SALTWATER SEPT 2006

CAPTAIN JUDY HELMEY
“Kicking Fish Tail Since 1956”
POB 30771
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA 31410
912 897 4921
912 897 3460 FAX
www.missjudycharters.com

September 25, 2006
Saltwater Fishing Report
Freshies Report

I can’t say that I have tried this bait. However, my source was a good one. Here goes! Bull head catfish catching tips! This fish is active from May to October with the peak months being July through September. The best bite, but not the only one, takes place during the evening hours. I think that they should be called “night cats!” They prefer sluggish waters with weedy bottoms. In other words, they are like most fish “prefer some sort of cover better known as “structure!” They like to eat insects, night crawlers, small minnows, and hotdogs. This food delivers the needed protein for their diets. Their favorite veggie is “canned lima beans!” In some cases, “it’s their favorite meal!” I forgot to ask whether they were using green or tan colored limas. I suggest giving both colors a try. After all what you don’t use for bait really is good poured over rice!

Inshore Fishing Tips

Here are a few inshore tips that should get you on your way to what is commonly called “a catching day!”

Once you have decided the area that you are going to fish, whether it’s a dock, oyster rake, or any type of structure, please approach quietly. Fish are great listeners especially at this time of the year. With the drop in water temperature, fish are on the move. When they are on the move, they have a better need to “fish for themselves!’ With that being said, “the fish are listening for good noises and basically are running from the bad ones!” Their so-called ears are homing in on “popping shrimp and schools of bait doing that scattering thing.” Here’s a list a few bad noises: Blasting music, loud talking, and dropping your anchor wildly into the water or on the deck of your boat.

During this time any type of bait that offers up a natural smell as well as one that produces a desired noise will bring on the fish bite. Popping corks and traditional floats rigs work well especially at this time. However, just letting your cork float isn’t enough. Corks are designed to deliver bait to the strike zone. Your job is to come up with a preferred “calling sequence.” Some fishermen pop in sequence while other have what I call a “jingle pop!” For years I have watched as fishermen come up with their own method for “pulling the cork!” I have a theory, which I would like to share with you, which might help you to get your “popping grove on!”

When a shrimp flees an area, they flap their tail, which causes the popping sound. This sound is what all fishermen are always trying to “artificially produce.” After all it’s the sound that gets the most fish’s attention. This noise basically turns their heads and puts them in a certain feeding direction. (Hopefully your hook!) When a shrimp moves from one spot to another they have options. The first is to just drift with the current, which is the easiest for the old shrimp. This takes less energy, but it’s risky. When a shrimp is scare or fleeing they pop their tail produce the noise that fish are drawn too. So therefore when your cork is just floating and you are not popping it you are basically only attracting a fish that is cruising. If you are “popping your cork” you are not only going to get the fish’s attention that just happens to be cruising by, but also the fish that is attracted to the noise. Could be the same fish are not! Too many pops isn’t natural, but a few with a pause is just about right!

Spotted Sea Trout and Red fish

The good news is it’s time to target these inshore fish. The better news is that your most requested bait especially at this time of the year is live shrimp. Even better news is that you can catch them yourself, because the creeks are full of some really fine shrimp at this time. So therefore before purchasing your bait I suggest giving the old cast net a “sling or two!” Live shrimp can be delivered to the fish in many ways. Here are a just a few of the fish’s favorites: Just plain old tie your hook directly onto your main line, hook your shrimp up by it’s horn, and basically let it free swim. This is one of most natural ways that live bait can be delivered. The second is “float delivery!” It’s simple. All you have to do is to go with the traditional float rig or with the popping corks. Either one will work just fine! Bottom fishing with live bait also will work. It’s up to you as a fisherman to as whether you want the bait above or below you sinker. Whatever the case may be the bottom line to this delivery is a simple one. You will be able to secure any fish hugging the bottom or hovering right above it!

Triple Tail Report

Captain Frank Cullum sent me a fine report along with some great suggestions for getting your best chance at hooking up one of these magnificent fish! The fishing duo of Captain Frank and Wayne Beasley decided to take a few hours out to do a little tripletail fishing. They rigged up and made their way to the channel buoys that lined the Ossabaw sound. For bait they had caught themselves a fine selections of nice size cocktail shrimp. This is the size and type of bait that all fishermen love. The first reason is that triple tails love large shrimp and secondly what they don’t eat you can. All you need is a little chilled cocktail sauce.

The so-called tripletail rig is basically a traditional beefed up trout rig. The main goal is to use a little heavier weight tackle due to the fact that the tripletail hangs closely to the chain under the buoy. This means that as soon as you are hooked up you are going to need to re-direct the thinking of this fish, which is going to be to head for the structure. (Been there, done that!) While putting your tackle together you also need to keep in mind that you don’t want to use such heavy rig that it takes always from the natural movement of your shrimp. The more natural acting shrimp that you have the better chances that you will get.

Captain Frank shared with me his personal tripletail rig along with some suggestions on how to get a solid hook up. As I said earlier, traditional trout rig is going to be what you need to start with. When fishing for trout we always use about 12 to 15 pound YO-ZURI pink or clear fluorocarbon leader. When rigging up for tripletail Captain Frank suggests changing up and going with about 25 pound test leader. Instead of using the standard “Kale hook” he suggest going with a #2 Owner circle hook. Please remember when using this hook you don’t have to set the hook, because it’s “self setting!” You also need to remember that you don’t want to sharpen a circle hook. This is due to the fact that if it’s too sharp it doesn’t allow the circle hook to do it job. When this hook it “too sharp” it has a tendency to stick where it lands whether then wrapping around the strong lip of the triple tail. This is a fish that is tough, fights hard, real strong, and determined to get back to the structure. Hooks that only make it to the face area will pull free especially when you put too much pressure on them.

Tripletails are known for, as most fish, to have aggressive and non-aggressive feeding habits. So therefore with all fishing attempts you, as the fisherman must decide how long you let the cork stay under before starting to “put the reels on this fish!” As I said earlier, you don’t have to set the hook when using a circle hook. However, for those that must use a “J” style I suggest letting this fish eat a bit before reeling or setting the hook. The way I look at it is if the shrimp are big then you should give the fish time to eat it. If they are smaller you might want to consider reeling or setting a little quicker. As will always with any fish to get a Hook-up” there is a catch!

The best time to fish for the old tripletail is during the months of August and September. The best depth is going to be about 8 to 10 feet below the cork. When fishing a channel buoy you will need to get your bait below the buoy itself so that you can present your bait at the depth of the chain. It has been my opinion along with my father’s that this is a fish that is kind of stubborn. Once it finds a spot on the buoy’s chain it develops a strong memory. This just means when hooked up this is a fish that has the power along with the memory to get back to the “safe zone,” better known as the structure!

Triple Tales

As you already know I’m not going to let you get away without hearing something about the old tripletail from the man. My father loved cobia fishing and his other passion was searching for “triples!” According to my father this was a smart fish. After hearing his reasoning on this one I had to admit he was definitely right for feeling this way. According to my father, the tripletail looks lazy and acts stupid, but with most things this basically is this fish’s way. I have seen this fish near the shore as well as way offshore in the blue waters of the Gulf Stream. Here’s a fish that seemly floating around on the surface looking like some sort of dark plastic bag. Not only that, but when it floating with the current it basically lets it entire body get in step with the ocean. It doesn’t float like a sturdy board, but rather “limply.” I looked up this word, but as you know it wasn’t to be found in the dictionary. So therefore I will give you the Captain Judy meaning. When this fish is floating on the surface it’s doing so as limp as possible, which allows the water move it around as if it were a piece of thin plastic. This motion attracts other fish, which is where I am going with this description. Tripletail float like “limp objects” on the surface to attract other small fish and crabs. These small creatures come to this attraction for food and shelter, but find out too late that it’s “triple tail feeding paradise.” Thus my father was right “it’s a smart fish, because it doesn’t hunt its food!” It basically provides a prefect environment to the bait to come to it!

When trolling offshore on weed lines I have seen this fish trying to blend in with the Sargasso grass that lines the rip. I even witnessed as one of these tried to get up on a piece of floating Styrofoam. I even made a few passes just so that the customers could watch in amazement as this 10 pound fish tried to mount a cooler top. Even time it did the top flipped and the fish was deposited back into the water. None of use could figure that one out, but after thinking about it I might have come up with a reason. It was because the cooler lid seemed to be the safest place for the moment. Every time I made a pass and as soon as the fish heard the engine nose it tried the make the same moves to the cooler. I’m telling you they must have a serious memory bank. Heck, I even scope a few of these fish up while fishing the Gulf Stream. I must admit I felt bad about the whole thing and released the fish back to the water. As soon as I did it swam directly over and situated itself back in the Sargasso weed.

As a child my father and I would fish for tripletail. Back in the old days most fish were over 30 to 40 pounds. Don’t scratch your head or say “another fish tail,” because I have pictures to proof it. At any rate, my father always fished the jetties at the Savannah River, range points off the Savannah beach/Hilton Head, and buoys that lined the channel. According to my father, the great Captain Sherman Helmey, this fish stayed and fed near the shore where the sounds met the ocean. Then they would show up in the stream. Not must sightings in between. I guess when they are traveling in between they aren’t feeding, which means “not doing much floating about!”

I remember this one spot, which was located off of the beach at Daufuskie Island. There were these broke off pilings to the southwest and southeast of what was called “Bloody Point.” I would love to tell you why he called it that. However, that’s another other story, which needs to be told, but not now. For those that want to hear that one drop me a note. At any rate, the broke off pilings, once located, held the interest of some of the biggest tripletails that I have ever seen. We would anchor, adjust our traditional float rigs to about an 8 to 10 foot depth and let the tide deliver the bait to the strike zone. It truly was an unbelievable sight watching as these large fish were brought to the boat. Another great spot was the range makers that were just located right off the beaches at Savannah and Hilton Head Island. According to my father this fish, especially when feeding structure, preferred isolated areas. You will find that the more you target and find this fish you will understand.

Yellow Butter Flies

The fall/winter migration of king mackerel has started taking place. The reason we know this is because when we start seeing the yellow butterflies it means the king aren’t far behind. The bottom line to this report is a simple one. King mackerel and yellow butterflies might not seem to have anything in common. However, in the migration case they do, because they do so at about the same time. More on this next week!

Bottom Fishing at the Savannah Snapper Banks
A Cooler of Red!
Captain Ken Kennickell of Miss Judy Charters has a great day of bottom fishing at the Savannah Snapper banks this past weekend. While using double hook bottom rigs, cut squid wings, and fresh dead assorted minnows the bite was “ON!” Captain Ken along with his trusty first mate captain Deidra Jeffcoat took a charter party of six on a red snapper catching marathon. The catch was to the point. It didn’t last long, but they all got their two fish limit, which by the way doesn’t happen everyday.

While fishing some of his special bottom spots he found a school of migrating red snapper that had probably stopped off to do a little feeding before pushing on. The snapper ranged from about 21 to 29 inches. They were caught quickly. This is due to the fact that when red snapper school and migrate at the same time “feeding is a must!”

At any rate, the moral of the fishing report is a simple one. Especially during this time of the year all fish that do migrate are basically re-locating. This means what you catch in one spot today might not be there tomorrow. However, when you keep records there is a good chance that you will know exactly when they will be in the same area on the next migration. When fish migrate there is always a certain percentage that find certain areas comfortable and decide to stay permanently. Thus giving us resident and non-resident fish. Captain Ken kept records so therefore the ride to the fish was short and to the point!

I am always talking about live bait when it comes to red snapper and grouper fishing. Well, on this particular day about the only thing that live bait would catch is a shark. When Captain Ken marked the snapper he immediately went into normal live bait mode. However, the fish were interested in live bait as much they were cut squid and vermilion snapper. According to Captain Deidra there wasn’t any rhythm or reason for the bite pattern that the grouper and snapper had.

Captain Ken Kennickell Blue Water Recipe for getting what’s known as a
“Savannah Grander Slam!”

The first information I need to share with you in regards to this report is the true definition of a “Savannah Grander Slam!” There is a regular slam, which is a tuna, dolphin, and Wahoo. Don’t get me wrong, “great slam” indeed! However, the addition of the word of “grander” at least at Miss Judy Charters, you need to add “sailfish to the already caught trio. In Captain Ken’s case he added two on the very same day. The first sail ran through the baits leaving behind a wake of “batter baits.” No drop style seemed to interest this fish. The only interest this fish had at the moment was to “hit and run!” The second didn’t “bat at all, but rather slammed the bait, got hooked up, and was brought to the boat. At this point pictures were taken and the fish was release unharmed!

“OBESSISON” Blue Water Fishing Team

Captain Ken Kennickell, Captain Deidra Jeffcoat, Don Lawson, and Brian Maikey made up the fishing team. Don, which is a very good customer over here at Miss Judy charters, chartered Ken’s boat for a 16 hour blue water fishing trip. After much rescheduling due do to bad weather days the trip was finally on. The run started at 2:30AM with them arriving around 6:30 AM, which was prefect fishing time. The first hook up was a screaming Wahoo, which hit the bait taking the tail completely off. Even thought they dropped the bait back the Wahoo wasn’t a bit interested. A Wahoo’s nickname is “tail cutter,” which means they like to disable their prey before they eat it. Quite often a Wahoo will hit your bait removing it’s tail, but still doesn’t care to pick up the spoils. These “hit and run techniques” are something that a Wahoo loves to takes advantage of. The fish is just telling us that for the moment “the tail snack is just fine!” The bottom line to this is either the fish missed its mark or the feeding frenzy hasn’t begun.

Captain Deidra Jeffcoat’s job was “driver for the day.” It was her job to pick the best waters to fish. After ascertaining that there wasn’t a rip, temperature break, or any birds-a-feeding she headed for the live bottom ledges. Her first and what was to be her last stop was the “Triple ledge,” which normally has a lot to offer a hungry fish. As she trolled her way into ledge territory, notes were made, and pulling patterns were set. Captain Deidra reported that there wasn’t any surface or suspended bait to be found in the area. However, what she did find was plenty of near bottom activity. The bottom line to the scenario was a simple one! Where you have fish you have fish!

After many figure eights over this area the catch got even more interesting. As the passes were made in this area hits, catches, and cooler-a-rising was taking place. By the end of the day the cooler stock looked pretty interesting. Here’s the list: 3 Wahoo (ranging from 20 to 40 pounds) 1 king mackerel 15 pounds, 1 cuda 15 pounds, 1 ten pound brown shark, and 1 forty pound big eye tuna. To break up the trolling experience, Captain Deidra suggested that they drop down on what looked like some nice bottom fish, which open the hatch to yet another “field day of catching!” After loading their bottom hooks up with leftover cut ballyhoo parts red snapper and grouper gladly took them up on their bait offerings! After a few times of reeling up from about 180 feet of water trolling once again became the more enticing fishing situation.

*Definition for cooler-a-rising: The putting of fish in cooler so as to keep them at less temperature than there were when they were pulled out of the sea. I’m not sure whether or not this is one of my father tales. However, my father always taught me that once a fish is removed from the sea, it’s crucial for the body temperature not to rise, because bacteria can start to form.

Captain Ken trolling spread was working just great. He was pulling rigged ballyhoo, which was dressed up with Ilander Tracker and Sea Star lures. His favorite color is blue and white hair. He also pulls a 3-inch high-speed planer. In my case there are two types of planers. Both are number 3 planers, but each has it’s own special make up. The, what I call regular #3 planer is made by “Sea Striker.” It’s basically a three-inch lightweight planer with a 3 to 4 ounces of lead attached. The high speed is the same dimensions, but is a little more beefy and is built with 8 ounces of lead. It’s tougher, doesn’t deviate when pulled at fast rate of speed. In other words, the extra-added weight tows the line better at designated depths. Behind the planer Captain Ken pulls 30 feet of 80-pound test fluorocarbon to which he attaches his rigged ballyhoo. This design attracts those fish that at the time find deeper water the place to feed.

Most of the Wahoo that I have caught in the past have been done so while pulling surface or trolling down deep. Since I bottom fish so much when I fished the stream I caught quite a few while flat lining live red porgy as bait. When we pulled our hooked bottom fish up through the water column they were screaming out a tune that a hungry Wahoo must have loved, because we certainly did catch quite a few “100 pounders” with this technique.

Don Lawson has been fishing with us for quite some time. He is very knowledge when it comes to second-guessing a fish’s next move. He charters our boats over 6 times taking everything from light tackle, bottom fishing, and blue water fishing. He loves it all and boy, we are certainly glad for that. On this particular trip he had a great day not only catching but also hooking up the fish. Blue water fishing can be a little difficult for those fishermen that don’t understand right off what you need to do once you get a hit, which turns into a drop. Blue water fish such as bill fish, Wahoo, tuna, dolphin, and etc have their way of feeding. The bottom line to this situation is that if you don’t know what to do when or you don’t listen fish are lost for now good reason! The good news when it comes to Don is that he is experience and he also understands what it takes to get a blue water fish hooked up. Some of the fish that they caught on this particular blue water day slammed the bait, ate it, and ran. All the fishermen had to do, which isn’t real easy, is to keep the line tight, not pump the rod too much, don’t get to wild, and basically hope nothing else doesn’t happen to aid you loosing the fish. These were pretty much “text book pulls!”

Captain Ken has a theory when he get a hit. He normally drops the bait back, waits a second, if he doesn’t get any action, he whips the rod a few times and repeat the process a few times. Don also has a theory, which is also very good! It also works! Once Don gets a hit, he picks up the rod, and releases the line sparely. This means as the boat is moving he “drops” the bait back a bit, holds, and then lets it out a little more. As I though about Don’s approach as well as his reasoning it made good sense. Especially when trying to get the fish to re-tract it’s hit pattern. This fish actually thinks that it only glanced the bait meaning its still seemly has it’s own momentum. Performing this act might just get the fish to turn about and hit quicker! In the case the “Don” the fish did exactly that. A forty-pound big eye tuna hit at the bait. Don picked up the rod, held it while sparely let the bait fall back. As he was doing this tuna was re-hitting the bait trying to kill it. I bet the tuna was going insane trying to kill bait that won’t die. At any rate, this report has a good ending! Don scored tuna lost!

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

Black Widow’s and Queen Bees

During the month of August I took “The Wilbanks Apiaries, Inc.” company group fishing. Reg Wilbanks owner and operator of the Claxtion Georgia based company is a real interesting guy! I got the opportunity to spend the day with him along with his group and got to ask all the questions that I wanted to in regards to his bees. Not only that Reg offer some real interesting information that I wouldn’t have even known to ask in the first place. There was so much information and I tried to make notes, but I didn’t get them all. I would like to share what I did get a handle on.

Right off the bat he handed all of the captains and 1st mates involved a fine jar of his honey. Once on the boat we started talking about the bees. I just assumed that Mr. Wilbanks’s business was all about “honey!” However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Their business is “The Bees” themselves!

Some of Mr. Wilbanks’s bees have been movies stars for sure. Everyone remembers the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes,” which exactly made those who never thought about those fried green things want them. In fact people drove for miles to see the old so called “Whistle Stop Café.” According to Mr. Wilbanks the bees in the movie were from his farm. While we were talking I had to ask how many times had he been stung? He quickly replied, “about 50 times a day!” With that being said, “ I wonder how many times Iggie (Mary Stewart Masterson) was stung from the time they start filming until they got it right?

Since it wasn’t about honey in regards to the bees I wonder all at once the reasoning behind it all. This is where it gets complicated for sure. Their company raises bees from the workers to the queens. I didn’t get all of the names of the bees, but from the information I was hearing they have it “going on,” especially in the networking department. The so-called “Queens” mate on more than several occasions, stores it up, and when the fertilizing process is needed, she uses it. Mr. Wilbanks has perfected a way to remove the eggs, incubate them, and hatch his own bees. These bees are shipped all over the world. There was one interesting reasons why certain areas have to import bees. It’s because when it too cold it kills the bees. The life expectancy is about 4 to 6 weeks. After this time, they either wear their wings out or they basically fall off. At this time, even though they might still be alive they are kicked out of the hive. The queen bee has strict orders, which must be followed. According to what I have been told, the queen has the “wingless,” but probably still live bees thrown out of the hive. The queen motto is “if you can’t work you can’t stay!” If you can’t fly you can’t stay! “No wings no work, no home!”

You aren’t going to believe this one, because I sure didn’t. Under almost every beehive is a resident black widow spider. Whatever, the bees offer the spider wants. It’s as simple as that. Mr. Wilbanks and company collects black widow spiders and they are also shipped all over the world. They use the spiders for all kinds of medical reasons, which in my case is way over my head. The only thing I was really interested in was, “are they good for bait?” This answer wasn’t known for sure! As soon as those that wanted the spiders knew of there true value to research those purchasers decided to create their own “special black widow spider farms.” After all they could raise them much faster than Mr. Wilbanks could. They could control everything in regards to their growth and not only that but their “whereabouts!” However, you know the old saying, “when it sounds too good it usually is!” Well, it seems that the farm raised spider antibodies (or whatever they are needed for) don’t work as well as the “wild home grown ones do!” Mr. Wilbanks is back in business trying to ship 60,000 black widow spiders at a time. I never once asked, “How many times have you been bit by a spider?”

You know after I thought about it, farm raised shrimp are the same way. They certainly don’t taste as good as the wild ones do. There is a difference in taste! The “wild ones” don’t require the usage of as much good cocktail sauce. Here again, this is just my opinion, I’m certainly not saying don’t purchase or eat farm raised shrimp. I’m just saying the “wild ones are better!” If you don’t believe me you take your own taste test. I’ve done my own!

Here’s my line, Now Bite My Hook!

Captain Judy
“Fishing Physic!”