Capt. Judy Fishing Report – July 14, 2017

July 14, 2017 – Fishing report and the Little Miss Judy Believe It or Not story! Thanks for reading!

Fishing statement: To try to ensure that fishing stays in the hearts of those that love it!

While fishing with Captain Garrett Ross of Miss Judy Charters, Dekota Scruggs – age 11 of Canton, Georgia – caught some really nice inshore fish! Dekota was fishing with his grandfather Chris Padgett and his father Travis Scuggs! He officially caught not only the biggest but the most fish!

Inshore Catching Synopsis!

I can’t believe I am saying this but so far this month has really lived up to its nickname of ‘Christmas in July!’ The reason being is that this month has not let us, inshore fishermen, down. It is kind of like the “fish-a-biting” switch has been turned up a notch! With this being said, “Here are few suggestions for catching!”

If making a plan to go inshore fishing on your boat, this is a great time for sure. The secret to catching is that you do your darndest to get some live shrimp for bait. Bait houses are starting to carry them more frequently! So I always say, “If they can catch them so can I!” So therefore whatever you do bring along the old cast net because the bulk of this seasons brown/white shrimp are now the perfect size when used for bait. Heck, with a little kulling some of the shrimp are just right for bait and some are just right for that afternoon shrimp cocktail. Also when throwing the old cast net I suggest keeping any small pinfish, finger mullet, etc alive and well! These baits work great especially since there are quite a few large spotted sea trout being caught. Some of these fish are in the 24-inch range.

Captain Tommy Williams of Miss Judy Charters took Mike Steele, Savannah Georgia, Jennifer and Tim Hoiby Florence, SC on a fish catching, releasing, and keeping kind of fishing affair!

The inshore bite has been pretty solid even though water temps have reached the mid-eighties. During these hot times, a fisherman has to think like a fish meaning keying on using the easiest baits. The old live shrimp is the key to unlocking this inshore bite. What eats shrimp? Everything why? Because it is easy to catch, easy to kill, and easy to eat. So you guessed it, live shrimp is the number one bait to use at this time. It is also is a bait that if you can’t buy, you can catch yourself. Don’t forget your cast net!

There is catching bonus live bait, which is finger mullet or peanut menhaden. Large sea trout and red fish can’t seem to pass up a full deal meal. My father always said, “Big fish didn’t get big being stupid!” With that being said fishermen need to key on the fact that larger fish prefer bigger baits. Why? Because a larger kill means less hunting, which means less energy burned! Thus meaning serving up a full meal deal is a very good idea. It doesn’t get as much attention, but when it does… So the formula is the smaller more popular bait such live shrimp attracts all size bites and the larger bait brings on bigger attentions!

I call this picture “A fisherman Imagination can be a wonderful thing!

Ken Sumner of August, Georgia and Captain Judy are celebrating his fine catch! While fishing with Captain “Little” Tommy Williams of Miss Judy Charters, Ken caught this (according to him) the world record whiting that took him almost 30 minutes to land, 25 minutes to subdue, and 15 minutes to get it off the hook.

Sound Fishing

For those fishermen that just want to GO FISH it is that time of the year for anchoring in the sound! Let’s see what might you catch? Well, we have a shark, stingray, cobia, whiting, croaker, spot, summer trout, sea robins, blue fish, and spotted sea trout kind of a bite. When we anchor up and fish in the sound small pieces of dead old seasoned shrimp is out main bait. What might you catch using this bait? We catch a lot of whiting, few under sized summer and spotted sea trout, blue fish, baby to medium size sharks, as well as other biters! Now if you want a bigger bite I suggest cutting a whiting into steaks (just like a loaf of bread), using a Carolina rig, and setting your reel on a medium drag. Heck, you might find yourself catching large sharks, large stingrays, jack crevalle, cobia, or a big sea monster that rip all your line off leaving you with a grand conversation piece while at dinner!

A black drum fish catching affair! When did it happen? On the Fourth of July! Front row: Hunter Thomas and Bo Thomas. Back row: Captain Tommy Williams of Miss Judy Charters Ken Sumner, Chase Maddox, and Cody Canuette. All fishermen from Augusta, Georgia.
While fishing with Captain Garrett Ross of Miss Judy Charters Tommy Bible, Newport, TN is showing off he just caught red fish! And since this was a catch and release kind of a day, this fish is still swimming and growing!
While fishing with Captain Garrett Ross of Miss Judy Charters Mike Koby from Smithville, Tennessee! What is he holding? A nice trophy red fish! And guess what it is still swimming!
While fishing Captain Tommy Williams of Miss Judy Charters, Cheri Williamson and Matt Gray of our fair Savannah caught a gaggle of black drum! What is a gaggle of black drum? More than a few!
While inshore fishing with Captain Tommy Williams of Miss Judy Charters, Jeremiah Kessler ,and his son Gabe, age 7 of Covington, Georgia caught some really nice fish.

While fishing with Captain Tommy Williams of Miss Judy Charters this fishing team from Elberton, Georgia had a fish catching affair! From left to right: Eli West, Tim Hendrick, Tim Starrett, and Shannon Starrett. While taking inshore trip with Captain Tommy here are a list of things that occurred during this fish catching bonanza: Shannon caught the most fish, Eli caught a shark, Tim Hendrick stopped fishing and made a sandwich, and Tim Strarrett missed the most bites and hooks!

Captain Tommy Williams of Miss Judy Charters took Marsha Williamson from Tybee Island, Georgia on an afternoon of inshore catching! What did she catch? Well for starters this nice 24-inch spotted sea trout and a gaggle of black drum! What is a gaggle of black drum? A ten fish catch!
While fishing with Captain Stephen Thompson of Miss Judy Charters, The Melvin Hicks fishing team caught an array of inshore fish. Let’s see…I see flounder, spotted sea trout, and then there were those fish that you couldn’t keep because they were either too small or too big!
The youngest team member of the Melvin Hicks fishing team caught some nice flounder, which also known as flat fish!

Thank you for reading! – Captain Judy

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