Captain Judy Helmey
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
March 7, 2017 – Saltwater Offshore and Blue Water fishing reports! Thanks for Reading!
Fishing statement: To try to insure that fishing stays in the hearts of those that love it and to help the ones that are going too!
What’s on the hook this week?
For weekly published local fishing news brought to us by John Burke go to…. http://savannahnow.com/sports/outdoors/2017-03-01/coastal-outdoors-warm-weather-impacting-fish-wildlife
At the end of this report there the second installment…it’s called The Captains and Their Recipes! Brought to us by Captain Steve “Triple Trouble” Howell!
Low Country Great White News-
The newest tagged in our area has been named “Hilton!”
More Great White Shark News…
Captain Brent McBride Ocearch does it again!
12.5 great white shark caught, tagged, and released by http://www.ocearch.org/ on Friday March 3, 2018 while fishing about 8 miles off Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Go to this site so that http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/untamed-lowcountry/article136274183.html
Artificial Reefs in less than 50 feet of water-
Lots of black fish to catch, but not many are legal to keep at this depth. Please know that a black fish has to be at least 13 inches fork length to keep and has a bag limit of 7 per person. If this artificial reef is your fishing goal for the day here’s a tip that just might get you a bigger better fish keeping bite. There is an old saying that my father used to use. He always said, “The bigger the bait the bigger the fish!” And in this case this old saying still holds true. I am not talking about loading your hook up with bait such as squid or cut fish either. The best bait to use when in this situation is a small black fish, sand perch, or rock fish steak. This means take the fish and cut it like a loaf of bread, remove all the appendages, (fins, loose skin, etc) remove half the scales, and center this strong hunk of meat on your hook. Yes, the smaller fish will pick at it removing the scales and out skin, but will not usually get the hook. All of the feeding and picking at will bring attention to your bait, which lures in the large fish. All that’s left for the bigger fish is to completely swallow the bait. Now you have a larger fish on!
Artificial Reefs in more than 50 feet of water-
You could find yourself catching black sea bass; trigger fish, white grunts, rock bass, sand perch, ruby red lips, and flounder. The sea bass should be bigger. And your catch and keep ratio should be a little better meaning for every bass caught half should be big enough. Sounds bad, but at least it is not like here you catch 100 and you might get to keep 10, which is taking place at the shallower artificial reefs. And you might want to start looking for signs of top water activity such as bait fish, little tunny, and mackerel.
Savannah Snapper Banks-
It’s definitely time to go, because bottom fishing at this time of the year can be very interesting! Why? Because all types of fish from small to large are on the move! And if your hook is there, well, bites and big tugs should happen!
This is an old picture from way back when…This is a hooked up Mahi Mahi that is basically swimming in the same direction as the boat’s heading. Since I could see that the hook was barely embedded I ever so slightly changed my heading allowing the angler to gently reel diverting the fish’s heading just enough so that it would swim towards the boat. (Now that was a mouth full of sentence!) Did we catch it? Of course we did!!
Blue Water Report-
Since in my opinion that “spring has been springing” for over a month I suggest giving blue water fishing a try. And I am not just talking about bottom fishing either. As you know there is always bottom fish to be caught in 155 to 200 feet of water. And all you need a big piece of bait and lots of line on your reel to get there!
Now for trolling options I suggest if you got it to drag it. You can go old school with cedar plugs, Islanders, Aliens, and Outlaws! At this time of the year it’s more about having just about any bait in the water, because fish are on the move! I always suggest and no one believes me, but if you want to catch something big, during lean the times pull out the old wire line and the high speed planers. As far as the suggested bait tow…I always liked and so did the fish, a 2 1/2 ounce sea witch rigged with ballyhoo! (What color? Chartreuse, black, and blue/white…your boat noise should determine this) Heck, but a large Drone Spoon will work too!
Thanks for reading! – Captain Judy