OFFSHORE JUNE 2005

“Kicking Fish Tail Since 1956”

POB 30771
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA 31410
912 897 4921

912 897 3460 FAX

www.missjudycharters.com

June 28, 2005

Freshies and Saltwater Report

Freshies

The Prefect Pond Blue Print!

I am always hearing about those that have land, dig it out, and make themselves their own personal pond or lake. In fact I wish I had enough land to do that myself. I truly believe that I could come up with a great lake or pond design. Some of the things that I suggest might not be possible, but what the heck? Here are some of things I would try to do. All of these suggestions are based on desires and needs of fish! Let’s just start with the digging of the hole or maybe you might call it the laying of the floor. I wouldn’t just scoop the dirt out giving me a deep hole in the middle. I would figure out how I could have some sort of ledges in my pond. Don’t laugh the biggest fish in your pond are going to search out these areas. On one end I would have a scattered anchored debris field, which would provide a prefect safe house for the smaller fish. You got to have small fish. In one section I would put an array of piled up debris, which would provide a larger area for the bigger fish to move about. Don’t worry I’m not suggesting that the large and small fish don’t commune together, because they do. However, all fish need a place to go in which they consider their safe haven. I figure since a fresh water fish can migrate to the other long distance areas like they do in salt water that you might need to give them a happier environment! In this case at your lake, you would know exactly where the fish are and why! That’s all I have to say about that!

Saltwater Inshore Fishing Report

“It’s Tarpon Time!”

For those of you that want to give tarpon fishing a try I suggest that you sharpen your hooks! This fishing season officially starts in our world around August and lasts until about the end of October. However, I have already started seeing them in the early morning as I have been heading out to the old Savannah Snapper Banks. As I have always said, “Tarpon are fish of habit!” Where you have seen them before you will see them again. They are known for running a path of sorts. It’s an invisible path, because water can’t hold any sort of print. However, if it could you would see what I call “donkey paths” all through the Warsaw Sound area. It’s my opinion that tarpon prefer the north side of this of this channel. I have seen more on the north side while heading offshore than I have on the south side. However most of my sightings have been in the morning time. So let’s just say, “tarpon prefer this area in the morning time.” It’s a good place to start. The secret to tarpon fishing is that you must use the prefect size bait. It has to be compact, but appealing to the fish. Tarpon don’t have a fine set of teeth so therefore the bait used has to fit when swallowed down their throat whole. In this area tarpon really do love the taste of menhaden. It doesn’t have to be alive to get their attention. Tarpon are basically bottom feeders. So therefore the easier the take the more they like it. I suggest getting the old cast net out, finding yourself a school of menhaden, and fill your cooler up. You are going to use some of these fish on your hook and some for chumming.

Tarpon Rigs

As far as your rig and terminal gear here are a few suggestions: I suggest using a rod that is a least 7 to 8 foot long. We are using TLD open face reels loaded with 20 to 30 pound test monofilament line. My favorite is a Shimano Speed master reel. It has a 6.0:1 gear ration, which means, “fast retrieve when needed!” This is important especially when targeting tarpon. They come from a group of great aerobatic performers! The secret to staying hooked up when it comes to a tarpon, is to keep the slack out of your line. This sounds easy, but as I said earlier, this is a fish that tail walks, jumps, and anything else you can imagine once hooked. This is probably one of those fish types that probably did fly before it lost it wings and started swimming. Your terminal gear should be as simple as you can make it. We use a 2 to 3 ounce slip sinker on our main line. I then add a small trout bead and tie the swivel (80 to 100 pound swivel). I am attaching H D Carbon 80 pound test fluorocarbon leader to the swivel. Tarpon don’t have any teeth, but they surely can gnarl up a leader. To the leader I am using a 9/0 Gamakatsu circle hook. I always sharpen my hook point. It doesn’t matter whether they are just out of the box or not. It makes me feel better in regards to a solid hookup. In the fishing/catching world you might only get one chance. So therefore I want my hooks sharp and ready! Fish this rig on the bottom. Your slip sinker allows your baitfish to drift back with the current giving you’re some needed bait freedom. For the upper column bite I suggest using a large 12-inch trout float. However, I don’t suggest using a trout style sinker stay with a slip style weight. You want the least amount of weight friction that you can get once you get your hook up. (Too many knots in your gear can cause weakness in your line.) When using a float style rig you are able to set you baits at different depths, which can be a definite advantage. Please remember that you don’t set your hook when using a circle hook. This is a style basically does the job for you in the setting of the hook department. The other good news is that you normally get a sold lip area hook up and not a ”in the gut placement.” (This makes for easy hook removal and it doesn’t kill our fish. Believe me I plan on catching my tarpon over and over again!) However, trying to release a live big fish can be dangerous. I suggest if you can’t safely remove the hook that you cut your leader as close to the hook’s eye as possible. Once the fish swims off it will be easy for the circle hook to just fall out. If you see that you are going to try to remove your hook, cut the leader, and reverse your hook out. It’s easier to do it backward. Trying to remove a circle hook as you do a regular style “J” is almost impossible in most instances.

The rule of thumb for you menhaden is a simple one. If they are small use them whole. If they are large cut them dialogically in half. When fishing for tarpon chumming is going to be in your future. So therefore get ready to get messy. You can grind up your menhaden or just cut it up as you chunk it over. No matter how you decide to do it is up to you. The bottom line is that you have to chum on most occasions to get results. Along with this craziness comes a great shark feeding frenzy. Sharks can come in all sizes from small to very large. Be prepared with lots of hooks, leaders, and bait. There’s one thing for sure when trying this type of fishing “you are going to get plenty of action! “

Here’s one more thing in regards to the tarpon. Best times to fish for two hours before high till two hours after it starts to fall.

Holes, ledges, rips, docks, rips, and etc

All of these areas listed in this heading are known for their potential for keeping a fish’s attention. They provide a place for fish to find protection and food. Among all of the areas that I have listed the easiest to find and locate is going to be docks. Our creeks and rivers are lined with them. I’m not going to propose that all docks have fish hanging around them, but all have fishy potential. Where you have underwater surfaces there is opportunity for marine life growth, which provides a great target rich environment for a fish! With that being said, “pull up a dock!” When you are fishing a dock you need to think outside side of the box. Or should I say, “outside of the dock!” The fish food chain in these areas works something like this. Small fish feed on the attached marine growth. Once they are full they go into the “hovering mode.” They might hover singularly or with an entire school of small types. Whatever the case may be the big ones will be watching and waiting for their chance to rush in a feed. A fish has it own built in radar system so maneuvering between pilings is easy for them. Now that you have the fish stage set it time to fish accordingly. Bottom or float style fishing will work around these areas. Let the tide be you moving vehicle. When you have a strong current let your cork float into as close as you can to the dock. Another good approach is to drop your cork as close as you can to the dock and let the current take your float away from it. Larger fish are known for holding face first in. This delivery of your bait might be just what they are looking for. When bottom fishing I suggest fishing the backside current of the dock. This way your bait isn’t as likely to get entangled around the pilings. If you decide to bottom fish up current of the dock make sure to watch the slack in you line. It can get tangled easily. You best strike zone in this area is going to be closest to the structure. Don’t forget to take along plenty of extra tackle!

Part Two

Old Time Bait

Last week I talked about mostly shrimp, because that’s all I remember us using as bait when I was a child. I never thought once about using any of those fish that daddy caught while casting or dragging his shrimp nets. As I printed earlier there was dead, live, peeled, and parts available from a single shrimp. The good news is that what you didn’t use as bait became supper. In fact as I can remember we had some pretty good leftover bait suppers!

We used shrimp inshore for the normal trout, redfish and flounder bite. I remember seeing mud minnows, but never actually using them when I was a small child. As far as shrimp offshore we used the larger shrimp for cobia and tripletail fishing. In this case both fish would take you up on your offering as long as it was fresh. According to daddy shrimp that had already turned “orange in color” wasn’t very good bait. Back in the old days at least as I see it fish knew exactly what they wanted and a fisherman’s selection was a simple one. With that being said, “shrimp was the deal for fish appeal.”

For bottom fishing offshore we used shrimp and local squid. According to my father no respectable inshore fish was interested in a squid; so therefore all local squid whether we caught them or we got them from the local shrimp boat docks were considered offshore baits. We also used some shrimp offshore for bottom fishing. However, it was a known fact that shrimp didn’t stay on the hook too well. After adding the ocean movement along massive amounts of hungry fish we quite often fished with naked hooks. After thinking about it I’m sure that the fish were just as interested in the smell of the bait as they were the shinny hooks. For those of you that are wondering I still do occasionally use shrimp while bottom fishing offshore. A fish can’t turn down a fresh piece of shrimp on the old hook! However, you have to be quick, because fish are “professional bait stealers.” When it comes to bottom fishing its my opinion that if you are getting bite attention you must be doing something right!

Local squid as you probably figure is caught locally, which it was. We caught it as well as the commercial shrimp boats. The one thing that I do remember about shrimping was that there was an enormous by-catch. We caught lots of small already dead fish that were dumped on the deck every time we pulled in our nets. All small fish, which would have been prefect for bottom fishing, were tossed over the side for the seagulls. We kept shrimp, squid, flounder, crabs, and whiting fish. I did always notice these specific things about the fish and crabs. Most all fish were pre-scaled. My father said, “It was due to the fact that the mesh design of the shrimp nets rubbed all of the scales off the fish. As a child I pictured fish tumbling and scales flying. Not only were the fish scale-less, but also their meat tasted different than it did when we caught them with the old hook and line. One more thing, the crabs that were caught in the net once cooked had girt in their meat! I guess that’s why they called it “shrimping not fishing and crabbing!”

Local squid was of course squid as I wrote earlier was caught locally. That’s a no brainier! It was my job to collect all of the squid and put them into a bucket. You haven’t lived until you have had a squid grab a hold of your finger. Under those tentacles hides a strong beak that resembles that of a bird. In fact it looks like a bird’s beak and it also can bite you. The rule of thumb at least from a child’s point of view was the bigger the squid, the bigger the beak, which meant the stronger the bite. The small squid were used whole on our hooks. The larger ones were cut into small pieces. It was great bait, because it was tough. This all boiled down to more chances at getting a hook up. Next week I plan on writing about how live bait came into the picture back in the old days. Believe me it was all the fish’s idea!

Artificial Reefs, Savannah Snapper Banks

The artificial reefs areas have been “Hot and Cold!” I have been getting reports of a solid surface bait action and then the next day absolutely not a thing in this department. So therefore here are a few things that I suggest doing before you head out to fish. Always take along some frozen bait. It doesn’t matter whether you plan on bottom fishing or trolling unless you are going to use “artificial only” you will need some sort of bait. I have found that when the bait is the least the bite can sometimes be a lot easier. This all boils down to supply and demand in regards to the food chain. In the frozen bait department I suggest picking up when available some squid, shrimp, cigar minnows, and ballyhoo. All of these baits will work, but especially when the on-sight bait availability is low. You must understand if it’s hard for you to find, then it’s also hard for the fish to find. This past week we had some days where we loaded up with cigar minnows and Spanish sardines. Our gold hooks rigs have worked wonders in this catching department. When we couldn’t see schooling baits on the surface we dropped our gold hook rigs down to the bottom. At this point we caught a few, but the baits were always very small.

If you have an opportunity to do a little cast netting before heading offshore I highly suggest it. We have been catching a few menhaden (pogies) in the sounds this past week. This is bait that works great as bait while fishing near and offshore. It’s good for top fishing as well as bottom fishing. The menhaden that we have been catching in the creeks and rivers have been on the small size. However, they makes great bottom baits when put on the hook whole. We have been catching the large menhaden about 3 miles off the beach in the Warsaw sea buoy area. Most of our baits are caught between 6:30 and 7:30 AM from these areas. During the middle of the day I have seen nice size schooling menhaden more toward the sound areas. (Inshore) One good way to locate a school of surface menhaden is to keep an eye to the sky. When you see hovering and diving pelicans is where your baits is going to be holding. When it comes to these birds this is “pelican candy.” Once these fish start surface schooling there is no denying that it’s them. They don’t really jump they flop on the surface making a distinct noise. I always point this out to my customers. At first the look on their face is questionable, but after showing them they are all in agreement. We take the larger menhaden and use them for live lining for king mackerel. When bottom fishing we cut up the dead ones and use them for bait. This bait has been working great while bottom fishing and live lining for king mackerel. In fact this past week at least until the northeast blow occurred was a great fishing/catching week.

Spanish Mackerel

There are here and can be readily found holding in 30 to 45 feet of water. My best catching days have been ½ miles 90 degrees east of the Warsaw Sea Buoy. I haven’t seen them jumping on the surface, but rather holding at about 20 feet. So therefore if you don’t see them it doesn’t mean that they aren’t there. I have been catching them using my traditional #3 Davis planer. To the planer I have added a snap swivel then tied on 20 feet of 20-pound test monofilament line. The lure, which is tied directly on to the leader, is either a small or medium Clark Spoon. Both sizes have been working. Another great spot to target this fish is where trolling the Tybee Shipping Channel also known as “Tybee Roads.”

King Mackerel

The artificial reefs and the offshore live bottom areas from 75 to 200 feet have been holding the attention of these fish. We have caught them on little of every type of bait. This passed week on my boat we used ballyhoo, menhaden, cigar minnows, Spanish sardines, vermilion snapper, ruby red lips, reef runners, and sand perch. Not all the baits listed such as the reef runners and sand perch are what is called “normally used king mackerel baits.” However, I consider any bait used that scored me one of these fish to be added to the list of potential king fish favorites!

Gulf Stream

White Marlin with a Blue Fever!

Captain Ken Kennickell, “Obsession” and first mate Pete Person along with their fishing crew had a great day of fishing at the stream this past week. They caught the normal of dolphin and Wahoo especially for this time of the year. However, I could on all day about that catch, but lets talk about their released billfish. While trolling their normal spread a marlin like this one bird, which had a small Ilander in tow. The color for this day was blue in the lure department and white marlin in the catching/releasing department. After several minutes of running the 70-pound plus marlin was brought to the boat, landed, and released unharmed back to the wild. Congratulations to all on board! Pictures will be on the website soon!

Warm Water Temperatures

As the water temperature continues to heat up in this area it will be time to switch back to trolling the live bottom and ledge areas. The cool waters of the western side of the stream are going to peak soon making all water temperatures about the same. This isn’t unusual; it’s normal for this time. Our ability to change up our trolling areas is going to be the key in whether or not we get our chare of blue water action. The rips that are holding bait in these areas will also be good spots to fish. The east side of Naval Tower R-6 and the western sides of Naval towers R-3 and R-8 are going to be places to look for Wahoo, dolphin, and large king mackerel. Over the years some of our largest fish caught have come from these areas especially after the warming up has taken place. Don’t pass up closer areas to fish especially at this time of the year! You don’t have to find the blue water to catch a blue water fish!

“Little Miss Judy’s Believe it or Not!”

Kids and their tricks!

I took out the Durham Fishing Party this past week. On board there was Dr. Brad’s Son Blake, his father Travis and his brother Keith. They have been fishing with Captain Ali and me for many years. It’s certainly is always a pleasure to see them. I must say, that when they started fishing with me Dr. Brad’s son Blake was a mere child. He is going to be 16 in July 2005. My how time just flies by! At any rate as we make our way to the fishing grounds a memorable conversation always comes up. On this particular trip we talked about things that Dr. Brad did as a child. We all listened as Dr. Brad told his childhood story. According to the story as a child he loved as well as his friends to feed the wildlife that was found in the local ponds of Hilton Head, South Carolina. By wildlife he meant the alligators. When Brad and friends visited the pond they always took along a large bag of marshmallows. As I listened it became clear that they weren’t eating them, but rather feeding them to the alligators. The story gets better. The alligators apparently liked the taste of the marshmallows. They would grab them; but when they tried to swallow them this is where the alligator’s problems began. The large white fluffy marsh mellows would get stuck in the alligator’s teeth. This caused much dismay for the wide mouth pond monsters. It’s caused them to go into a “mouth chomping fit!” I have to admit as Dr Brad explained I was having my own vision of what this must have looked like. I have to admit what Dr. Brad was saying and the vision that I was having sure was entertaining! I have to wonder whether these childhood adventures had anything to do with Dr. Brad becoming a dentist? After while crocodile!

Here’s My Line Now Bite My Hook!

Captain Judy

“Fish Physic”

Thank You,
Captain Judy
Miss Judy Charters
912-897-4921
Miss Judy's Charter Information