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
June 18, 2007
Captain Judy's Saltwater Fishing Report
Inshore, Offshore, Freshies Suggestions, and "Little Miss Judy's Believe It or Not!"
Extreme Tides Don't Necessarily mean "NO FISH!
I got some good information from one of the old time fishing masters last week. The person I am talking about is Captain Ray Crawley of Miss Judy Charters. Captain Ray isn't new to the fish catching world. The fact of the matter is he has been doing it a long time, which boils down to knowing what he knows! How do you like that last statement? This just means that Captain Ray has fished so long that he is comfortable with the way he feels about "a fish's ways!"
Captain Ray can and does catch all inshore species of fish. Before getting involved with the inshore stuff he conquered the offshore ones as well. His passion, now that he is mostly fishing inshore is to target tailing red fish. With this being said, "this is how it works for him!"
When most fishermen are complaining about extreme high tides making sometimes for a muddy water situation Captain Ray is getting ready for the sights and hook ups of a life time. When we have real high tide stages such as we had last week a red fish's feeding steps can be more defined. Firstly, let me break down our tide situation this past week. Fishermen had the prefect high tide situation last week. Here's why: Those that knew had two high tides to fish. There was serious high tide in the morning and in the afternoon. Both high tides fell in the day light hours giving a fishermen two times the opportunity to catch. Not only that but the red fish had to major feeding opportunities. During these extreme tides red fish take to the flooded marshes in search of crabs, periwinkle snails, and anything else that they can root around for. After all the water not up in these areas everyday meaning neither are the fish. So therefore these newly flooded feeding zones are fertile, ripe, and ready to be scavenged. Not all tide-flooded areas hold red fish. You need to sift through the old process of limitation to figure out the best spots to fish.
There are signs in which to look for: For instance: It probably unlikely that large sea birds types would be feeding in these areas. The reason being is due to the fact that leftovers aren't going to be real big. Therefore look for small sea birds hovering and feeding at will. Red fish when eating things wrapped in a shell, suck it in, crush it, and spit or filter out un-desirable parts. These parts normally sink right to the bottom giving those feeders from blow an instance quick meal! This is a fish that's so determine to eat that its head is most likely down and it tail is up! This is where the "tailing red fish" got their name. So therefore those creatures that hold in the mud go deep as quick as they can. Those creatures such as snails that hang on seaweed feel safer climbing higher in the grass. With that being said, "look for periwinkle snails holding high in the sea grass," because this is one your sign that says "fish here!"
I can't stress enough that when looking for feeding fish in this particular scenario that you really do need to take a strong "look-see!" Patterns of slight movement of grass tops sends the message that fish are feeding or at least moving in here. Watching is going to be your best tool in this game of successfully targeting and catching "red fish!" Several captain in the past have suggested that when you find such a feeding frenzy that you bait the scene. This is simply done by throwing in opposite directions crab or shrimp parts. Red fish with their keen sense of smell will pick up the free lunch scents and move in that direction!
Once an area as well as a pattern of feeding fish is located it becomes easier and easier to locate them. For instance: In the case of feeding fish at least while the tide is up in the grass the feeding is mostly going to be parallel to the banks. The fish will normally work as far up into the grass as possible hitting those areas that aren't normally accessible, because this is the un-touch feeding zone. The area offers all kinds of opportunity once it's flooded. The next day the fish move up or down the bank, which offers you a serious feeding pattern display!
I have talked about everything, but what's best to use for bait. In this case, "lures rigged weed less" comes to mind first! Captain Ray has his secret colors of "twitch and jerk baits" that he preferred. I can't share the name of them, but I can suggest picking a lure that dark in color with some sort of glitter. It makes more sense to go with a lure that about the same color is the background bottom. All creatures that live in these areas adapt so as to become dark so as to blend in with their envoriment. So therefore your bait, should you choose to use it, should match the background design of the areas worked. With that being said, "loud colors are out!" And browns and grays are in!" Cast far and retrieve long when searching for that prefect stray hit!