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
October 13, 2008
Happy Fish Day!
Saltwater inshore, offshore, blue water fishing report, Freshies Suggestions, and "Little Miss Judy's story! Thanks for reading! Captain Judy
Miss Judy Charters has some new merchandise to offer…check it out
http://www.missjudycharters.com/Merchandise.shtml
Or go to www.missjudycharters.com and click on camouflage t-shirt
Offshore Fish Catching Shorts
Smoker Kings at the "J" Buoy
Saturday October 4, 2008
Captain David Newlin reported that he caught 4 large king mackerel drift fishing at the artificial reef J Buoy this past Saturday. While doing a little bottom fishing for black sea bass he put out a drift line using a ruby red lips as bait. Three of the kings weighted in at between 30 to 40 pounds. The fourth and largest "Smoker" tipped the scales to around 50 pounds. My father always called tomtates also known as plain old grunts Ruby red lips!
Artificial Reefs and Live Bottom Areas
Live Baits and What They Can Do When Bottom Fishing At most any Depth..
The bottom fishing in this area has been good with fishermen catching large black sea bass, trigger fish, and a few legal red snapper. Live bait such as cigar minnows and Spanish sardines are great baits to get a solid bite to happen. These baits when used on the bottom no matter how deep works great, because they trigger a great bottom fish bite.
I could write pages and pages about this subject alone. We always spend at least an hour trying to find live bait such as cigar minnows and Spanish sardines. A slow bottom bite can be turned around to a "fast take" when the live stuff is introduced as bait.
There is a reason why this bait works so well!
Cigar minnows and Spanish sardines are those baits that don't have any air bladders on board. So therefore they can move up and down in the water column with great ease. They don't have to readjust to change depths. With that being said, "fish that stay close to the bottom don't get much of a chance to eat them." The reason being is this is "one bait" that can escape from out of the strike zone and fast. Most of the smaller fish down under with air bladders have to hide in the rocks, ledges, and holes to escape from being eaten. This means they either go deeper or side-to-side. They can't readjust up in the water column, because they would definitely fail trying to us this route to escape.
Cigar minnows and Spanish sardines are great baits to use on the bottom. The fact of the matter is if a large bottom fish is watching when you drop and instance hit will happen. I am always explaining to my customers on the "quickness" involved when using this bait. The is what normally happens, "they set the hook too fast pulling the bait right out of the fish's mouth!" I have seen this mistake made thousands of times! If only I could hold my hand on the rod just long enough for the fish to suck the bait in and swallow. I have to admit after a few misses the customers most always get it!
Here's what's best to do and what generally happens…..
I always only put "one live bait" on even though we are most always using a double hook bottom rig. The bait is placed on the upper hook and a plain piece of squid or cut fish in loaded on to bottom hook. "Catch Happens" if the fisherman allows the large fish to suck the live bait in before setting the hook. When the bait delivered hits the bottom with this bait set up you should get an immediate bite response. The reason being is that the way I fish is that I always to try to put my customer right over the fish. That way when the bait is delivered, "Quick Hit happens!"
Believe it or not, but the live bait is noticed by more than one large fish at a time. The fact of the matter is there is a rush for the gold. In this case the suspended live bait. If the fisherman holding the rod allows the fish to eat before setting the hook another fish will normally follow on the second hook. Once a fish such as a snapper or grouper sets it's sights on eating "it is what it is" especially in their feeding world! Fishermen that have fished and understand the rituals preformed when it comes to live bait can catch two fish at once almost every time.
When a customer gets a hit and they don't wait for the "second knock" before setting the hook "misses can happen!" When they reel their bait in I like to show them why they didn't hook up. I don't chastise them about it I explain what happened. The bait looks haggard meaning it has been in the mouth of a large fish and with just snatched out through partially open mouth. The fins of the bait fish will be partly missing, the skin will be marred with several possible K-9 type teeth holes, and the bait fish itself will look stunned at best. At this time I explain what happened and how to keep from doing it again. Most of the time once fishermen get to see first hand the way it works on their next try they get solidly hooked up!
There is more good news about this bait. You can reel them up and down in the water column without much affect. They work half dead as well as whole fresh completely expired. Once you get the bite going you can even cut the baits in half using each part of on a separate hook. When you go this route you will find out quick that head is the most desired part, because of the head juices. When using the tail section of the baitfish I suggest cutting the tail fin off leaving another way for juices to escape. These bait are the finest and are regarded as "Big Fish Candy!"