“Kicking Fish Tail Since 1956”

POB 30771

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA 31410

912 897 4921 912 897 3460 FAX

www.missjudycharters.com

Captain Judy’s email fishjudy2@aol.com

September 5, 2011

Saltwater Inshore, Offshore, Blue Water fishing reports, Freshies Suggestions, and “Little Miss Judy’s Believe It or Not story! Thanks for Reading!

Table of contents

An inshore tip straight from Captain Alan Collins!

When it comes to structure, Captain Alan is definitely in the knowing!

Inshore fishing this pass week for red fish

Georgia State regulations and South Carolina State Regulations

Captain Jack McGowan of Miss Judy Charters has offered up an inshore report that is worth reporting!

Artificial Reefs Reports

Savannah Snapper Banks Report The passing of Hurricane Irene!

Gulf Stream Report Oldie but a goody!

Trolling at 8 to 20 knots

Freshies Report Sunfish also known as bream or brim

Little Miss Judy’s believe it or not The Brother’s Helmey Break Up of 1940!

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Photo since to us by Captain Alan Collins

Captain Alan Collins holding up a very nice spotted sea trout

An inshore tip straight from Captain Alan Collins!

When it comes to structure, Captain Alan is definitely in the knowing!

Although it’s still hot fall is in the air. It’s a known fact that when it starts to get a little darker every day things in the underwater department change. Captain Alan Collins is considered our big shark catching expert over here at Miss Judy Charters. He has studied them, watched their movements, and believe me has caught plenty of these toothy monsters. During this time of the year he turns his fishing abilities in another direction. For him as well as the other captains here it’s red fish, spotted sea trout, and flounder time of the year.

What Captain Alan knows….

Having fished with him on several occasions and by also receiving his fishing inshore fishing report I know a little about his theories. Believe me they are good ones. When inshore fishing it always good to fish around the structure, because this is where the smaller fish, shrimp, and etc go to feed and to find protection. Those fish that you are targeting such as the red fish, spotted sea trout, and flounder know this too! Some of Captain Alan’s theories do included fishing structure that is exposed during the low tide stage. However, he has expanded his look for that prefect fish habitant. Captain Alan fishes around and over structure (oysters and such) that really never is completely out of the water at low tide. His theory is pretty darn good and I have put it in my memory banks so that I can share it with you.

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How to do find such a fish catching paradise? With eyes wide open! In my case while fishing inshore I just happened to have my camera on “go-ready” when I passed the underwater log, which by the way will never be uncovered at the low tide stage. The thing about this log is it is holding the interests of many shell fish and supports all sorts of vegetation growth. The best thing about this situation is where you have the sort of thing you “got fish!” This is only an example. Your best finds are going to be live oyster beds under the water that diverts the current in different directions as it flows over them.

Once Captain Alan locates such a situation like this it becomes a place of catching interest no matter what the tide stage may be. The secret is to fish it when the tide is moving and not standing. I remember this one time that Captain Alan called in an interesting inshore report to me. After I listened to it I felt as if I had been there with him as he fished it. And it went something like this..

While fishing one of his premiums underwater oyster beds he found out as the tide came in it began offering all sort of catching possibilities. He started fishing this area right as the tide started coming in. He focused on casting in such a manner that the current would carry the float right by a certain point of the structure. Captain Alan tried several different casting spots so as to get different floating coverage. In other words he was trying to find the spot on the structure where the fish were feeding. After locating this spot just about every time his cork floating by it he got a hit or a hook up. Then he noticed as the tide got stronger small eddies and rips were formed on the out skirts of the structure offering yet another catching phase. This one area during the incoming tide stage supported the feeding interest of red fish, spotted sea trout, and flounder. Had he not fished it during the entire tide he would have never known this. And there was something else he told me …on some fish days while factoring in the wind direction and moon phase this place doesn’t hold fish, but on others time it does. After hearing all he had to say I knew he had shared a big one with me! And now I am sharing it with you! Good luck and I hope this works for you as it did for me!!

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Photo by Captain Matt Williams

Spotted sea trout love to eat live shrimp! Sometimes they miss and sometimes they don’t! This fish missed the entire shrimp, but as you can see got the hook!

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Photo by Captain Matt Williams

Here’s a flounder of a different color. This fish must have burrowed down in a sandy muddy situation caused these light camouflage spots to appear so that the fish would blend in better. There is one thing that you can say about a flounder and that’s “its shape it almost always the same, but them top side colors aren’t!”

Inshore fishing this pass week for red fish

With things in the water world getting back to normal the red fish bite continues to be an option while fishing in the grass. For those that want to give this type of fishing a try here are few suggestions: Pick an area to fish and approach it quietly. For bait I suggest using live finger mullet lipped hooked under small adjustable floats. Whatever you do don’t forget you dip net, a camera, and calling in any fishing reports to me!!

Georgia State regulations and South Carolina State Regulations

Please know that you need a Georgia State Fishing license to fish in what is considered Georgia waters and a South Carolina fishing license to fish in what is considered South Carolina waters. And on top all of this off in most cases the state regulations are different for each state. For instance in Georgia the red fish (red drum, spot tail bass, etc) slot limit is 14” inches to 23 inches with a bag limit of 5. In South Carolina the red fish (red drum, spot tail bass, etc) slot limit is 15 inches to 23 inches with bag limit of 3. It’s best to get it right before heading out!

Georgia State Regulations

http://www.gofishgeorgia.com/sites/d…ulations_1.pdf

South Carolina Saltwater fishing regulations

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/regs/pdf/saltfishing.pdf or http://www.dnr.sc.gov/coastal.html

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Photo by Captain Matt Williams of Miss Judy Charters
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Atlantic Guitar fish! This is just one interesting fish no matter how you look at it!

Photo by Captain Judy Helmey

Captain Jack McGowan stopped by and showed me one of his secret artificial catching weapons. It’s a simple rig to cast as well as retrieved. The best thing that I can say about this rig is that it’s approved by fish not fishermen!

Captain Jack McGowan of Miss Judy Charters has offered up an inshore report that is worth reporting!

Hurricane Irene missed the Georgia coast! We wish the best for those that weren’t so lucky. Here the impact was mostly rip currents and higher tides. Fishing just prior to Irene was good! As the outer bands landed fishing deteriorated. This is a typical pattern associated with storms. Fishing in front of is usually good. Once the storms hits it usually takes nature several day to right itself. Over the weekend we experiencing large tides not associated with the storm. This coupled with the storm meant unusually large tides. What happens is bait shrimp and fish are literally pulled out. This could be a bonanza for shrimpers provided there isn’t lots of debris in the water.

Just before the storm the redfish was good! Plenty of redfish from 21 to 23 inches. There are lots of mullet and shrimp around. If you find an area with plenty of bait its likely holding fish! Just after the storm hit we still caught some nice reds but the bite wasn’t like the bite prior to the storm.

During the summer its always idea to have on board a rod that could handle a big shark or tarpon! When you on seatrout drop try casting the big rod out and just let sit in a rod holder. It’s not unusual to hook several large fish in a day. If you want to land that fish you’ll likely need to have your boat set up so you can get off anchor quickly. A polyform fender attached to an anchor is a suitable system. If you’ve caught several pin fish you might hook one on your big rod and see what hits. You might not get any takers but you’ll likely be amazed what’s swimming around!

Tides are still pretty high through this week but not extreme. Following a hurricane the days seems hotter. Make sure you have your sunscreen! Despite less than ideal tides there will likely be plenty of opportunities to catch fish. If the water you are fishing is dirty, off colored, fish with excellent eye sight will more likely take your bait. Ladyfish are hoot to catch but a mess in the boat. If you looking for a sea trout bite best bet work the lady’s for a few minuets. If you catch a sea trout or two stay put. If you are not catching sea trout keep moving. Keep trying other drops. Remember its nature. If you on a sea trout drop and you’re caching whiting it might a day to fish for whiting.

With large tides best bet sea trout higher in tide; reds lower in the lower tide. Shrimp look plentiful. If you see a school of mullet getting busted by a fish there’s probably a big old red under them. Cast to the commotion! Hope this of interest and help! Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan

Artificial Reefs Reports

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Nice flounder caught while bottom fishing at Savannah Snapper Banks

Savannah Snapper Banks Report

The passing of Hurricane Irene!

I just had to share this story with you. Hurricane Irene passed us 200 miles from Georgia’s coast line on Friday August 26, 2011. We were among the lucky ones on the east coast, she just passed us. However, there were effects that the Hurricane left us and I would like to share with you this information. I finally made it offshore to the Savannah Snapper Banks on Sunday August 28, 2011. The banks are approximately 35 miles out from our coast line. Once getting to the W2 sea buoy on Sunday morning and after talking with Captain Steve Amick of Amick’s Deep Sea Charters I knew already that I would be dealing with an unusual kind of rocky sea day. When I passed the W2 Sea buoy, which is located about 3 miles off the Wassaw Island, I found myself in what us old timers call “a hoggly woggly ocean!” The definition of a hoggly woggly ocean is simple; it basically means “Waves coming from one direction and winds coming from another!” In this case we had a pretty good south east swell with an occasional south wave action pushed opposite by sustained 12 knot north wind.

After getting about 10 miles offshore I made one more radio call to Captain Steve to find out, since he was ahead of me, if there were any changes the further you got out? Captain Steve said, “It definitely an un-organized ocean, but the best news is its not changing meaning “no more wind!” So with that last transmission I continued on making way to the Savannah Snapper Banks.

The first stop was to allow me mostly to go to the head. Now under normal conditions I could just slow down and while making way let everyone have a nature break. However, the ocean was so out of step the boat pitch when I made way slow or just plain took her out of gear. Once stopped I noticed right off that the Miss Judy Too was going to lay in the wind as she normally does, which is “starboard side to the wind.” Once situating the boat in the wind and pulled it out of gear movement did not stop. With waves and winds coming from different directions the boat was pushing by one wave and hit by another. As this happened the Miss Judy Too basically went into a circular motion getting slammed by one wave after another. To say the least developing sea legs was going to be almost a “mission impossible to accomplish.”

Got sea legs?

I say this all of the time to my customers, “Just kind of go with the movement while not trying to over compensation.” This means get in step with the boat as it floats over the waves. I show my customers how this is done by simple getting in step with the movement of the boat. I always say, “Now I have been doing this for over 50 years so it comes easy to me.” If you fight trying to stand up you are going to wear yourself out long before the fish day is over. Normally I help the customers get in the movement flow sometimes referred to as “sea legs!”

On this particular day on my first stop I knew standing up keeping the motion in the ocean in mind was going to be difficult, but not impossible. So we all concurred that this was the sea conditions handed and off to the wild blue yonder we headed. I already was thinking getting the boat over the fish was a normal routine, but figuring where to have the customers to drop the bait was another. So therefore I came up with a plan, which was to make the first drift not only a learning one for the customer but also the captain too. I stopped the boat over the fish, wrote the coordinates down, and instructed the customers on rod/reel operations. All fishermen dropped down to the bottom and I watched to see what the lines were going to do. It didn’t take but a moment to figure out that the drift was into the wind, which was north and east. The waves from the south and south east were hitting the bow, sides, and stern of the boat causing it to spin around. This caused much pitching in the boat. As far as the lines and the sinkers that held them on the bottom this too was sort of a mess. Since I have been in this situation before I knew as soon as I got a handle on this drift we would be able to catch fish. However, until that point it was at best a stop and drop hopefully into the strike zone. At this point all on board were just happy to be here…after all the wind had blown all week the hurricane had pasted us by and we were now fishing! So all was good!!

After I got my mind wrapped around the current drift pattern I quickly adjusted positioning the boat at what I thought was the prefect starting point. I have to admit it did take a few minutes to accomplish this goal, but it happened.

Here are some of the things that I experienced on this 45 miles offshore fish day…

We saw some pretty interest bugs. Some looked like flying grass hoppers to which when I made that remark everyone on board laughed. However, when moving to another fishing spot one of the ladies found that this bug that no one had seen, but me had landed on her hat. Before I could say, “Let me get a picture bug be gone!” We had biting bugs almost like gnats that we have inshore during the spring and fall. Then there were some other strange bugs that I just called hurricane bugs.

While making a long drift I notice a large bird heading straight for us. As soon as I could identify it as a large pelican I quickly instructed the customers to no make a move if it landed on the boat. Over my years of fishing I can honestly say “I have never seen pelican 50 miles offshore by itself.” Normally if we do they are flying in some sort of pattern or mission. The pelican landed near our boat, but not on it. The pelican sat on the surface took in a bird’s eye view of the situation and then flew off heading west.

The bottom fish were haggard looking especially the black sea bass. Normally a black sea bass is dark black with a white background. We only caught one black fish that would fit the normal description. My father always called this “the shock affect!” It’s my thought that the sea conditions due to the hurricane must have caused quite a bite of turbulence on the ocean floor causing unscheduled fish moves.

We saw a lot of iridescent swimming crabs on the surface. That isn’t too un-common, but it’s my opinion when the waters deep down under aren’t clear the crab comes to the surface for a swim. However, my father used to say when he saw these crabs on the surface “Oxygen levels must be low, because it’s pushing the crabs to the surface!”

Last, but not least…Once in 90 feet of water the color was not normal. There was a lot of sediment mixed in and the color had a milky tint to it.

Gulf Stream Report

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Oldie but a goody!

An oldie but a goody! A nice bill fish brought to the boat!

Gulf Stream

You know the old saying, “You don’t know unless you go!” Well, this is so true for this time of the year. It’s a hero or zero kind of a catching deal! But if I did so here are a few suggestions:

Trolling at 8 to 20 knots

During this time blue water fish are on the prowl, because most all water temperatures are the same. This one thing offers baitfish lots of moving options. The reason being is that they are comfortable from the shore to the blue waters of the stream. When heading out for a blue water day I always suggest stopping about 10 to 15 miles before destination point and put those high speed trolling baits out. There are plenty of lures on the market the will fit this trolling speed of 8 to 20 knots. You certainly can cover a lot of water while working at these speeds. My rule of thumb was when you get a hit or hook up a fish “work the area for at least 15 minutes.” If no more hits occur turn back to original course and heading.

If you happen to get to the Gulf Stream and can’t find any sort of top water bite, do this…

I suggest starting bottom fishing. If you don’t have any bait here is a list of things that will get hits when dropped to the bottom on a hook..

A piece of white torn t-shirt hook so that it dangling in the current. Any color of t-shirt will work, but I prefer to use white when possible.

It’s kind of like deer hunting in the old days. When you killed your first buck you got your shirt tail cut. Not only that, there was a good chance that you would get your face shoved into the deer’s gutted cavity. As if that wasn’t enough initiation sometimes you would have to eat a raw piece of the deer’s heart….ok enough is enough…I used to hunt with my father!! And rules were rules!! When it came to fishing with dear old dad in the old days whoever had on the white t-shirt had to use the tail as bait.

Freshies Report

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Photo by Bill Vanderford

Sunfish also known as bream or brim

You know the old saying, “Built it and they will come?” My father used to always say that about artificial reefs meaning this will swim right in the structure. When it comes to the sunfish there is also a saying “Float it and they will come!” It’s a known fact that sunfish will school under any sort of anchored boats, raft or other floating objects! Now it might take a while to get their attention, but it does and can happen!

Those fishermen that want to “GO FISH LAKE LANIER”

Bill Vanderford is “Lake Lanier’s Legend!”

For more about my long time friend Bill Vanderford as well as his accomplishments, his freshwater charter trips or wildlife tours, books written and his special line up of tackle offered, please visit his site http://www.fishinglanier.com/contact.html for all the details! For more details go http://stores.ebay.com/Fishy-Racer http://www.youtube.com/fishyracer www.cafepress.com/grapefruitshop

Little Miss Judy’s believe it or not

The Brother’s Helmey Break Up of 1940!

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Photo taken in 1939

From left to right…in white shirts Sherman Helmey and Mac Helmey taking a pose right before the big 1940 brother’s break up!

My uncle Bobby also known as “Reds” Helmey took a look at this old photo and gave me one heck of a report on it’ “what this was all about!” According to Uncle Bobby, this was my father’s shop located on the NW corner of Oglethorpe and Montgomery Street, which is where the Savannah Court house is sitting right now. The actual Helmey garage was located on State Street next to Bradley Lock and Key. Bobby’s father Mac (My daddy’s brother) leased the service state from him. Bobby told me that he wasn’t sure if this deal was done by hand shake or legal tender. In December of 1940, they had a falling out “Helmey Style!” According to Bobby his father Mac said “Sherman (my father) was jealous, because he (Mac) was making more money than him!” After that statement according to Bobby, Mac went on to say, “If Sherman would quite chasing women all of the time he could make some good money too!” And of course Daddy had to accuse Mac of stealing his money! When that was said my Uncle Mac walked out and opened his own garage on the corner of Perry and Drayton Street location now of the ever popular McDonough’s Bar. And of course the rest is history. The two brothers both prospered in the forties, fifties, and so on. My uncle ended up owning the Savannah Planning Mill, which was a big lumber company located in the downtown Savannah. Most all houses built during his lumber yard era carried his “Savannah Planning Mill Stamp!”

So you know some of the family story, which Uncle Bobby referred to as the “The Helmey blame game!” Before I close I would like to explain what I know about the photo from tails told to me by my father.

At the bottom of the “Helmey Garage” sign there is a line that states “Tourist Home.” I asked Uncle Bobby about this and he told me that my father rented rooms to what was then and now called “Snowbirds!” This term is given to those that travel north in the summer and south in the winter. This term is still used by us fishermen, because there is always a lot of boat traffic moving from north to south or vice versa. According Uncle Bobby my father rented rooms to those that were in transit. The building that we are talking about is the one with the two chimneys behind Helmey’s Garage. This according to Uncle Bobby was an old whore house before Daddy changed it to a tourist end. My father way back in the old days talked about the building behind his shop. When I was young it was where the ladies lived. As I got older it was the spot for the “Ladies of the evening!” My father favorite lady of the evening was named Lilia Bland. I remember that name like I was told it only yesterday. I always wondered if that was her real name or not? I remember daddy telling me about the boarding house behind the garage. The fact of the matter is it was his home too!

Thanks for reading! Captain Judy

Captain Judy Helmey
missjudycharters.com
912 897 4921