Miss Judy Charters Fishing Report, Savannah, GA, 9-19-10

[Saltwater Fishing]

Inshore catching!

Please meet “Ladyfish,” sometimes referred to as a miniature tarpon. The reason being is that this fish once hooked up acts just like one! And you have to admit they do look like first cousins to the tarpon!



The ladyfish dance!

I have to say, “For those that just want to go fishing, catch fish, and not go to technical now is the time!” I know once you read that sentence that I had you hooked up for sure! Well, it’s true, the inshore fish bite has picked up. Now before you go to thinking that I have lost my mind let me explain. It’s not the kind of bite where you are catching a legal red fish or spotted sea trout on every cast, but what you will catch is a fish. Now, in the “a fish category” there is some of the biggest ladyfish that I have seen in years. I know you can’t eat them, but you can certainly have a great time catching them. They not only look like a juvenile tarpon they jump like one too! You have two choices when it comes to the ladyfish…you can take a picture and release the fish alive so that they can make another fisherman happy. Or you can keep it alive or fresh dead will also work as bait for big shark and believe it or not tarpon! The bottom line to the ladyfish is this…please doesn’t kill unless you are planning on using it for bait for a bigger fish!

Photo by Captain Judy Helmey

This is a blue fish head! As you can see they have a determined look as well as lots of small sawing teeth!



Blue Fish fiasco!

Another fish that isn’t very popular with most fishermen, and I really don’t know why, is the blue fish. The blue fish according to most is too oily to eat. And some fishermen also say, “Their meat is too strong, because most of it is dark.” All this is true. However, if you gut the old blue fish right after you catch it the meat will be a whole different color. The means not dark, but a whole lot lighter. The blue fish is another bait that works like a charm when used rigged up live. They are a hardy fish and a larger fish might pass it once, but nine times out of ten it’s going make a turn back. The reason being is it’s going to take a stronger longer eating look.



Whiting Bite is good!

As reported in last week’s report “the whiting bite is still in the very active biting mode!” The best news is this fish’s early fall bite has started strong and it lasts all winter!

Captain Rick “fish finder” and Paul “fish catcher!”



Fishing with Captain Rick Reynolds

Tuesday September 14, 2010

According to Captain Rick the bite on this day wasn’t light everything put up quite a fight! The group caught a little of everything from spotted sea trout to ladyfish to rats red fish to barely legal to just a little to short red fish. The bottom line to this particular fishing trip was that they wanted to catch and release! As you can see it all worked out! This leads in to the fact that it’s a great time of the year to just go fish!

Photo by Captain Rick Reynolds

Captain Ray Crawley brings the customers as well as the fish back to the dock. Life if good on the water!



Finish the Game; Don’t Lose that Trout at the Boat!

By Capt. Rick Reynolds of Miss Judy Charters

One of the most frustrating situations is watching a friend, or a child or a charter customer lose that large trout at the boat. Besides having the correct tackle, including the right hook, it is still fairly easy to lose that 4lb trout at the boat.



I am not going to name brand names, but I will describe what I have found to be the most flexible setup for charter customers. This setup has come from over 20 years of fishing for speckled Sea trout.



My personal favorite tackle is a 7ft. or 7-½ ft. medium light-spinning rod, coupled with a good saltwater spinning reel loaded with either 20 lb or 30 lb braided line. I often opt to use the 30 lb braid as many time we will encounter huge redfish of over 31 inches in the same waters as we are fishing for Sea trout. Since most of the year we are fishing in less than 6 feet of water, I like using a 20 lb leader coupled with a 1/0 Kahale hook. I assure you this tackle is light, but strong enough to land any trout in these waters as well as the larger redfish and Bonnethead sharks. I have found that if I am fishing in 6 foot or less of water, a good popping cork works just as good, if not better than the traditional slip float.



I always use a uni-knot to snell my hooks onto the fluorocarbon leader. When snelling make sure to use at least 5 turns. If you tie this properly, you will never have that knot pull loose, but only tighten up on the hook. That is not to say you won’t be broken off, but at least the knot won’t slip.

Here is how I snell a hook:



* Thread six inches of line through the eye of the hook.

* Hold the line against the hook's shank, and form a Uni-Knot circle.



* Make five to seven turns through the loop and around the standing line and hook's shank.

* Tighten by pulling the standing line in one direction and the tag end in the other.

Below is a picture of a charter setup that I am currently using. If you look closely you can see the snelled hook tied to a 20 lb fluorocarbon leader. The mainline is 30 lb braided line, and the other end of the leader is tied to the bottom of a popping cork. I make my popping corks, and will demonstrate how to completely create this rig from scratch, including making the popping cork and how to rig it right at Miss Judy’s Inshore Classes.



2011 Schools dates are

INSHORE FISHING CLINIC

Two Inshore Schools

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

Captain Rick’s famous spotted sea trout, red fish, flounder, and shark rod/reel set up. The bottom line to this type of rig is the fact that you can land almost “any fish your wish!”



Now to get to the meat of this article



As an experienced fisherman and charter boat captain, I have seen it all when it comes to fighting and landing the fish. First and foremost if you are fishing with a partner, please get a long handled rubber net. This will save you the frustration of trying to get your hook untangled from a net made of traditional net material. If you are fishing alone, get a net with as long of a handle that you can manage by yourself. Trout have such tender mouths that you will often lose a trout by trying to heave him over the side of the boat.



Be aware when you are fighting your fish, if you feel a headshake then you know you have a trout on the line. He is making a hole by shaking his head. The good thing about a kahle hook is that it is a wide gap hook with an offset that will often hook the fish again on the outside of the mouth.



The medium light rod has enough give or flex in the tip to allow you to set the hook without snatching his lips off. After setting the hook make a decision on which side of the boat you are going to try to bring this fish to. If you are in the middle of the bow and try to bring him to the port side and have already turned your rod to that side, stick with it.


More trout are lost if you decide to change sides and flip your rod from the port side to starboard. Because this fish has been making a hole by shaking and when you give him that instant of slack line he is gone.



Finally when you have the fish on boat side, if the captain tells you to lift the rod, that means just that lift the rod up as this will bring the fish within range of the net. Often clients get so excited they reel the line up to the cork and the captain is unable to reach the fish, even with a long handled net. So use the length of the rod to pull the fish closer to the boat and the captain will have a shot at getting the net under him. 9 out of 10 trout losses are done by changing sides during the middle of the fight, or by stop reeling and giving the fish a moment of slack. Any time you give a trout slack line expect to lose him.



Even though your friends might be telling you what to do, please just listen to your captain. I had a client lose a monster of a redfish by not doing what I said, but by listening to his friend. I had the drag adjusted properly on the reel, but this once in a lifetime redfish was pulling a lot of drag and we could see just how large he was by the size of his tail. His friend thought that the he needed to put more pressure on the fish and when he did, the leader popped. Had he listened to me, he could have enjoyed the fight and had a picture of this fish, instead he lost it and was sad the rest of the trip.



Listen to your Captain. If you follow his coaching and you still lose the fish, then it was truly a trophy. All this huge trout and redfish didn’t get that way because they are stupid, but they are smarter than you think!



So for some one on one hands on lessons, book a charter or at least take a day off to go to one of Miss Judy’s Inshore classes. I promise you will learn something that you didn’t know.



As always, take the time to take a child fishing, I know it will change their life.

Thursday September 16, 2010

Captain Jack McGowan took Jeff Edge, long time charter customer and his group for an inshore fishing trip that they won’t soon forget. Captain Jack is holding up a nice tripletail, which gladly took him up on his live shrimp offering under a traditional float rig! I have to say, “The old triple tail can and does do a lot of jumping once hooked up!” You wouldn’t think that a fish shaped like this would get airborne. However, they do make the best use out of their so-called “three tails!”

Captain Jack McGowan Says…

Fishing was challenging last week due to high tides, muddy water and wind. Despite the conditions lot of small redfish were caught. Some of these fish measured fourteen inches, but most of the redfish are still undersized. The good news is that it looks like there is plenty legal size in a few weeks and there are lots of larger fish!

Fisherman targeting reds back in the grass have been able to find some dandy fish! This was a shallow fishing pitching soft plastics or a fly in one or two feet of water kind of a week. When tides are high fishermen can catch some nice reds in the grass. Last week was no exception!
There is a wide variety of fish in our coastal waters. One fisherman said he had five different fish. Actually this is common. Ladyfish are numerous and can make up lots of the bite this time of year. Sharks while still present don't seem to be as numerous. When the shark bite begins to taper, the whiting bite is heating up. While large catches of whiting have not been reported. Nonetheless, fishermen are able to catch a dozen in an outing with lots of throw back whiting. When fishing for stag bass, large red drum, a piece of cut whiting makes excellent bait!
Last week there reports of late season tarpon off the beach of Tybee. There was even one report of a fisherman hooking one off the pier at Tybee. As could be expected that fish got away. Some small sea trout action as well a few nicer sea trout caught last week.

Coming off spring tides last week, large tides over nine feet, fishing should be dramatically picking up. Persistent east, northeast winds have push water well into the river system and it will likely be several days until the tides look normal. Nonetheless, fishing should be picking up as tides are decreasing!

Shrimpers have made some excellent catches in recent days. This is another good sign that we'll likely have some good fishing in the coming days and weeks!

Keep what you intend to eat and release the rest! Support your local CCA Chapter!
Hope this of interest and help! Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan=

This is Bonnethead shark, which has teeth just like a regular shark. However, its head shape resembles a shovel. My father used to call them “shovel head sharks!” As a child I thought they were the strangest looking sharks ever!



Bonnethead Sharks

By Capt. Rick Reynolds of Miss Judy Charters

From mid spring up thru September, expect to catch a few of these fascinating sharks while inshore fishing.



The bonnethead shark or shovelhead is a member of the hammerhead genus sphyrna. The average size of a bonnethead is between 3 and ½ to 5 feet long. In the summer it is common to find these fish in the inshore waters of Georgia.



The bonnethead shark is an active Tropical shark that swims in small groups of 5 to 15 individuals. Bonnethead sharks move constantly following changes in water temperature and to maintain respiration.



The bonnethead shark will sink if it does not keep moving since hammerhead sharks are among the most negatively buoyant of marine vertebrates. The bonnethead shark uses a special body fluid, called cerebrospinal fluid" or "Cl-excess", to let others know it is nearby. It also utilizes an electric-field sensing system similar to radar. This system allows the bonnethead shark to position itself for biting prey within a few feet where its eyes are least able to assist.



Females produce eggs that are retained and nourished in the reproductive system until birth. The pups are born in late summer and early fall and measure about 12 inches. Most of the females birth about 10 sharks at a time.

This is the main topic of this report. Please Release all female Bonnethead sharks during this late summer and early fall. These sharks are harmless to humans and feed mainly on blue crab and shrimp. Below is a few pictures of some bonnetheads caught this year. The bottom 2 pictures were released bonnetheads.

Welcome to Bonnethead sharkville!

The two pictures above are a couple of charters this year of the many that we caught some Bonnethead sharks on. When you are fishing the areas near the sounds in the summertime expect to catch a few of these.



Children as well as most adults love hooking and landing these sharks. Almost everyone opts to releasing them. They are a lot of fun on light tackle. Normally we are after trout and redfish, so we are in about 3 ft. of water. Sometimes you can see these guys cruising the oyster rakes and you can pitch near them and you can watch them home in or your bait.



We have an almost 100% hookup rate when a Bonnethead hits your bait. For some reason the hook set is in the corner of the mouth. This allows for a easy release.



We have had many charters this year where the group caught a good many trout and redfish, but the highlight of the trip is the catching and releasing of a Bonnethead shark. Again, take a child fishing as it will certainly change their life!



Artificial Reefs

Bottom fishing and trolling is now available!

These are great fishing areas to get to know! Lots of structure equals lots of fish!

Mixed bag affair! We trolled a bit and caught Spanish mackerel. Then we bottom fished a bit and caught black sea bass. Although it’s not shown in this picture we also caught ocean perch, trigger fish, sand perch, rock bass, tomtates, and scup.



Short boat rides to the fish!

There is a lot to be said about these areas. There are three good things going in at this time…we have bottom fish, we have top water fish and we have live bait also holding in these areas. You could spend the day changing up rigs and just moving from one area to another right on the reef while getting the opportunity catching top water and bottom fish.

While plain old bottom fishing you just never know what might bite your hook!



Please meet the “Queen!”

Photo by Captain Judy Helmey

This is a Queen trigger fish, which before I get started, I always release. Over the years while bottom fishing at the gulf stream, Savannah Banks, and artificial reefs I have caught less and less of them. So therefore this fish is for looking not eating! Please release all “Queen Triggerfish,” but only after taking a picture! This fish is hopefully still swimming today!

Captain Kathy Brown is trying to smile while holding up this large gag grouper. The bottom line is this is a nice fish! It’s great when you catch a fish that is big, pulls hard, and is great to eat! I think grouper fingers; grouper on the grill, fried grouper throats and cheeks, and etc just might be in order!



Savannah Snapper Banks

Bottom fishing is great!



During this time 95 plus feet of water is where the big catching dealing is taking place. The reason being is all fish are just about to get in the “move about mode!” Some fishermen call it, “the migrating mode,” which is exactly what the fish are just about to do. I just thought I would mix it up a bit. When any fish from small to large gets in the “move on mode” it starts to bulk-ing up. To bulk up a fish has to eat a lot more than they do during the regular staying times. So I say, “Give them what they want, which is the biggest bang for their feeding efforts!’ And that would be live strong healthy baits! This is what they want and this is what you should use for bait, which is live bait! Whatever you do make sure you have plenty of gold hook Sabiki rig in your tackle box. The reason being is that the toothy monsters are still here and feeding on everything. So therefore when you hook up multiple baits on your Sabiki bait rig the toothy monsters normally come a calling!


Mid nineties blue water fishing on the Miss Judy Too



Captain Ali Young is trying to remove the hook from this large yellow fin tuna. This fish hit a medium ballyhoo that was rigged up with an old time 21/1-ounce chartreuses sea witch. I was pulling this lure 30 feet behind a #3 planer. I got to tell you, when we finally got the fish up the boat and started hand lining the leader in, it was touch and go for quite a few minutes. As memory serves me I think we had the fish about 15 feet from the boat about 10 times before we got it close enough to gaff. When we finally do land the yellow fin I was completely worn out just from thinking about it!



Gulf Stream

“It’s time to get ready to go!”

I don’t have anything to report this week. However, those fishermen that plan on fishing this area should be watching water temperature and getting everything ready! The reason being is the fall/winter run of blue water fish should be arriving any day now!



Freshies Suggestions

How to catch fish right now!



All I got to say “Go to the light!” This boils down fishing at night around any light that you can find!



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 Night fishing around dock lights is the ticket to this catching a fish ride! More next week!





Little Miss Judy Believe It or Not!



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