October 9th, 2017 – Offshore and inshore fishing report and Little’s Miss Judy’s Believe It or Not! Thanks for reading!
Fishing statement: To try to ensure that fishing stays in the hearts of those that love it!
While inshore fishing with Captain Tommy Williams of Miss Judy Charters, Barbara and Doug Wren of Griffin, Georgia had a pretty good catching keeping releasing kind of a fish day!
Well this past windy weekend has once again proven that inshore fishermen can still prevail during these conditions. It is true that you might do a little less catching when having to fish in these conditions, but heck no matter how you cut it, it is still fishing!
Under windy conditions such as we had this past week it was proven that as long as you had live shrimp you got a great chance at hooking up! What was caught while using live shrimp? The answer is standard red fish, spotted sea trout, flounder, black drum, and sheepshead. What did the fishermen do with the leftover fresh dead shrimp? All whole, parts, and pieces of shrimp whether removed dead from the live well or from leftover hits were put to the side. For the parts/ pieces that were going to be used right away were put out in the sun to do a little air drying. Those parts that were not being used were put in an empty plastic water bottle and thrown in the fish cooler. The best news is once washed off they can go directly into the freezer to be used for your next fish day.
While inshore fishing with Captain Kevin Rose of Miss Judy Charters; Red Stafford of Knoxville, Tennessee; Lake Lindsay of Savannah, Georgia; and John Pierce of New Smyrna Beach, Florida – the group – caught some nice spotted sea trout and red fish! What were they using as bait? Live shrimp and finger mullet.
Russ Clemmons of Savannah, Georgia and his son Miles (age 12) had a light tackle inshore catching blast with Captain Stephen Thompson of Miss Judy Charters. So that we can set the record straight this is what the team kept not what they caught. According to this fish story told, Captain Stephen found a school of legal red fish and stay on them. The team kept a few and released the rest. Now this is what I call teamwork for the fishermen and the fish! I guess it is time to say, “All were winners of this fish day!”
At this point we were not sure who caught the big fish! That’s until I asked Miles. His answer was simple and to the point! “I did!” Why do the younger fishermen always seem to catch the bigger fish? BECAUSE THEY HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE AND THEY LISTEN!
Well, well, what do we have here? Captain Kevin Rose of Miss Judy Charters with Maida Cirasa and her father Ray from Carrolton, Georgia. What are they sporting? Beautiful fish catch smiles. What kind of fish are on the table? Spotted sea trout, summer trout also known as weakfish, and red fish! Who caught the biggest? You guessed it! It was Maida!
While inshore fishing with Captain Kevin Rose of Miss Judy Charters Maida Cirasa and her father Ray from Carrolton, Georgia had a fish catching blast. Maida is holding a nice red fish that hit a live shrimp under a small traditional adjustable cork!
Justin Farmer and his son James (age 15) of Atlanta, Georgia are both sporting some grand trophy red fish smiles! Who were they fishing with? Captain Garrett Ross of Miss Judy Charters! Who caught this trophy? James hooked it, fought it, and released it back to the wild! What does this mean to you? That it is now your turn!
Captain Garrett Ross – the Inshore Trophy Red Fish Catching Master – of Miss Judy Charters giving us a big thumbs up! Why? Because while James Farmer was fishing with his father Justin, he caught this beautiful trophy red fish! Was it released? Ye!s Is it still a swimming? Well, according to the releasing story we were told, this fish swam off strong! Were there more than one trophy red fish? Yes, there was a large school of about 20 fish. Where did Captain Garrett catch these fish? In the mouth on a 10/0 circle hook while fishing with trophy red fish bait! What is trophy red fish bait? I thought you would never ask! For a fish this size, anything they wish!
Here’s James and Justin again. And of course slap dab in the middle is Captain Garrett Ross of Miss Judy Charters. While inshore fishing with Captain Garrett this father son team has a grand catching time. In the cooler is only what they kept, which was a few red fish! As far what this team released. Well, let’s just say it was pretty darn good! And they are still talking about it!
Artificial Reefs
I have not been fishing the reefs due to windy conditions, but if I did go, I would have done this… Firstly I would dedicate about 30 minutes trolling with 0 and 00 Clark spoons, and while doing this my eyes would be peeled to the sky looking for any bird feeding action. What would I expect to catch? Spanish mackerel, snake king mackerel, blue fish, and little tunny what is a snake king mackerel? It is a smaller, but sometimes legal to keep king mackerel that weights less than 7 pounds. What is the legal size limit for king mackerel and Spanish mackerel? King mackerel – 24 inch tail length 3 bag limit, and Spanish – 12 inches fork length 15 bag limit.
I took this drawing from a 2017 Sport Fishing Regulation (Georgia DNR issued) off of www.gofishgeorgia.com. I suggest picking up one of these free regulation booklet today. Where you ask? Most tackle/bait shop, marinas, and etc have them on display. Why? It is important that you don’t get an undersized king mackerel confused with a Spanish mackerel!
And if trolling won’t pan out, then I would give bottom fishing a try. I would expect to catch black sea bass, ocean perch, pig fish, sharks, blue fish, trophy red fish, and other biters. Heck, there are even possibilities for a genuine red snapper bite as well as keeping on some dates, but you need to be informed on these possible keeping details! To get a better handle on what’s legal to keep in federal water please go to http://safmc.net/ and if you want to talk to someone please call Kim Iverson Public Information Officer for South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (843)-571-4366 or Toll Free 866/SAFMC-10 (Kim’s up to date with all regulations, very helpful and easy to talk to). My suggestion is that you know before you go!
Captain Kathy Brown of Miss Judy Charters is holding Robert Dunn’s just caught, soon to be released, red fish. While plain old bottom bumping with cut squid at the artificial reefs located in less than 55 feet of water Robert caught this nice red fish. As I (Captain Judy) was maneuvering the boat over structure on the reef I marked quite a few of these fish schooling about and over these areas. With water temps in the mid seventies I guess you could say, “Offshore trophy red fish season has officially started!” So from this report this bite only gets better!
Savannah Snapper Banks
For me this is the place that holds all types of bottom as well as top water fish especially during this time of the year. If you get to go (your boat or mine) I suggest giving bottom as well as trolling a try! Why? Lots of action to be had!
Gulf Stream
I call this the 5 degree turn!
Well, the cooling off trend for the western waters is in the making! What does this mean? Well, the waters that meet the stream are starting to cool down. And the best news is a there is a slight edge already formed, but the best fishing or should I say “catching event opportunities” are yet to come! There is about a 4 to 5 degree temperature difference between the western waters and the actual Gulf Stream! What does this mean? It only gets better from this point!
For free up to date sea surface temperature charts go to http://sstcharts.com/ (Tonya who is the owner and operator of this site is back up and running!) Even if you aren’t planning to make a trip to the stream it is great watching the current temps and wishing you were there! You know what they say, “Unless you haven’t figured this out yet, but you know planning, talking it up, and getting ready is definitely part of the fishing catching deal!”
Little Miss Judy’s Believe it or Not!
Red fish-ology!
What do we have here? It is a red fish with part of its tail missing! If you have been reading my reports you already might know that as a child my father always told me this story. According to my father spots on a red fish’s tail indicate the amount of times that it has escaped from the jaws of a porpoise. I bet you thought I was going to say “shark!” In this fish’s case it barely escaped for its last assault. So in preparation for the upcoming attacks it has starting growing a mid ship eye! While trying to get inside the reasoning of this red fish it seems as though that the placement of the second eye is going to make it look like a much bigger fish. Heck, if you measure the distance between first spot and second you will find a few inches for sure. And in the book of fishes, any fish that has over 4 inch of space between it eyes has been doing something right. So from a porpoise’s point of view it might just pass this so called appearance of a large fish over. So now what are you looking at? The beginnings of a down the line extra large trophy red fish in the making! To survive the old red fish has to be smart as well as cunning. If a red fish makes it out of the creeks, rivers, and sounds it’s next big hurtle is going to be the ocean. And what waits for them in the open water has very large teeth. So now you know why a red fish is so stealthy and so noise alert. The red fish’s only defense is its ability to go unnoticed even when they are present. Just like in the Harry Potter movies, it would seem that the old red fish has also inherited an old family heirloom. And what would that be? The Invisible cloak!
Now what is this? Well, this picture was taken in November 1986! Captain Ali Young of Miss Judy Charters is holding up a large trophy red fish, Captain Kathy Brown is also holding up a large trophy red fish. My father Captain Sherman I Helmey (1901-1993) of Helmey Charter Boat Company and also now confirmed gangster in 1930’s is standing next to them. I am sorry that you cannot see what is piled at their feet. During this time trophy red fish also known as stag bass were legal to keep! The fact of the matter is as a child, because my father always called them stag bass I thought a red fish was another type of fish. On this fish day we brought back about 8 large fish. Why? That is all a 162 quart Igloo would hold!
Standing in the back ground is Sandra Price, Decatur, Georgia. While on a 4 hours offshore fishing trip to the KC artificial reef Sandra and her husband Richard both broke the Georgia’s state men’s and women’s red drum record. Sandra’s fish weighted in at 38.13 pounds and Richard tipped the scales big time 47.07 pounds! And how about that! The good old days gone!
Thanks for reading! – Captain Judy