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
March 26, 2007
Captain Judy's Saltwater Fishing Report
Inshore Fishing
This fishery especially in the last week has seen "slow to no catches" and then there have "real been good catches." The reason being is that water temperatures are up one day and down the next! I must add after that last statement that this is pretty normal for March. All you can hope for is that on your day off or on your inshore charter trip it's during the warming time.
Charter captains as well as "seasoned inshore fishermen" have had to come up with a catching plan for this "craziness with the weather." Here are a few options that will get you on your catching way that have been proven by those fishermen that fish all of the time:
Before the water gets to a solid 65 degrees our fish bite can be sluggish at best. This is due to the fact that the cooler the water is the slower the fish move, eat, and migrate! Kind of like us! With that being said, "moving about" is going to be one thing that will get you closer to a hookup. There is no doubt that we have lots of fish. It's just that we have to find them, present what will can get them to eat, and then hook them up. This is where those that have trolling motors need to put them to good use. I love fishing with someone that has a trolling motor. Firstly there is not anchoring and you can cover a lot of shallow water. I especially like being able to troll around in the same area while working it at the same time. I suggest using less than 10-pound test main line loaded on to a small spinning outfit. For bait ¼ ounce jig head laced with your favorite color screw or paddle tail is a good suggestion. Another great bait, also my favorite is going to be ¼ ounce DOA shrimp pattern lure. For those that want a little extra adventure here's a suggestion: While you are motoring around with you trolling motor and pitching your heart out there's another fish catching thing that you can do. I always like to troll a line behind the boat. With that being said, "how can you lose?"
Porpoise Drama
Inshore fishermen have yet another thing to deal with other than the ever rising and falling of the water temperatures. Porpoises and "all that it implies!" This is one mammal that takes a lot of food per day to keep them a going! With that being said, your fish is their fish, because there isn't much baitfish at this time of the year. Normally bait fish such as mullet or menhaden are heavily prey upon by the porpoises. However, the bait populations are down due to the water temperatures. In the case of inshore fishing, when the porpoises arrive to the same spot as you I suggest making a move.
"Troller and Pitcher"
Let assume you are not a "troller or a pitcher!" There are still some very good options for you fishermen. For those that want to anchor down and use traditional float rigs and popping corks here's few suggestions for you:
After seeking out the fishiest spot that you can find I suggest quietly anchoring up. This is important, because unnatural noises with drive any holding fish near your area hurriedly away. If you plan on using traditional style float rig your fish catching zone just increased by two. The reason being is that this type of float rig allows you to adjust your bait to as deep or to as little as two feet of water with little ease. That scenario right there puts you effectively fishing all around your boat. The secret is "to know to fish all around the boat!" You need to get your bait into the strike zone, which is located normally between the bottom and 4 feet up into the water column. Thus while fishing a depth of 15 feet it makes good sense to present your bait at about 11 feet down putting you into that prefect "prefect eating zone!"
There are those fishermen that only use "Popping Corks." I have to admit there certainly isn't anything wrong with this choice. These corks are not only floaters of your bait, but also work as "trollers." In other words while retrieving your bait there is also a very good chance for a good solid hit. The popping corks "when popped" make a sound of a fleeing shrimp. However, especially at this time there isn't much shrimp to be found. Thus possibility making a normal natural noises an unnatural one! The rule of thumb is more for spotted sea trout than it is for red fish. Trout are sight feeders and have that that killing instinct. Red fish feed on just about everything that the water or the bottom has to offer. They fall into the "rooters and crushers fish club!"
Small Everything!
No matter what float system that you choose you had best go with lighter leaders such as less than 15 pounds or less and the smallest hooks ever. Fish feed as well as attack in a very light fashion during these cool water times. Here's another suggestion when it come to hooks. Normally, I always suggest using some sort of small kale style hook. However, when dealing with "lean bite times" I suggest using the smallest treble hook that you can. Captain Matt Williams of Miss Judy Charters hooked and successfully landed a 15-pound plus striped bass this past week with this design. He methods were most simple. He was using a popping cork; four-foot long 15 pounds test fluorocarbon YO-ZURI HD carbon leader and a small freshwater like treble hook. For bait he was using the smallest mud minnow that he picked from the school. According to Captain Matt procedures in the hooking up department need a little "tweaking" when going with "smaller everything!"
It's hard to believe in the first place that a large fish such as this would even be interested in such a small mouth full. However, over my many years of fishing I have to report that some of the largest fish that I have ever hooked and landed were done so on usually "small everything." I am talking about fish in the 100-pound plus range. At any rate, when a large fish decides to take an "eating look" at this sort of bait your best bet is to lighten up on your drag so as to let them make way. There are plenty of weak links with this hook up scenario.
Firstly, when using small everything the hook and leader aren't normally as strong as the main line that's holding them. This situation quite often offers the hookup fisherman a real problem. This is due to the fact "too much drag and the leader will pop or the hook will bend!" When hooked up it's important to get control of the fish, but if you aren't fishing any sort of structure then you can lighten up a bit, let the fish run while getting use to it's current situation. Now if you are hookup with small everything and you are fishing structure "disorienting your fish" comes to mind fish. It's best to place little pressure on the fish's first initial run. As the fish's first run come to an end apply a little pressure so as to turn the fish's head. All you have to do is to turn it ever so little and the fish will become confused on exactly where that structure is that it's seeking! (Kind of like one degree doesn't sound like much but when you are talking about distances it can be a lot.)
There is one thing that I need to add about using "small everything." I have noticed over the year "the light the leader the bigger the fish." This boil down to fish eat what looks like it's easy to swallow, doesn't have to chase, and basically what I call "floaters." This is the term I use for bait that so small that it seemly floats with the movement of the current. Large fish are small and look for this sort of thing. The bait doesn't look artificial, because it isn't. It's not trying to escape, because it can't.
Artificial Reefs
It going to be a mixed bag catching affair for a while, because fish are moving in search of bait that haven't arrived. I fished the CCA Reef last week and had a good catch day. We caught a nice mess of black sea bass, which were on the large side. However, these fish weren't spread out they were holding is isolated patches. I had to pull up to the fish spot, have my customer to quickly drop, hit the bottom, and then waiting for the bite. The good news was when the bait hit the spot the fish jump right on it. The bad news was the spots were far and few. We did manage to catch a nice 26-inch genuine red snapper.
Miss Nell Too
Jackie Sommers and Francis Pawloski fished the J-Buoy this past week. They had one heck of a fish-catching day. When they loaded the boat "Miss Nell Too" up the normal stuff was taken. There was tackle, bait, ice, drinks, and a few sandwiches. As they made their way offshore the conversation was normal with the fishermen "having catching on their mind!"
The artificial reef "J-Buoy" is one of those areas that can offer the fisherman a lot of catching opportunity. It has lots of different size wrecks and army tanks. When taking a look at the whole set-up it was carefully and properly spaced out. Not only does it have the make-up for being the "right artificial," but also it had quite a bit of live bottom. Most artificial reefs don't offer much in the way of natural live bottom. Don't get me wrong the dropped wrecks make excellent places for marine growth. Believe me most all and any surfaces are covers. However, the real stuff has been around for a while and it has had many years of fish staging activity-taking place. Kind of like a bottle of wine, "live bottom gets better with time!"
Jackie and Francis moved about the reef checking out bottom areas. What they found is truly worth reporting. As a matter of fact it seems that all the normal bottom fish found offshore were represented in the fine fashion. They caught genuine red snapper, gag & scamp grouper, black sea bass, chopper blue fish, and many other species of bottom fish.
Savannah Snapper Banks
The bottom bite in this area has taken a "new route!" Patterns have been "more predictable" with better value with fish bites. Black sea bass, scattered schools of vermilion, red snapper and a few grouper are being caught in 95 to 120 feet of water. The bottom line to this fishery is that we are on the "up hill fish catching climb!" More in next week's report!
Freshies Report!
Anthony shared yet another great idea in regards to getting your best shot at targeting "fish that suspend to feed!" It's a known fact that when fish are doing the "art of staging" they are either stalking something to eat or resting until their next feeding frenzy is staged. Whatever the case my be when this takes place most fish are only looking around to feed on what might come directly into the "sight zone." The best way to accomplish this goal of presenting bait is to put it where the fish are and keep it there. I'm not talking about dropping below them, but whether right to them. Anthony shared this suggestion with me and I think it worth trying, because it definitely works for him. On the line market there are what is called "multiple color." This main line comes in different colors with each measuring a foot. So therefore once ascertaining the depth of the fish you can easily count your measurements by the line color arrangement. Another way to keep your depth measurement is to simply mark your line with a "water proof magic marker." Whatever you decide to do will insure you complete control of your bait giving you the up most opportunity to stay in the strike zone! Fishing by measuring could turn out to be one of you best methods of catching! Just think about it!
Blue Water Report
The "Cracker" has cracked the bite pattern! More to come in next week's report! (black fin tuna, sailfish, and Wahoo!)
"Little Miss Judy's Believe It or Not!"
Re-conditioned Tires!
I have known Wil Denmark for many years. The fact of the matter is that I consider him part of my family. As we talked just the other night I found out yet another almost lost chapter in my father's already interesting life. According to Wil, his Uncle Roscoe and my father were somewhat friends as well as business associates. Wil's uncle got things done for certain people and my father during this time was involved with the selling of so-called "fine used cars."
Wil's Uncle Roscoe was a master of many trades, which we can talk about now without fear of being summons to the courthouse as a possible witnesses to so called "city crimes." His uncle pretty much would have fallen into the same possible line up as my father did. This boils down to the fact that we can't say for sure, because they didn't get caught much less charged for any so-called illegal activities that they "were or were not" involved in. Boy, now that was a mouth full, but I think you get the point.
As a child it was Wil's job to run errands for his uncle, which made him some extra spending money. He never questioned what he was told to do. His Uncle told him that my father was in bad need of some tires. Wil's first thought right off was his uncle wasn't in the tire business. As I said earlier he never questioned he just listened. So here's how it played out. Wil collected tires from anywhere, delivered them to daddy's car lot, and received a sum of $.50 cents for each one.
I don't know about you, but when I need tires, I just purchase them at the store. However the tires that Wil picked up weren't new tires, but rather real used ones. Back in the old days there was a shortage of everything so therefore "old stuff was used to it's up most!" Wil would look for tires that were just plain discarded, even if they had holes and badly worn tread. He would even remove tires off abandon cars. He also told me that the cars that remained in one spot too long might also become shoeless. Most all tires were re-conditioned and re used. I guess I had best explain re-conditioned from this standpoint. They weren't re-capped meaning adding more rubber they were just re-conditioned!
According to Wil all tires were given new tubes, mounted on rims, filled with air and attached to daddy's machine, which turn them slowly. While they were turning a laved/blade of sorts would cut the worn tire groves deeper making the tires look newer as well as thicker. Thus you now have my father's meaning of "tire re-conditioning!" After the groves were set they was painted tire black!
I learned a few more things, which wouldn't have been funny then, but surely are now. According to Wil, all used cars that had any sort of "link slippage" had some unusual additions. Instructions were gave and followed out. Wil's job was to stuff banana peels into the gearbox. This made the gearbox seemly tight sending the message of an "automobile that doesn't have that many miles!" When Wil got to the part about the weight of the oil that was put in the old transmission I though I had better stop here! I will save this interesting part for the next "re-conditioned Tires Part Two!"
Here's My Line Now Bite My Hook!
Captain Judy
"Fishing Physic!"