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
April 17, 2007
Captain Judy's Saltwater Fishing Report
Live Fishing Reports by Captain Judy
WBMQ Radio 7:00 to 7:05 AM daily
Savannah, Georgia
Award Winning Coastal Fishing with Captain Judy
TV Comcast Channel 7
Sunday 6:30, Tuesday 7:30, and Saturday 8:30
Gray's Reef Natural Marine Sanctuary!
While fishing this area please note that the Georgia DNR has the right to check you for possible violations. They are also authorized to write citations and enforce laws in the sanctuary even though they are Georgia law enforcement officers. The bottom line is that they are also federal water officers. This means that they can stop you while fishing in any waters including inshore, offshore artificial reefs, Savannah Snapper banks, or the Gulf Stream. For up dates in regards to the new "rules and regulations" for Gray Reefs please go to www.graysreef.noaa.gov or call Gail Krueger of Gray's Reef Sanctuary 912 598 2397 All fishermen need to be aware of changes made in the current federal waters. For updates and changes please go to www.safmc.net (South Atlantic Fishery Management Council)
Inshore, offshore, and Gulf Stream Fishing Shorts
(For those that don't like to read a lot, longer version to follow)
Inshore
Large roe trout are making their way to the beachfronts. Live bait such as shrimp, mud minnow, yellow tail, and pinfish are the tickets to this ride. Please don't rule out the artificial stuff because they are also working. Light colors when it's clear water situations and dark ones when it's not! Two-tone artificial screw and paddles tail are always a hit!
Near shore
Artificial reefs in less than 50 feet of water are holding some keeper black sea bass. However, you have to weed through them to get to the keepers. (Squid and cut fish) Please remember sea bass have to be 11 inches to keep and they carry a bag limit of 15 per person. These reef are also holding school blue fish, ocean perch, and flounder. I suggest giving deep trolling for Spanish mackerel a try. Large Spanish normally are being caught at this time! Get out those planers and downriggers! Clark spoon, which are those with the red beads, work the best!
Artificial Reefs in 50 Plus Feet of Water
I have reports of king mackerel and little tunny being caught in these areas. Most black sea bass are keepers and they are mixed with some 20-inch keeper red snapper. Cut squid and fish normally will work, but live cigar minnows are going to be your best bait. The artificial reef buoys have at least not as of yet by this report shown up. However, there are some scattered schools holding near to the bottom. It best to use your gold hook bait rigs.
Savannah Snapper Banks
This area has a little bit of every thing to offer from top water fishing to the bottom stuff. Black sea bass and peanut reds (illegal size to keep snapper) have been high on the list of fish caught. However, the past week grouper along with some real nice red snapper have been caught. The larger bottom fish were caught in about 115 to 1200 feet of water. The mean the backside of the snapper banks is holding quite a bit of large fish. However, this too will change shortly with the larger fish spreading out and moving into 100 feet of water. There is quite a bit of bait holding over the ledges located in this live bottom area.
It's has been years since we have had such a great spring king mackerel run in this area. The kings that are being caught are ranging from 5 to 30 pounds. It's mixed size all holding in about 100 feet of water.
Gulf Stream Fishing
Captain Little Tommy Williams and friends hit the blue waters of the stream this past week. While trolling all of the normal stuff and using some of his untold methods they caught 32 dolphin and 6 black fin tuna. According to "Tom Tom" they could have caught more, but the cooler was full and arms were tired! They trolled surface rigged ballyhoo, which work great. When they left the dock they has 100 rigged baits. They ran out, borrow some from another local charter boat, and kept on fishing! Captain Tommy techniques are great and to the point! As soon as I get the full scoop on the details I will bring you up to speed. The bottom line to this report is a simple one! It's time to go "Screaming at the Stream!"
Detail fishing report! Longer Versions!
Inshore
Large roe trout are being caught creeks, rivers, and sounds. As the month passes these fish will make their way to the beachfronts. Artificial and the real thing have made a serious hit with the spotted sea trout. Some of the bait regime has arrived. Please don't forget the old cast net. Almost any small fish that you catch can be used as live bait. Fish the area around your boat like you own it! It's possible that you have fish holding at all depths! I suggest working docks that look fishy. Those dock that have birds or droppings usually signify some presents of fish. If you happen to have a trolling motor I suggest that you use it! Be a dock watcher!
Inshore
Inshore Tip for the year!
Brought to you by "Rupert Heller!"
For those of you that don't know about the "old Rupert," let me share a few lines with you. Firstly, he has been fishing the Savannah, Georgia inshore as well as offshore waters for many years. He is an accomplished fisherman in both the inshore and offshore waters! In other words, "catching is the name of his game!" With that being said, "you had best get ready to write this suggestion down!" Over the year "The Rupert" has come up with many catching fish ideas! This is just one that you can apply, which will work. This suggestion is in regards to the "roe big fish spotted sea trout season!" When the sunrise is officially 7:00 AM or sooner and the sunset is 8:00 PM or later "the roe trout bite is definitely on!" When these conditions occur it time to go fish for the big ones. He suggests as well as I to always only keep what you want to eat in regards to these fish. After all they are called "roe trout' for a reason! These are our babies' producers for later on down the line. You know how a seeds grows when you plant it! Don't forget to do you part!
The Rupert had a great week catching large roe trout! I can't tell you what he is using for bait, because it's a secret at least for right now. He is going to share with me some of his well-kept secrets, which I will be able to pass on to you. So therefore reading my reports should definitely be in your future.
This suggestion will help in the "when to fish for what department!"
Captain Jack McGowan of Miss Judy Charters has once again shared with us some real good suggestions. As you all know fishermen had to deal with easterly flow of winds the past week. The fact of the matter is we had to deal with some sort of winds all week. This is about wind and red fish. Firstly, red fish are directly affected by unnatural noises. It makes then nervous, which boils down to "not much of a bite." When the wind is blowing it's normally means that you are going to have to deal with some roughness whether it's in the creeks, rivers, or sounds. With waves moving you normally get some sort of what I call "boat slapping" noise. This is definitely an unfriendly noise for red fish. We think that this slapping noise might imitate the same as the porpoise makes. With the porpoise being the red fish's biggest enemy I think that you get the point! This all boils down to when the boat's hull is getting slapped you have better change up and fish for another species! Red fish are noise sensitive.
Captain Jack had a pretty good week using what I am going to call the "plastic bait line up!' Soft plastics have been "the in bait" for some time. Artificial bait manufactures have even come up with not only soft, but also impregnated them with "a smell factor!" Heck, with "all this going on" you have to wonder if the real thing is needed after all!
It's a Plastic World!
When talking about plastic there are the screw tails, paddle tails, and the jerk baits. I'm sure there are more, because I have seen them. However, these are the ones that we use the most. The screw tails offers up lots of action and flash when retrieved. You can also add vibration to the list of things that the screw tail does to get the fish's attention. The next that we have to choose from in this department is going to be the paddle bait, which moves when retrieve and when it just falls through the water column. With that being said, "it almost does your job for you!" This is one plastic that definitely needs to be part of your tackle box. These two plastics work great when threaded on some sort of jig head. As you know there are many colors to choose from in regards to the plastic as well as the jig heads. It all about what you will think will work when!
I will add that I use these plastic baits in conjunction with my cut squid and fish when bottom fishing offshore. I have noticed especially when I am experiencing a soft bite that the addition of a screw or paddle tail steps up the bite attack a little better. The reason being is that I am mixing smell and flash together making a great winning combination. I can't tell you how many times that I have used this to step up my bottom bite!
A Jerk Of Bait!
The last, but certainly not the lease is going to be the "the jerk bait!" Now here's a lure that will treat you right no matter what! It works on the bottom like a charm. It has, even thought it doesn't look like it could, the ability to self suspend giving longer opportunity in getting a fish's attention. I like this bait, because of its Olympic style dive/entry it makes when it hits the surface of the water. It's not considered a noisy lure meaning it would make great bait for red fish.
The jerk bait it normally threaded on to what is called a "worm hook!" The size and style hook is up to you. The addition of a cone style weight is an addition that can be made. However, the more you add the more you take away from the lure!
It's time to start fishing outside the box!
This past week brought good, but not great catches. Patterns aren't classical at least as of yet. With that in mind I suggest being in the knowing to the fact that all fish are on the move. This is due to the fact that fish are in what is called a moving stage also known as a migration phase. With that being said, I suggest fishing what I call the "unknown areas," which are located around your boat. I will go back to my father's saying; "fish don't have legs so therefore they don't arrive from the bank, but rather the water." We all want to fish towards the bank, because we feel that's is where the fish are going be. It makes great sense, because of the available food source. However, the fish are coming from up or down in the water that you are actually sitting in. Or they are coming from the deepest part, which is most likely behind your current sitting position. With that being said, "fish up/down and deep/shallow!" There are all sorts of ways to get this job done. Firstly as a fishermen you have to understand where fish feed in the scheme of things. Lets talk about the water column from the top to the bottom. Baitfish as well as other "non-fish like" food sources gets caught up in the moving pattern. Fish will seek these areas out and feed there. It's my opinion that fish don't spend too much time in the water column where there isn't much food or some sort of protection.
Just Fishing!
There are a lot of fishermen out there that just want to fish. Heck, I have them on my boat everyday! With that being said, "it time to just go fishing and throw out all of the technicalities!" For those fishermen out there that want to target a certain species, have to go either offshore or inshore, and don't just want to catch what bites their hook, please don't read this. For those that just want to catch fish, please read on!
The creeks, rivers, sounds, and oceans have plenty of bite opportunity. This past week I had several fishing trips in which I took offshore and caught many fish. We were targeting a certain species and we caught them. However, as the week passed the "wind she did blow!" My customers showed up, I told them we couldn't go offshore, but we could try inshore fishing in an offshore boat. This is basically bottom fishing in the creeks, rivers or sounds. We have eliminated the ocean in the phase, because it's too rough to throw that in. All my customers wanted to do was to "go fish!"
I headed out as if I was going offshore, took a look, and the waves were rolling too much for the safety factor. So to the sound we went, anchored up, and got ready to do some light tackle shark fishing. Here's what we caught while using cut squid and fish as bait: whiting, sharks, (bonnet heads, smooth cold water sharks, and black tips) stingrays, blue fish, sea robin, summer trout, and blue fish
Our major fish feeding time was two hours before low till two hours after the tide started coming back in. We used light tackle rod reel setups with small hooks and small pieces of bait. Although this type of fishing doesn't sound technical it could be for sure. My boat is 31 feet long and 12 feet wide. There were times when the fishermen could only get bites when fishing off a certain part of the boat. When the bite was directly off the mid starboard all fishermen squashed together and it stepped the action up! With this being said, "where you have fish you have fish!"
Offshore Waters
Artificial Reefs
These are areas where you could catch fish while bottom fishing or just trolling. I suggestion you pick a weapon and give it a try!
Savannah Snapper Banks
Bottom fishing
With all fish almost represented at this time I wouldn't rule out giving any fishery a try. The bottom bite in the ocean is the best that I have seen in years. We are catching black sea bass, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, porgy, red snapper, and grouper. There are many more fish bites that I didn't list. The bottom line to this part of the fishing report is a simple one! "Just Fish to Got Fish!"
Trolling for King Mackerel
Although I can't say why, the king fish bite has been the strongest that I have seen in years. I do troll quite a bite of trolling, but only when the fish are biting. I guess I should explain. I love catching fish and while bottom fishing you always catch something. Well, I also love to troll. However, I'm not to patience when it comes to just dragging and washing baits. If when trolling and the fish don't cooperate then it's time to make a change. The past week proved to be interesting and exciting in the bite to catch ratio! We caught while trolling deep some really nice kings. The way the bite worked was great at least once I figured it out.
Here's comes my formula for catching kings: I am using 60-pound test monofilament main line. One the end of the main line I am slipping on a "Captain Judy Stupid Stopper" and then I tie on a 90-pound snap swivel. On the snap swivel I am attaching a number 3 planer. On the back of the planer where you are supposed to the tie the line I am clipping on a 90-pound test swivel. Now I am ready to get serious about my "fishing mission!" To the swivel, which is off the end of the planer, I am going to tie on about 30 feet of 80-pound test monofilament line and then I am going to tie on a 31/2 Drone spoon.
"Captain Judy's Stupid Stopper"
This is the bead that I slip on to my main line before tying my snap swivel on. The size is around 5/32, which is a little bigger than the trout float ones. The purpose for the bead is to keep the "reeler from reeling" the snap swivel up into the end eye on the rod. I can't tell you how many rod tips I broke off before I came to start using this combination. The rule of thumb when using my bead addition is to make sure that the bead can't be pulled through the end eye. They come in all colors, which means it up to you to decide. Most craft store has them, but they are not called "Captain Judy Stupid Stoppers" or "rod eye savers." They could be called decorative beads that are used for everything, but fishing. Now I have seen these bead advertised in fishing magazines. However, the cost is real high. They are not selling beads, but rather ideas. In this case, I choose to give the idea away free, but you have to purchase the beads! The bottom line to this situation once again is a simple one! A bead is a bead is a bead!
Freshies Suggestions
A Hold Lot Crappy going on!
This is one fish that really follows a pattern. During the spring these fish are known for strange schooling patterns. If I had to give this pattern a name I would called it "layering," because that's what they do. Over the years I have had many reports stating that these fish were "schooling thick and in layers!" It seems that at this time of the year especially when spawning comes to the fish's mind that this is what they do best. Your best approach in this case at this time is to check all floating docks especially those that have Styrofoam for floatation. It seem that there are more fish caught around this soft floating stuff than there is on the harder plastic covered floats. I know I have getting out there, but it seems some fish prefer wood to concrete. This is a known fact proven by me!
To catch a crappy your bait has to stay within the strike zone, which is right above or side to side of the fish's head. When the fish are schooling in the upper water column it's suggested that you need to add a float to your rig. This keeps your bait in the strike zone and allows you for a better hook-up ratio. Small creek minnows 11/2 to 2 inches with 3 inch ones sometimes working better for larger crappy are going to be your number one bait. While fishing it going to be up to you whether you are targeting the largest fish in the school or just the smaller hungry ones. There are several ways to hook up a minnow. Here are ways that work with almost any type of live bait. Placing the hook right behind the dorsal fin, in the top of the tail sections, from the bottom of the lip through the top of the head, and last but not least best is through the top of the eye sockets. All applications work seemly well. It still allows your bait to give off those "stay away sounds," which really means to those that eat them "I'm here now come and get me!"
Little Miss Judy Believe It or Not!!
Same Mermaid's Tail
As long as I can remember my father always told me the most interesting stories. When I was young I believed everything that he said. As I got a little older I started questioning him a bit, but I still sort of believed. He was capable of taking just about any subject and making a great story out of it especially when it came to those about fishing. The mermaid story that he always told me when I was a child was probably the best. Upon coming home from fishing especially on those days that I didn't get to go I was always asking the question. "What did you catch today?" He always had an answer. The subject of the mermaid would always come up especially when I hadn't gone. You see he had never caught the mermaid when I was onboard. He would always explain in detail how the hook just barely struck into her lip. In fact according to daddy, once she was hooked she swam directly to the boat following the line. Daddy would always remark, "If she didn't the hook would have really become embedded." At this point he had me hook, line, and sinker. I knew about those hooks and they were hard to get out. As a child I often wondered if the fish felt pain. Daddy said they didn't so I believed him, but the mermaid thing was way too real for me. I just felt sorry for her. He said that she had long blonde hair, a pretty smile, and normal body at least from the waist up. Her lower body looked like a fish. She had big scales and a flapping fork shaped tail. He said he never tried to take her out of the water. He always carefully removed the hook. Occasionally the story might go in the direction of she was crying to be released to there was a little blood to she took the hook out herself. At any rate the ending was always a good one. She was released unharmed. After that everyone on the boat had a good conversation with the mermaid.
The older the shorter the mermaid stories got, but that didn't stop the questions that I asked. Finally daddy decided to nip this story in the bud. He came home and told me that the mermaid was no longer in our area. She had met someone and had moved on to deeper waters. I just looked. I now knew for sure that this was a lie, because she was now coming to by boat. At least that's what I am telling my younger fishermen. Let the stories began!
Here's My Line Now bite My Hook!
Captain Judy
"Fish Physic!"