April 24, 2017 – Inshore fishing report! Thanks for Reading!
Fishing statement: To try to ensure that fishing stays in the hearts of those that love it!
The whiting drill!
Whiting bite has been great! And it seems they bite more than not! And the best news is that whiting fishing is basically plain old bottom fishing at its finest! What’s the best bait? Small pieces of shrimp on small hooks! What the best tackle used? Light tackle meaning small reels/rods and 10 to a 15-pound test main line, small hooks and egg sinkers. What’s the best rig? I suggest using a Carolina style rig! So far April has been a bonus catching month for whiting. This has been the best bite that I have seen in years! Some of the whitings are so big that they look like a spotted sea trout! It’s a great fish to catch because it’s fun, baiting up with a small piece of shrimp, dropping to the bottom, and waiting for this fish’s drill-like hit. Yes, my friend the whiting drills it and then eats it. What is a whiting doing when it drills your bait? Well, it’s peeling the shrimp just like we do before we eat it! They only difference is the fact that I haven’t seen the whiting, as least as of yet, dip it in any sort of cocktail sauce, but heck I am sure this could happen!
Where is it best to fish for whiting? As of a couple weeks ago, I always suggest the sound near sand bars or drop offs. However, this fish has broadened its best places to feed. Now fishermen are catching them off their docks in the creeks, rivers, and sounds. So, therefore, these fish could be anywhere that you got saltwater!
The Great Imitators! Redfish (slot and trophy red fish) spotted seatrout, flounder, sheepshead, and black drum has pretty much lined our captain’s coolers! Best bait hand downs are going to be live shrimp with the cold water mud minnows coming in second! Now for those that can’t get live shrimp or mud minnows, and sometimes there is no live bait available, get yourself some artificial shrimp patterns! And here’s the best news when it comes to using the artificial stuff, it can be fished just like you do the live stuff. So, therefore, shrimp patterns can be rigged under traditional adjustable floats and popping corks. They also can be presented naked meaning tied directly to your main line or leader. I call this stepping outside the baiting up box. There an old saying that my father used especially when it came to live shrimp. If you can get them the fish most likely can’t either! So, I suggest using the next best thing, which is the great shrimp imitator!
Surf Report!
Fishing the beachfront just got even more interesting and once again Glenn Conway showed us this catching way!
A surf report straight from someone that knows! And that would be Glenn Conway of Tybee Island, Georgia!
“Hey, Judy… I have been surf fishing Tybee beach the last few weeks and this year’s Whiting bite has been as good as ever. Big females that are fat with eggs are thick in the surf right now. But, I have all so had some very unusual catches this year. I landed not one but two HUGE Bluefish from the surf. The size they get way north of us. Have you ever heard of these large fish in our area? Still, big fun, you know how a little 10” Bluefish will fight, well, they are great fighters at 3’ to. Was very surprised, to say the least. Got one on Friday, went back out on Saturday and landed another.” – Glenn
Good morning Glenn… Many many years ago, I say about 30, we used to catch these fish, which we call chopper blues starting February until mid-April. Most were caught at the artificial reefs located in about 55 to 60 feet of water. The L Buoy and J Buoy artificial reefs held the most fish. And when I say, “caught them!” we did to the tune of about 50 blue fish a day! And then all of a sudden as quick as they came they never showed up again. I mean we caught a few here and there, but nothing like the good old days… We caught a carbon copy of Glenn’s fish about a month ago while plain old bottom fishing at the Savannah Snapper banks! Who knows maybe they are making a come back…and I have never heard of these fish being caught off the beachfront at Tybee Island! So, therefore, a big congratulation is in order for not one chopper blue but two! Glenn, Thanks again for the surf report!
Vegas Placas is holding up a nice redfish and Captain Garrett Ross is giving a big thumbs up! It seems as Vegas was reeling in her line this big trophy red fish could resist her moves. And you know what happen next? Well, the fish inhaled the bait, Vegas hooked the fish up, fought it, landed it, and then released it back to the wild!
Thanks for reading!
Captain Judy Helmey
Miss Judy Charters
Kicking Fish Tail Since 1956!
124 Palmetto Drive
Savannah, Georgia 31410
(912)-897-4921 or (912)-897-2478
(912)-897-3460 fax
Fishjudy2@aol.com