this all you have to do is to simply raise your rod up so that the sinker bumps the bottom, and then reel up two turns. When this is done you should be able to feel the fish bite. However, if you don't start getting bites soon then I suggest reeling in re-baiting and starting over with this process.
Lets talk a little about bait. When dealing with this situation there are several ways to hook our bait up. For instance: One-way is to use very small bait such as little cut squares of squid or fish. By doing this you keep the bait close to the hook's point. However, the down side is the 'bait removal magicians' below can still get it off without getting hooked up. Another way to combat keeping your bait on the hook long enough during this time so as to feel the bite is to 'load your hooks up!' This baiting up style is simple, because more is better in this case. By the time the fish or more than one fish gets at your bait you are going to feel it and hopefully get a good chance at feeling the hit. When bottom fishing most fishermen can feel the hit and do try to set the hook. However, when 'bagging of the line' is what you are dealing to get the feel of the bite you need to adjust the procedure used to get you to this point!
Thanks for Reading!
Captain Judy
'Story Teller of all times, even if it's only in my mind!'