Captain Judy fishing report ,Savannah, 11-28

[Fishing Report]

CAPTAIN JUDY HELMEY

“Kicking Fish Tail Since 1956”

POB 30771

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA 31410

912 897 4921 912 897 3460 FAX

www.missjudycharters.com

Captain Judy’s email fishjudy2@aol.com

November 29, 2010



Saltwater Inshore, Offshore, Blue Water fishing reports, Freshies Suggestions, and “Little Miss Judy’s Believe It or Not story! Thanks for Reading!



2011 Schools dates are


INSHORE FISHING CLINIC

Two Inshore School

Saturday February 19, 2011
Saturday March 12, 2011



One Offshore School

Saturday March 5, 2011



Time: 8:00AM – 2:00 PM

Place: Tubby’s Tank House 2909 River Drive, Thunderbolt, Georgia 31404

Cost: $100.00 (included one day class, breakfast, and lunch)

Please call 912 897 4921 now for reservations

Please sign up as soon as possible! There is limited entry!

Capt Judy’s email fishjudy2@aol.com

Capt Judy’s Cell 912 429 7671

For more details on the school please go to…

http://missjudycharters.com/fishingclinic.shtml



Table of contents

Please report all right whales sightings!

Inshore fishing report from Captain Jack McGowan Red Fish Mania, trout, Sheepshead

It’s time to fish for spotted sea trout

As the Water Temperatures cools the old red fish changes feeding gears!

Offshore report Black sea bass and their fetish friends! Artificial reefs

Artificial Reefs are holding trophy red fish!

Savannah Snapper Banks Meet the Goodman’s “The fish catching brothers!”

Gag Grouper are still being caught!

Gulf Stream Blue water catching report! Please meet the “Slimy Limey” blue water fishing team!

Freshies Suggestion 1953 Squirrel Tale

Little Miss Judy’s Believe It or Not! My friend Jackie Sommers 1935-2010





Please report all right whales sightings!



Wednesday November 24, 2010

At about 12:00 noon on Wednesday I reported a right whale sighting at the W2 Wassaw sea buoy. The whale had stopped at the buoy and stuck its head out of the water. I have seen whales do this many times over the past years. This is a photo, which I took in the winter of 2009. The whale stuck it head out of the water, I guess, just to take a look-see around!



To report I haled on VHF marine Radio channel 16 for “USCG Station Tybee” Or you can call 912 786 5440



Please report all sightings..so that this information can be broadcasted to other boaters to prevent collisions at sea with the whales!



Inshore Fishing Report from Captain Jack McGowan



Captain Jack McGowan holding a nice doormat founder!



Fishing report from Captain Jack McGowan



Red Fish Mania

Fishing has been good! The fall is a great time of the year to go fishing! Red drum better known as redfish or simply reds are still taking center stage. There are lots of slot fish in the creeks and rivers. Bigger reds are around but when you're around a school of 16-inch fish there's lots competition for bait. The smaller fish are greedily packing on calories for the winter. If you are not catching fish just keep looking. Redfish are schooling. When you find a school it’s a little like winning the lottery. You are in fish. No more searching and casting. It’s all about just fishing. The bite can last for a few fish or it can go on and on. If you are on a large school the trick is not to spook the fish, try to give plenty of room between you and fish. You want to keep the fish active by keeping a bait out there. Noise is a factor, too much of the wrong noise and your bite will be short lived. Redfish can be fat, dumb, and happy when they are in a feeding mode. It up to the fisherman to locate fish and to get them stirred up. When releasing your fish its always nice to be as gentle as possible. The bigger the fish the care you need to give in releasing your fish. There is a big difference in a thrashing fighting fish and a fleeing frightened. If you have plenty of water under your boat, then dropping a small redfish into the water should not be problem. When you are on a school of fish it can look simple but nature is always changing. Enjoy the bite while its lasts. Take only what you plan on eating and release the rest.


It’s practice time for the spotted sea trout!


The sea trout bite has been more up and down. This week most fishermen are catching lots of small sea trout. This is a great sign for some good sea trout fishing next year! Last week there were lots of 16 inch and larger sea trout landed. This week lots of small fish everywhere. The question is where did the bigger go? This is question I would not attempt to answer. I will stay we will probably see some good trout fishing in the coming days and weeks. Last week there were lots of larger sea trout caught around Tybee. Sea trout are sight feeders. They love current. If want to catch sea trout get in areas with good drifts and clean water. As shrimp move into the creeks sea trout will be following the bait. Good bites can be found in the sounds and in the backwaters. When fishermen fish the conditions rather than known drops the results can be outstanding! Plenty of small boats can be seen trolling soft plastics and screw tails for sea trout. While the action might not be fast and furious, fishermen are still catching good fish.



Sheepshead-ville is just about open!
Good action on inshore and offshore sheepshead! Tybee Island Bait and Tackle has a complete assortment of baits: shrimp, mud minnows and fiddler crabs!
http://www.tybeeislandbaitandtackle.com/

912 786 7472

Flounders are down there, but it’s a scattered bite
A few flounders are being caught. Typically this of the year if you catch a couple you have been pretty lucky. That said it is possible to catch several but in general summer is the time of the year for inshore flounder fishing. We had two yesterday (Nov. 18th). One of the flounder was in the five-pound range.



Stripers are plentiful and it looks like a good start off-season
There are some good reports of stripers. The best chances for hooking up one of these fish is usually on the higher tide stage and either early morning or late afternoon on a modest tide. Indications are there are interesting numbers in our waters. Most of the fish caught so far are less than 27 inches but there has been some nice action!

Hope this report is of interest and help! Thanks Captain Jack McGowan Miss Judy Charters



It’s time to fish for spotted sea trout





Inshore Fishing is still the deal!



Welcome to 30% Dink-ville!

There have been a lot spotted sea trout being caught. The good news is that they are plentiful! However, some of the trout have not made the legal keeping limit of 13 inches tail length, but they are getting close. We in the charter fishing business called undersized spotted sea trout “dinks.” It’s my opinion that we need rain badly. It seems that when we get a little rain “growth spurts happen!” So therefore I call this 70/30 situation. You get to keep 70% of the trout that you catch giving you opportunity to practice catching the other 30% of dinks. I always suggest moving to another spot if the trout caught are more throw backs than keepers. It seems that trout is another fish that school is “same sizes.” The bottom line to this report is that there is a whole lot of catching going on! Sounds like the title for a great song!

As the Water Temperatures cools the old red fish changes feeding gears!



Here’s this week’s bait of choice. I guess you want to know who picked this bait. Well. it was the old trophy red fish!



Inshore fishermen are catching lots of red fish from small to medium to large and have a great time doing it. As you know shrimp is probably the most delicate high maintenance bait that us inshore fishermen use. The bottom line when it comes to a shrimp is the fact that a fish “dead or alive” wants it. So therefore you have options even after your bait dies especially when targeting red fish. The best news is the fact that red fish, when hungry will eat just about anything!



Captain Kathy Brown is holding up a nice male black sea bass, which was caught while bottom fishing at the artificial reefs.



Offshore report

Black sea bass and their fetish friends!



Artificial reefs

Just so that you will know the near and offshore artificial reefs have been maintaining complete changes over the past few weeks. About two weeks ago, when the weather turned a little cooler normal fish activity happened on the reefs. This means schools of isolated black fish started showing up and holding on the outskirts of the reef. Small baitfish such as pinfish, pigfish, and ocean perch also called “ring tail perch” were still around, but had moved off most of the wrecks. When this happens the sheepshead, at least the ones that have migrated offshore get more opportunity to feed on a fisherman’s bait. This is actually what happened. We went sheepshead fishing and caught quite a few 14 to 20 inch fish. The fishermen weren’t to bothered by the smaller fish that normally feed around the wrecks. So therefore it was my thought that the winter set up on the reefs had happened.



I was wrong in thinking that way…. Because



The next week the weather turned to “summer like conditions,” which means back in shorts once again. The sheepshead bite could not be had, because of the smaller fetish fish. My meaning of “fetish fish” is a small fish that couldn’t possibly eat all of your bait at one time. So therefore they do it so in parts and pieces, which means when using fiddlers “legs first.” Small fish also “double and triple team” bait means they school to fool you while feeding haphazardly taking one small bite at the time. The down side is your bait is destroyed. The up side is if you are using small hooks and light tackle it’s still could be called catching.



Lots of black sea bass

So therefore I stopped anchoring on the wrecks and started drifting.



We caught so many so many black sea bass that I couldn’t believe it. On one fish day we limited out catching almost 90 nice size large black sea bass. As the week went we caught black sea bass almost everyday as fast as we could. I remember this sort of thing happening about 10 years ago when we had about the same weather conditions. The only difference was we caught gag grouper just like we are catching black sea bass now. The bottom line to this report is I can’t say how long all this concentrated catching will last, but we are certainly having fun doing it. Now is the time to go!



Artificial Reefs are holding some nice trophy red fish!



Captain Jeremy Reynolds of Miss Judy Charters is holding Joesph DuFour tagged and released 36-inch trophy red fish. (Tag number 42201 November 20, 2010)









Captain Jeremy Reynolds of Miss Judy Charters is holding James Anderson’s tagged and released 41-inch trophy red fish. (Tag number 42202 November 20, 2010)



Savannah Snapper Banks



Amberjack attack… Meet the Goodman’s “The fish catching brothers!”



Jeff Goodman and his brother Tom are holding up a nice pair of amberjack, which were caught at the Savannah Snapper banks





Jeff Goodman holding up a mega amberjack, which was caught, fought, and released!

.

Gag Grouper are still being caught!



Nice gag grouper! I am not going to say, “The 2010 gag grouper catching has been great, because it hasn’t!” However, this just means more fish in 2011. And the best news is that you still have until the end of December to give this type of fishing a try! Come on down and join the fun!

The weather during Thanksgiving Holiday week was beautiful.



I have been wearing shorts and the fish bite has been incredible. So therefore without going too crazy on all the fish that we caught during this week. I will say to all fishermen, “All you have to do is to drop your baited hook on the bottom, wait for a hit, set the hook, and reel your fish in!” Now if the fish caught isn’t something you want to keep, put it back on the hook, and send it back to the bottom. I can almost guarantee that there is something “down under that is big enough to eat it!” It’s just a great time to fish…and it doesn’t matter whether you want top water or bottom fish!



Gulf Stream

Blue water catching report!



Please meet the “Slimy Limey” blue water fishing team!



From left to right: Mason Hiedt, Tim Hale, Mike Semenach, and Bill Scott

Arran Bibby is taking photo from tower!



Saturday November 20, 2010

This fishing crew along with Arran Bibby “went a blue water fishing!” So now that you have seen the picture you already know that they caught quite a few fish. They caught 13 black fin tuna, 1 Mahi Mahi (dolphin), 1 king fish, bonito, and Bill Scott caught, fought, and released his first sailfish.



Now that you know what they caught, lets talk about how the team did it!



Once arriving at the South Ledge (3106.416 7955.300) they immediately started marking fish. It was decided by the team to do what is called “Old School Fishing.” For those that are scratching their heads with that one I guess I had better explain. Back in the old days all fishing was pretty much the same. Colors weren’t such an issue, because there wasn’t any. The old cedar plug is a great example of old school fishing. The reason being is that is was made out of cedar, it looked like cedar, it smelled like cedar, and it pulled like cedar. Even though this lure was made out of material that lined closet walls it certainly did attract and catch fish.



Cedar Plug

Just having an old time cedar plug is always a good option! This one has been “used and abused!” Cedar plugs now come in all kinds of colors from solid to two tones. I really never met a cedar plug that didn’t work at one time or the other. I always suggest if you are pulling this plug deep (behind a planer or downrigger) that you go with a dark color. If you are pulling it standard, which is close or way back I suggest going with the lighter colors.



Another popular lure was the Drone Spoon, which at the time came in one basic color, which was stainless steel. It was 31/2 inch long and occasionally you could find smaller or larger ones. However, believe me when I say, “31/2 inch stainless Drone spoons worked then and still does now!” The best news is that these spoons work in all depths and in green to blue water conditions. The Slimy Limey Crew pulled their spoons 30 feet behind #3 and #4 planers. As you can see this also worked!



Back in the old days, I pulled Drone spoons ***** and with strips of bonito belly. Once catching Bonita, I would cut the entire belly wall from the fish, and cut it into a 4 to 6 inch tapered shape strips. I then put on the Drone spoon hook. Believe it or but back in the old days when we caught our first Wahoo our eyes were “wide open!” After all at this point we had only caught what daddy called “silver kings.” However, one day this blue striped, strong pulling, and crazy aerobatic fish was hooked up. We fought this fish for two hours trying to get it close enough to gaff it. And by the way this was during the “wooden gaffs only era!” We got our fish and it weighted in at a little over 90 pounds and it broke the current mid seventies Georgia State Men’s Wahoo Record. Now here’s something funny that I need to tell you about this fish. I hesitated getting it weighted in, because I didn’t think it was big enough nor did I want to get embarrassed. I thought I had a picture of this Wahoo on my computer but I don’t. So therefore I will get a copy soon and share it with you. The girth on this Wahoo was over 28 inches. Back in the old day most all fish that we caught while trolling were on the large side. On some occasions we just watched as these big fish such as Mako Sharks, Wahoo, tuna, and marlin took all of our line off our reels while burning the gears so hot that they became glued together. My father called them “Welders!” It was soon figured out that our tackle wasn’t strong enough for battling the larger blue water fish! Boy, I got to tell you I certainly do miss those days where the fisherman in most cases was the same size as the fish!



New and very used 31/2 Drone Spoons

Top spoon is brand new, but only has one ring. You will need to add an extra split ring. The middle spoon has been pounded “over and over” by fish making it a prefect-learning tool. This definitely is not a lure to fish with! The last spoon is also a basic leftover, which has received many fish hits, misses, and hook ups! Please notice that the leader line was tied directly to the spoon.



All lures, at least in most cases need some “setting up” before using them. The 31/2 Drone spoon is no different in the set up department. The hook always needs to be sharp. There should be two split rings not one. If there is only one ring, add one. All tackle boxes should be equipped with extra split rings. Don’t add any sort of leader wire to this spoon. The addition of the wire doesn’t allow this lure to work properly. It has to be pulled 5 knots and it works a lot better at 6 to 9 knots!



I pull all of my Drone spoons 20 to 30 feet behind my planner. If you want to use a downrigger just make sure you let your lure out far enough before setting it up. I have never met a Drone spoon that the fish didn’t like. This means all colors will work for sure. However, you can’t beat the old stainless steel color, because it worked then and it’s still working now.



Back to the “Slimy Limey Blue Water Fishing Team!”



According to Arran, they rigged their Bonita strips on to single hooks. This rig worked so well that they got multiple tuna hook ups! I hope to meet up with Arran soon and get a picture of this rig along with his planer used set up. While all this was going on Bill Scott caught, fought, and released his first Atlantic sailfish! Congratulations to Bill! And a big thanks goes out to the Slimy Limey Blue Water Fishing Team for sending such a fine report.





The end!







Freshies Suggestion













Mepps Aglia Dressed Spinner

Best colors are silver/gray, hot firetiger/brown, and browntourt/brown

http://www.mepps.com/information/agl...23#description

Also Bass Pro Shops carry this lure in 20 different colors and styles



A Squirrel’s Tale



By Captain Judy Helmey of Miss Judy Charters



It was during this past Thanksgiving Day that Captain Ray Crawley related to me a story about hunting squirrels in his younger years and I thought I would like to share that story with you today. As Captain Ray picked up his BBQ turkey drumstick to take a bite I (Judy) was holding court in the kitchen and talking about my father’s yesteryears hunting expeditions. The bottom line was when it came to my father’s hunting was if we shot it we cooked and we ate it. As soon as Captain Ray put down his drumstick he started talking about some of his own hunting expeditions.



Ray told me back in 1953 Mepps Lures would pay you five cents for every dried squirrel tail you sent them. He added that Mepps used the tails to “dress” many of their lures. Since Ray was a hunter at heart, and his grandfather loved to eat squirrels, this opportunity turned into a two-fold sealed deal. So little soon-to-be Captain Ray started hunting squirrels, taking the carcasses to his grandfather, but keeping the tails to dry them. Once he got about 20 dried tails he would ship them off to Mepps Lures and anxiously await his paycheck to come in the mail. According to Captain Ray, during this time this was big business in the making.



The squirrel story was most interesting to me and I had to ask, “How did you find out about this?” Captain Ray said, “When I opened one Mepps Lures’ packages I found printed offer inside.” According to Ray he used this lure on a small spinning rod outfit that was loaded with 4 to 6 pound test line. He caught red breast, blue gill even a few large mouth bass. As we talked I could tell that Captain Ray was thinking about something and then he said, “I bet these lures would also work on spotted sea trout!” And with that I can only assume, or should I say, “I am certain that I will get to report that the Mepps Aglia Dressed Spinners work just as well in saltwater too.”



Captain Ray Crawley of Miss Judy Charters has fished and hunted all of his life. He is an accomplished charter boat captain who definitely knows the ways of fish. Captain Ray is currently the trophy red fish-catching king over here at Miss Judy Charters.



For those fishermen that want to “GO FISH LAKE LANIER”

Bill Vanderford is “Lake Lanier’s Legend!”

For more about my long time friend Bill Vanderford as well as his accomplishments, his freshwater charter trips or wildlife tours, books written and his special line up of tackle offered, please visit his site http://www.fishinglanier.com/contact.html for all the details! For more details go http://stores.ebay.com/Fishy-Racer http://www.youtube.com/fishyracer www.cafepress.com/grapefruitshop







Little Miss Judy’s Believe It or Not!



My friend Jackie Sommers 1935-2010

By Captain Judy Helmey





Photo by Captain Ali Young

Jackie Sommers “has another big fish on!”

1935-2010



Many years ago I met Jackie Sommers. He loved fishing and as you all know I am in the charter fishing business. And this is how this story started….



Jackie was most unusual, entertaining, and you never knew exactly what he was going to say “kind of guy!” There was one thing for sure that you could count on and that’s “When he had a fish on he was one happy fisherman!” As we got to know each other better he told me a story that as time went on was shared many times. When Jackie was a child he was from a very poor family. According to the story, they always had everything needed, but they didn’t have any extra monies for fishing. So with that being said, “Jackie started saving his money!” After getting his funds together he brought a fine rod and reel combo! It was one of his proudest accomplishments as a child. Once he had the tackle needed, Jackie then proceeded to save enough money to rent a rowboat so as to fulfill his goal of really going fishing.



Well, Jackie’s fish day finally arrived so he loaded his rented rowboat with his new rod/reel combo, bait, and headed out on what would soon be a fishing adventure that he would not soon forget. Jackie rowed the boat to an area that looked fishy to him. Once making the decision the block that was tied to the end of the so-called anchor rope was dropped. As he told me this story I could see in his eyes that at the moment he was re-living sitting in the boat with his fishing rod in his hand. After about an hour of not catching fish, but losing a lot of bait the frustrations built. As soon as that entered his mind, as if those down under were in physic mode, a very large fish grabbed his hook.



As Jackie was telling this story his eyes actually bulged a bit as he re-visited this very memorable fishing day. Jackie said, “Judy, the fish started running and my line peeled off the reel as if it was hooked up to something mechanical!” All he could say then was thank goodness he had thought about setting his drag a little loose or he would have never gotten a chance to feel this fish. As the story went, the big fish pulled all of the line off the reel and Jackie watched as the spool got smaller and smaller.



Then Jackie would say, “You know if I had rented a rowboat with a motor I could have chased this fish just like we do a billfish when hooked up!” However, as you know, Jackie hadn’t saved enough for a motor for the rental rowboat. Heck, according to his story, if the boat hadn’t come with a pair of oars his plan was to drift out and back in with the tide.



So here Jackie was with his new rod and reel, which was loaded with his just purchased special line watching it as it was being emptied right before his eyes. And even if this only took a mere few seconds to take place it seemed like hours. And if you are a fishermen you know that there are only two things that could happen when the line reached the end. The line would break or “the knot either tied or not wouldn’t do its job.” To this day I really never knew exactly what happened when the line reached the bottom of spool. However, what I do know and what’s most important is this. When that big fish took all of Jackie’s line and never turned back the fish was not the only thing that was hooked on this day!



You will be missed by many, but mostly by me! Your true fishing friend, Judy



Thanks for reading! Captain Judy









Thank You,
Captain Judy
"Kicking Fish Tail Since 1956!"
1 912 897 4921 office
1 877 500 3363 toll free
Miss Judy Charters