    
Judy Helmey (Captjudy)
New member
Username: Captjudy
Post Number: 2
Registered: 6-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 | | Posted on Monday, October 11, 2004 - 6:30 am: | |
INSHORE
Striped Bass, Rock Fish
The fall bite has started off with a little flare. Some of our inshore boats caught some nice 5 to 7 pound striped bass this past week while fishing the Savannah River. The bait of choice was live shrimp and finger mullet while using the traditional float rig. All striped bass were caught and released. There is a NO-TAKE regulation for striped bass and hybrid white striped bass for the Savannah River, which means catch and release only.
Once you find the holding pattern for striped bass also known as rockfish, you can make the bite real interesting. Float fishing for them with live bait is one way to get this fish's attention. However for those of you that want to pitch your artificial lures this is one fish that loves to chase it intended meal. Upon finding the fish change up and go to just artificial. I like to use a lure that I can readily be placed pitched, such as buck tail jig pattern. I also like a surface pulled lure that when cranked just skims the surface. Striped bass love fast moving water, bait that moves, and the attack mode!
Red fish, Spot tail Bass, Channel Bass, and Stag Bass
No matter what you choose to call them this is one fish that gives you a great fight on light tackle. We found ourselves in a "Spot Tail Bass" feeding frenzy this past week. While trolling through the hundreds of surface feeding jack crevalle the bass started hitting our lures. After a few moments it was ascertained that large schools of hungry bass were feeding under the jacks. It was a sight that I won't forget for a while. I was offshore between the KC Buoy and the Warsaw Sea Buoy when we found the large schools of fish, which contemplates to about 71/2 miles off the barrier island. Both types of fish were schooling near the two rips that most always form that run a north to south pattern. We usually cross these rips on our way to the KC artificial reef buoy. My definition of a rip comes in two parts. It's where two different currents meet. This area can also hold a different temperature break on each side of the rip, which makes for an interesting gathering of bait and fish. They are very noticeable; because when these current meet it forms a line. This line can hold all types of floating objects such as seaweed, discarded things or should I say "trash," and the best part "fish." The currents in the rips this past week was strong. When a strong set of current meets "sea foam" (at least this is what I call it) is formed on the surface. Looks like shaving cream or whipped cream, which really helps you to located the rip. The foam normally hangs right in the rip indicating the rip boundaries. In fact it forms a line, which is great. When trolling I usually pick a side to troll down. It all right to cross over the rip, but I would choose a side and stick with it. The water quality could be clearer on one side than it is on the other. Different fish like to hide and hold in certain shades of the water. It's kind of hit and miss until you ascertain the blue print of the rip that you are fishing. Normally where you see birds feeding or hovering you have some sort of fish holding below.
Where there is fish there is fish.
Their pattern of feeding was very noticeable not only because it was calm, but also because the birds were having a field day with the leftovers. The rule off thumb on this fish day was when you saw bird diving in the distance you probably had jacks and bass feeding. As the morning went on we must have caught at least 12 of each fish while trolling the basic drone spoon. I tried spoons and planers at first, but they only wanted bait that was flipping on the top. I also pulled a Cajun Thunder with a large Clarke Spoon in tow. This bait attracted quite few fish. The fish not only like the lure, but also the cork part of the popper.
Back to the birds
When I saw birds diving I was confident that fish were under them feeding. However, I started watching the birds that were just hovering above. I found that these birds were basically watching, but not feeding. However, once arriving to the spot in question I found many fish below. Who knows maybe the bird were full and in a holding pattern.
Something else I learned
I found large schools of spot tail bass holding in the rips. They didn't seem to be feeding just holding. As soon as I dropped a few buck tail type lures to them the feeding frenzy started. We hooked up two fish as soon as the lure hit the depth that the school was holding. I watched the fish finder and found that the entire school seemed to be staying with the hooked fish. When the hooked fish were brought the boat the others followed right to the surface. Not only were these fish curious, but also very hungry. We fed them about 5 pounds of finger mullet. All fish were caught and released unharmed. This is my new type of fishing it called "Fishing for Memories!"
"Night Fishing at the Old Dock!"
Jay Ohsiek pulled himself up a dock and had a an extraordinary night of "Night Fishing!" According to the report Jay and fishing buddy had a great fishing experience while using 6-pound test line. Their fishing night started at 8:00 PM instead of 8:00 AM, which according to Jay is a first for him. While using artificial screw tails with the old standby "metal flakes" the action was "HOT!" This is my favorite lure especially at the light. I think the added reflection that the flakes takes on from the dock light makes the lure more "Snappy" to the fish, which means "harder direct hits!" (Been there, done that) During the course of the evening/night they caught 15 keeper trout, and released a dozen healthy 11 to 12 inch ones. Not only did they have a bonus bite from the trout, but also a red fish in the 20 to 25 inch range took Jay up on his artificial bait offering. All was good at the dock in the bite, catch, and release mode. I think they did a great job when you consider that they didn't use a boat, bait, or daylight. Back to basics!
Things that go bump in the night around the old light!
While at the dock fishing Jay brought up some interesting points. He could hear all types of fish noises from them jumping to surface popping. All this with the absent noises of boats, planes, and trains. When I am on the dock fishing at night the light is the focus point. It's like watching a well-run show with all of the actors wearing skins and scales! I have one more thing to add to the show, which must go on and that is "night vision glasses!" You haven't lived till you try a set of these babies while engaging in this almost forgotten fishing method. One look around the dark perimeter of the dock light will allow you to see "the rest of the story or should I say the rest of the tails!
King Fish, Blue Fish, Trout
Good Old Beachfront Fishing
It has been brought to my attention once again by Emanuel Lombard that you really don't need a boat to catch fish. Emanuel's favorite fishing spot is the beachfront areas. According to the report he had a great time doing a little floating and bottom fishing. The average cast most fishermen make is about 50 feet. This is a good distance and it doesn't take so much thrust that you lose your bait in mid air. That's just about where Emanuel caught most of his fish. He used the traditional float rig method while using live shrimp as bait, because he likes to see the "sinking of the Cork!" Heck, we all do! He set his float so that his bait drifted about about1 to 2 feet off of the bottom. Emanuel also fished directly on the bottom at about the same distance off the beach. For bait he used live shrimp, fresh dead shrimp, and "fish bites." The bite was very good starting at low tide and lasted until too much water started covering the beach. He caught blue fish, trout, and whiting, also known as southern kingfish. The whiting were on the large side.
Fish Bites
He has been experimenting with a new style of bait. According to Emanuel once the bites are wet they re-constitute themselves back to what they were before they were conveniently compressed and dried. At any rate "Fish Bites become great fish food and attracters." (Emanuel works in the tackle department at River Services of Thunderbolt; Georgia 912 354 7777). They are carrying this new line of bait that doesn't require any type of refrigeration. Give him a call or drop in!
7 Point Buck
This is not a hunting report. However, I do have some interesting information to share with you in regards to a very large buck. Captain Ken Kennickell of Miss Judy Charters, while on his way to pick up some customers at River Street had quite a find. Let me back up a bit to give you a little background on Captain Ken. He is known for finding some of the most unbelievable stuff floating in the creeks, rivers, and ocean. Some of his finds included the follow items: cooler full of tackle, jet ski, 24 foot sea cat, wheel barrow, 5 gallon gas can full of gas, buoy's of all types and sizes, assorted size boards from large planks to the small stuff, balls, and personal floats. I could go on but I really don't have enough room. I think you get the point, "his eyes are always open and looking for a find!" He came upon this floating deer, which was dead, but not decomposing as of yet. The deer had an unbelievable rack. He didn't have a saw on board, which isn't unusual for us, charter boat captains. So he decided to tie the deer carcass to a marker. Captain Ken then proceeded on his way to pick up his customers. He called the office and had Deidra bring him a saw to River Street. On his way home he pulled the deer in, cut off the rack, took it home, and is going to mount it. Now this is one rack that will hold more than just an ordinary tale!
A shark or two!
While coming in from fishing in Warsaw Sound this past week Chris reported that he saw what appeared to be two large sharks surface feeding on what looked like a turtle. Many years ago this would have been one of those reports that I wouldn't have believed or should I say, wouldn't want to believe!" However, I have seen this take place on many occasions, but still find it shocking. While I was fishing at one of artificial reefs I witnessed a large tiger shark stalk and tire-out a large loggerhead turtle. We all watched as the shark repeatedly pushed the turtle to the surface as it tried to bite the lower half off. I had seen the turtle earlier that fishing day and noticed all of the scratches on the back of its shell. At that point I had no idea what so ever that it was a tiger shark's intended meal. Over the years I have seen sharks chasing and eating everything from birds to other smaller sharks. It still amazes me about the birds. As you know they should just fly off when the shark surfaces and goes into the stalking mode. However, they just move over a bit and then it happens, "lots of floating feathers with no bird attached!" All I can say at this point is "this is nature at it finest!"
OFFSHORE
Yellow butterflies
The yellow butterflies are here! As you all know, if you have been reading my fishing reports that they arrived about a month ago. For those readers that might be scratching their heads on this one I will explain. The yellow butterflies and fall/winter run of the king mackerel normally make the same migration at the same time. However, I must admit one thing for sure. The butterflies must not communicate with the kings, because they have arrived and the kings haven't. I'm sure that all of this is due to the fact that the weather and bait has been so unusual.. We have had plenty of weather and absolutely not much bait. I am looking to the bright side of this entire mess. The kings will arrive late making the season last longer. Don't laugh! I can dream can't I?
Savannah Snapper Banks
95 to 115 feet of water
I don't have enough room to tell you about this past weekend. The bottom fish bite is the best I have seen in a while! We caught large vermilion, triggerfish, porgy, amberjack, red snapper, and grouper. In the bait department there isn't much to tell, because we didn't find many of air bladder-less baitfish. These bait are free to move up and down in the water column with decompressing themselves. Spanish sardines, Atlantic mackerel, Jack mackerel, big eye shad, cigar minnows, bar jacks, and horse-eye jacks don't have an air bladder. We caught a few greenies and thread herring at the artificial reefs. However, take it from me, we can't find many fish that are very interested in a live thread herring. However, they did work a little better as cut bait. As far as those baits with air bladders such as sand perch and rock bass they are work great for the larger bottom fish. We have been using them live on a single circle hook with long leaders.
Cut Fish Bait
We also used quite a bit of cut fish or fillet fish. Don't consider this a second rate type bait, because it isn't. Bottom fish are known to be very picky eaters. So therefore your bait board should have a little of everything that you can offer. When it comes to fillet fish there are all kinds to choose from Here's how we classified them. Fish such as black sea bass are what we consider a dark fish. Once fillet the meat is white and the scaled side is dark. The ocean perch and tomtate better known as ruby red lips or fire mouth also make great cut bait. Once filleting this fish you are going to find that the meat isn't as thick as the sea bass. However, the outer skin is much lighter making this yet another different source of good bottom bait. After filleting all fish we cut in two by two inch and one by one inch squares. We also have this cutting method of stripping the bait, which boils down to making long pieces. We then place the hook at one end leaving the other to flow in the current getting all types of fish's attention. Last but definitely not least is the vermilion snapper. This is great cut bait no matter how you shape it. On some occasions bottom fish only prefer this type/color. So therefore have you bait board prepared. We always keep a wet cloth over our cutting board. This keeps the bait from drying out.
Always keep the carcasses from your cut fish in a bucket. Discarding them at the wrong time can cause a shark feeding frenzy. However, if you want a frenzy of this nature just keep tossing out what you are cleaning and believe me with big teeth is going to find the food source, which is the boat.
"Little Miss Judy's Believe It or Not!"
"Cool Toes"
My father had a lot of home remedies. These remedies would only work if you use them continuously. So therefore according to daddy it was always a work in progress. If you have been following my stories you already know that the consumption of cider vinegar supposedly will keep the red bugs away. Drinking a cider mixture will also help prevent on coming leg cramps. My father's cider mixture was simple, two parts vinegar and one part water. Just drink it straight I don't suggest putting it over ice. The concoction over ice tasted terrible. Believe me, unfortunately I tried it. You can also rub watered down vinegar on your sunburn and the sting seems to just go away. However, you now smell like a human pickle, but the bottom line is that you do feel better.
You could always find a big bottle of mineral oil at daddy's house. He drank it on a regular basis. He said that it oiled and kept his pipes clean. I never tried this. The thought of drinking straight oil such as this made be very sick. So therefore I will leave out approximate amount to consume. He used quite a bit of WD 40 for not only his reel parts but also his joints. According to daddy a couple of sprays a day kept his joints moving freely. Not only that but it help eliminate all those noisy popping sounds that his joints made. The reason being according to daddy was because of the penetrating oils. Heck, I looked on the can for the list of contents and it did indeed indicate that WD 40 contains this type of oil.
He put Colgate toothpaste in his shoes, because it kept his toes cools. My father ran a charter boat until the age of eighty. So therefore you can't ague with any of this aforementioned captain doctoring. However, if laughter is the best medicine then I'm sure that you are already well!
"Here's My Line Now Bite My Hook!"
Captain Judy
"Old Fish Reader!"
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