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Live
Fishing Reports by Captain Judy
WBMQ Radio 7:00 to 7:05 AM daily
Savannah, Georgia
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Savannah, Georgia
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Winning Coastal Fishing with Captain Judy
TV Comcast Channel 7
3rd
Annual Tybee Island Fishing Tournament
www.tybeeislandbaitandtackle.com 912 786 7472
Saturday May 10th is the
3rd Annual Tybee Island Fishing Tournament. This is our 3rd year
holding this tournament and there is no entry fee. Trophies
and gift certificates will be awarded for best team, which can be
made up of 4 fishermen. Any type of species if fish caught receives
various points. The harder a fish is to catch the more points it's
worth! For example, each whiting brought in receives 1 point each,
whereas redfish receive 12 points each. I have a listing of all fish
that count and how many points each are worth, plus the biggest fish
of each species caught receives an additional 10 points. Most points
at the end of the day are the winner. Fishermen can fish from the
pier, surf, boats, or anywhere that you wish. Last year, the team
that won had two people on kayaks and one person fishing from the
shore. They had several redfish, trout, flounder, and two whiting.
Because they had the biggest flounder of the day, they received an
additional 10 points. The second place team didn't have as many
fish, but they had the biggest trout and the biggest redfish,
allowing them 20 additional points, and they still lost by 1 point!
Which means, the winners won by bringing in those two whiting!!
Anyway, it is a lot of fun, and since there is no entry fee, we have
a huge turn out. Last year we had over 200 people enter. This year,
with two weeks to go, we already have 200 people signed up! Any team
that enters is also able to win the best individual category. Rules
and information is posted on my website
www.tybeeislandbaitandtackle.com, then click on "08
Tournament" It's time to sign up!
Saltwater
inshore, offshore, blue water fishing report, Freshies Suggestions,
and "Little Miss Judy's story! Thanks for reading! Captain Judy
Send your
fishing questions directly to Captain Judy fishjudy2@aol.com
DON'T
CLOSE THE COAST!!!
KEEP
RED SNAPPER!
Captain
Judy's Fishing Report
May 5,
2008
INSHORE
Captain Rick's Early
Tarpon Experience!
Although it's a bit early tarpon are being seen jumping in the
Warsaw Sound areas. For those that think that these sightings are
might be something else it certainly is not! Fishermen while float
fishing for trout and bottom fishing for whiting have had some
interesting run ins with the "not supposed to be here yet
tarpon!" One fisherman reported that while fishing for trout
was a traditional float rig it basically took flight without much of
notice. As they watched their cork for any movement from those down
under a tarpon soared with the hook in its mouth. Everyone was so
amazed that all watched as the fish never stopped ripping line off
their reel!
Captain Rick Reynolds
of Miss Judy Charters while helping his customers do a little trout
fishing also had a serious fly by. He had just baited up his
customer's hook, cast set it, and handed it over when it happened.
What looked to be a 60-pound tarpon took the bait, which was a mud
minnow on jig head, for a fast screaming ride. The first thing the
tarpon did was to go ballistic ripping off about 150 yards of
30-pound test Power Pro braided line. As soon as the fish had pulled
the braided line to the backing point the knot attaching it became
logged, but for a tenth of a second, in the last guide on the rod.
When this happened, the leader at the jig head broke. At this time
all on board had seen what would be talked about for the rest of the
day! Captain Rick reeled the 150 yards of line back on his reel, he
rigged, and handed it back to the customer. While this was going on
the other customers in Captain Rick's boat was catching trout after
trout after trout!
The moral of this story
at least from a tarpon's stand point is a simple one and it goes
like this: "When a tarpon can't find what it usually eats out
in the open waters of the sound it just moves into your fishing
grounds!" The bottom line to this report is "if you want
to see or maybe catch a tarpon, even thought it's early, now might
just be the time! Thanks Captain Rick for this fine fishing report!
Captain Jack McGowan
Inshore Fishing Report Shorts!
The reason this report isn't long is he that Captain Jack has
been fishing not writing. However, even thought it's short, it
certainly is to the point. Most of his fishing or should I say
"catching" took place inside and way up the river. While
using live shrimp and plastic bait he caught some nice spotted sea
trout and red fish. Some of the trout landed weighted in at around 4
pounds and the red fish were over 31 inches long. The bottom line to
this short report is "it's time to go, but be prepared with
different kinds of baits!"
Captain Ray
Crawley's Favorite Trout Bait!
That headline needs a little more explaining. Captain Ray is
sharing with us some unbelievable fish catching suggestions. He as
well as the fish has proved them! According to Captain Ray and many
other inshore fishermen including myself agree that live shrimp is
the best live bait to use to get a trout's attention. However, when
you go with this suggested artificial bait I think as I did that a
mind-changing thing just might take place.
Tackle recipe
Purchase some 5-inch Zulu Strike King flukes called "baby
bass!" They are dark green and white in color. These soft style
plastics are made with a new style of rubber, which is almost
"blue fish bite resistance!" These bait are so elastic
that you can pull them just like you do a rubber band. This helps
keep the blue fish damage down in regards to these artificial baits.
The next thing on your
tackle list should be 1/8 ounce red Cotee jig head. This brand of
jig head really does make a statement, because it's made with two
bait-holding barbs. The reason this is a plus is because when you
slide your artificial bait up on the jig it hold you bait better. It
better for casting and once you get that hard hit the bait still
stay in place. Captain Ray is happy with this jig, but he still does
a signature job on them before rigging them up. He scrapes the paint
off the barbs. The reason being is that the bait really does stay no
matter what…no bait super sliding here!
At the time you should
have your intended bait and you red jig head in had. Now lets talk
about how to thread your jig head on to your fluke. (Baby bass
flukes) First take a good look at your artificial bait; it has a
cavity on one side and it smooth on the other. The theory behind the
cavity is that this is where you can hook up weed less. However,
this is not what you are going to do, which would be the considered
right way. Captain Ray does this particular rig backward. The jig's
hook protrudes out the top, which now is considered the bottom. In
other words the hook's isn't hidden in the cavity section. This is
could be called "Captain Ray's backwards or up side down rigged
bait!"
Captain Ray uses reel
loaded with "fire line." It's considered his signature
line. It's thin as thread, but it very strong. All of his rod/reel
set have a small snap swivel attached so that he can quickly change
up baits. In this case, he always used 20 inches of 25-pound test
fluorocarbon leader, which he pre attached to his lure. This makes
for quick bait change ups!
The White Background
Zone!
Now that we are rigged, lets go fishing! Captain Ray Crawley
continues to surprise me with his fish catching suggestions. Just
when I think I have heard them all in comes yet another one that you
aren't going to believe, but it definitely works! During this time
spotted sea trout are moving, feeding, holding, and migrating. The
boils down, especially when we are talking about the larger fish,
that they fed on their way while making way. Here's Captain Ray
Crawley's suggestion that going to make lots of sense. Not only
that, but you are going to wish you had figured with one out. I know
I do!
As you are riding
around in the creek, rivers, and sounds I suggest that you start
making any notes of where you see "white shell banks."
Captain Ray fishes these areas with great success. I know this
suggestion "flies all over what we normally suggest of fishing
live oyster beds." Now those areas are still definitely good
spots to fish for spotted sea trout. However, this suggestion can be
an extra bonus plan. Not all banks that have white shell on them are
holding fish. So therefore, there could be some experimenting taking
place. However, once your figure this one out you are going to want
to go with it!
White shell banks that
get the same water coverage with the falling a rising tide offer
trout especially the largest ones an opportunity to get some extra
feeding in. As you know you need good water movement and of course
it needs to be good and clear. After all trout are mostly sight
feeders. In this case, they are really are. White shells offer
protection for several small fish, but the main one is the "mud
minnow." As you know, especially during this time most
fishermen change from the easy to get mud minnows and start using
live shrimp. Believe me this is the right bait to use especially
when fishing over live oyster beds.
When a large trout is
scouting to feed it basically looks hard in these areas, because it
offer a wealth of feeding opportunities. Larger trout can spook even
the most confident hidden mud minnow. Once the minnows is spooked,
it moves, and then it eaten! I think that you get this picture that
I am trying to send!
As far as how to work
you new found bait suggestion of "baby bass color" it all
so very simple: cast to subject area and make a slow retrieve, with
every turn of the reel handle "twitch once!"
OFFSHORE
The artificial reefs
are holding Spanish mackerel and blue fish. There are two different
catching methods, which offer us fishermen options. Trolling 2 to 2
½ inch Clark spoons deep with planers is always a solid way to get
hooked up. Another suggestion is stop and vertical drop small shinny
jigs with light tackle. This is a lot of fun and the hook up ratio
is also good. The best spots to troll or jig over are areas with
structure such as wrecks or concrete. Most of the Spanish mackerel
that we caught this past weekend was over 12 to 18 inches.
Red Snapper
Before a red snapper can be kept it has to be 20 inches plus in
length. You are allowed to keep two fish. They are fun to catch and
very good to eat. During this time of the year the Savannah Snapper
banks is probably the best natural live bottom area to target this
fish. The best baits to use can be anything from live bait such as
cigar minnows to plain old cut squid! They school in same sizes
meaning if you start catching fish that are too small to legally
keep it's time to try another spot. Larger red snapper are called
"Sows," and to be honest "some times school
alone." The larger fish prefer live bait such as sand perch,
vermilion snapper, and rock bass. When targeting the bigger fish,
give them time to eat before setting that hook!
Jackson Walker
Fishing Team
Jackson Walker offered up a great fishing report this past week.
While fishing the live bottom areas at the artificial reef "J
Buoy" he had some interesting visitors. The first thing that he
reported was that he along with his fishing crew caught some nice
keeper red snapper. While drifting the live bottom area, Jackson
marked what looked like red snapper on his bottom machine. All on
board loaded their hooks with bait and dropped their hooks to the
bottom. As soon as the bait hit the bottom and bounced one time they
were all hooked up with red snapper. The good news is that all
snapper were over 22 inches, which in the fish catching world is a
good thing.
Now lets talk about the
bait Jackson used for a minute. As you know, live baits such as
cigar minnows and Spanish sardines haven't been making much of a
showing lately. Live baits such as these will get a red snapper
bottom bite "a-going!" In Jackson's case there weren't any
live bait to catch or any frozen cigar minnow to purchase so
therefore he improvised. He decided to use the most stinky bait
known, which is "refrozen several times over large
menhaden." Believe me if a fish is around with a nose for
stink, it's going to arrive as soon as this hits the water.
Jackson cut the old
menhaden up into small pieces and put it on his hook. It was mushy
to the point that it would hardly stay put once threaded onto the
hook. So it was decided early in the fish day to keep it frozen as
long as possible, cut it in small pieces, and try not to get it all
over you. As soon as these small chunks made it to the bottom red
snapper came-a-running with mouths open!
Here's the conclusion
to what we know about fish. Firstly, when there isn't any live bait
such as cigar minnows or Spanish sardines, baits that are less
likely to work will. In this case, probably year old menhaden
"crab bait quality" worked with every drop. It's a known
fact that those down under like to get a smell of what they are
eating. When the bait is alive, the fish are triggered to eat quick,
but when the offering made is dead it's best for it to be sporting
some sort of smell
GULF STREAM
Red Hot, Red Hot Red
Hot!
Our blue water fish catching season just gets better…dolphin
also known as Mahi Mahi are being caught in unbelievable numbers. I
had interesting call from Chris Newton of which fish with Jeff
Stafford and crew on Jeff's boat "Reel Busy 2." While
fishing north of the South Ledge in a broken weed line fish were
hauled over the gunnels in great numbers. The catching line up went
like this…12, 25, 30, 40, and 50 pounders were slung in and gaffed
with some fish requiring more efforts than others. Pulled daisy
chains with naked rigged ballyhoo in tow was the ticket to this
ride! All this leads into the fact that now we know that "not
only is it time, but also a must to go!"
As with all reports it
time to go a little technical trolling. When you are trolling it's a
known fact that colors do matter. It been proven by many and I even
know for this to be true my own self. On this particular blue water
day of fishing Chris with every hit he made a mental note of what
was working and what wasn't. Serious fishermen do this all of the
time with some doing it without even being aware of hit. Most
fishermen always use the lure that works over and over again. It's
not superstitious, but rather "bite realistic!"
Chris noticed that out
of all the rigged baits there was a definite bite pattern. Lures
that were blue were the top attention getters with pink coming in at
second with the most hits had. Lures with "yellow took no fella!"
Naked rigged ballyhoo pulled behind blue daisy chains worked like a
charm.
When I used to do a lot
of blue water fishing trolling patterns were discussed heading out,
in, and even onshore. The thing about trolling patterns is that sea
conditions, water clarity as well as color, temperature, sunny or
cloudy conditions prevailing, wind direction, and etc can dictate
how a spread is designed. We use to make notes of what we used under
which conditions handed. You would be surprised what we found out.
This is one suggestion that should be practiced a lot!
My favorite pulled lure
was a plastic bird with a blue/white squid feather in tow. The new
name for this lure is Dolphin Delight. It's a rubber skirt type with
feathers. We always rigged with 3/8 to ½ ounce egg weight inside
the head section. It comes in blue with white feathers, pink with
white feathers, and green with yellow feathers. It didn't matter
what color the bird was. I attach a 4-foot of 150-pound test
monofilament line, and added a blue and white squid feather. The
hook used was a single 8/0 "J" hook. We sharpen this hook
as much as possible, because when we did get a hit we wanted it to
stick!
FRESHIES
REPORT
My dear old friend Bill
Vanderford has offered us yet another great Lake Lanier fishing
report.
For those of you that want to read some interesting proven by
"Bill Vanderford" fresh water tips…. as well as take a
closer look at the artificial lure that "fish can't pass
up" …..now is your chance. Bill's lure is called "Swirleybirds!"
Here's Bill's contact information: email: jfish51@aol.com phone:
770-289-1543 Web : http://www.fishinglanier.com/
Log on and received his personal fishing reports as well as offered
fishing opportunities. Bill has written several books, which are
currently for sale on his web site. Believe me I have read them all,
they are very good, and make great additions to a fisherman library!
Buy now and read them as soon as possible!
Fishing Lanier with
Bill Vanderford Newsletter
Surface temperatures at Lake Lanier are creeping above 60
degrees, and the lake level is about 15 feet below normal pool and
rising. Spring has finally arrived and Lake Lanier's fish are
feeding heavily, especially bass, stripers, and crappies.
Stripers are being
caught in 5 to 20 feet of water on live herring and 1/4-ounce "Swirleybird
spinners" near the backs of major creek channels. Crappies have
moved into "the brush" all over the lake, and are
beginning to spawn. The big spotted bass are going nuts chasing
3/16th and 1/8th ounce "Swirleybirds" in less than 10 feet
of water, and "Swirleybird Season" has begun and will get
better as the water warms! Order some of these bait now!
Bill is actively
booking jet boat trips for walleyes, stripers, and shoal bass on the
upper Chattahoochee River. We're also beginning to book father/son
or mother/daughter trips to see the wildlife and seasonal changes
with the jet boat.
Trout fishing in the Chattahoochee River below the dam for both
rainbow and browns has been fantastic! Most trout are being caught
during lower water levels on "Swirleybird spinners," small
spoons, and smaller crank baits. "Jet boat trips are great for
this type of fishing," just call 770-289-1543.
"Little
Miss Judy Believe It or Not!"
Old Time Out
Riggers!
While picking up some extra rod holders at River Services I ran
into Dan Spencer. He was purchasing some outriggers parts, which
turned into a conversation. The conversation quickly changed to
"in the old days, Daddy used too….
Back in the old days
before I even knew what a real set of outriggers looked like we had
what was called "Sherman Style!" I guess for those that
don't know about out riggers in the first place I should maybe
explain a bit about their function. The best way to describe
outriggers for those that have never seen them is too think about a
boat with thin out right wings. On these wings is a clothesline or
flag pole design with a pin/clip that holds your line and allows you
to pull it to the end the rigger. These riggers extend out and away
from the boat allowing us fishermen to pull more lines or I should
say, "baits!" The good news is that once you have dropped
back your bait to the desire distance from your boat, your can clip
it, and clothes line it to the top of the riggers. Not only does the
rigger allow you to pull more baits, it also keeps them out of the
prop wash and outside of the boat's noise.
Dragging lots of bait
send a schooling type signal gets a fish's attention, which most of
the time triggers some sort of bite. When the fish hits the baits,
which is being trolled behind the outrigger the clip holding the
line releases. The extra slack, which happens immediately, allows
the fish to run, but for "seconds only" with it newly
found kill. With outriggers installed on your boat you can pull two
to three extra baits. If you add baits being pulled from the cockpit
and outriggers possibilities you really could have your own personal
moving school of baitfish, which you are in full control of.
Outrigger costs can vary from $500.00 to $5,000.00 plus dollars….
However, "Sherman Style Outriggers" did the same thing,
but certainly didn't cost as much.
My father knew about
outriggers and their concept. However, he wasn't about to pay for
those that were already made. He was a man of many means; after all
he had built cars so that they didn't look loaded down, even when
they were. So therefore outriggers were a "basic walk in the
park!" Daddy visited our local hardware store, which was "Woo's"
at the time, and purchased needed parts. He asked for the longest ½
thin walled aluminum pipe that they had. Length was important,
because if they didn't have what he wanted, daddy would just piece
it together with inserts. I will finish the outrigger story next
week and you aren't going to believe this one!
Thanks for reading!
Captain Judy
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