Fished for:
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Boat Name: Miss Judy Too
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CAPTAIN JUDY HELMEY
MISS JUDY CHARTERS
POB 30771
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA 31410
912 897 4921
912 897 3460 FAX
www.missjudycharters.com
October 29, 2001
INSHORE
It's inshore big fish time of the year. Get out those top water plugs and get ready to take them for a drag, because it's time to catch the Striped Bass. (Also known as the rock fish) My father's favorites lure for this fish was the famous and still popular Cisco Kid. However, as you all already know, there are many lures on the market that are just as good and basically make the same appearance as the kid does. I am going to stick with the old stuff, it's my nature, it worked then and it's sure to work now. I have gotten several reports on these fish being caught in the Ogeechee River and Savannah River area. They usually hang near the shore where you find a rocky bottom and running current. Don't forget your gnat suit! They are out in full force!
OFFSHORE
(Artificial reefs)
All artificial reefs that are located off the Georgia coast that are located in 60 feet or less of water depth are holding the winter migration of fish. Here's your break down of options. For big Black Sea bass, Triggerfish and Atlantic flounder pick the artificial reefs that have low relief bottom. For instance the KC Buoy, which is an artificial reef that is approximately 5 miles, 90 degrees east of the Wassaw Sea Buoy. The reef has high and low relief as bottom. You're best spots to look for these fish is the spots that have concrete, pallet balls, and the old tires parts. These spots offer great areas for these bottom feeders to hold up until their next move to deeper water. Don't worry you have lots of times before this move takes place. So therefore, please do try and pick a calm day to make your trip.
KING MACKEREL BLUES
I had a very interesting conversation with Captain Tim Wilson of the North Carolina Fishing Center, which is located Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. He shared with me some information about their current fall/winter king mackerel run situation. According to Captain Tim their arrival of fall/winter king mackerel was 3 to 4 weeks late. The new arrivals to North Carolina aren't as plentiful as the migrating group was last year. Let's just hope that the entire migration hasn't arrived as of yet. I believe that these fish that are now in Wrightsville are the same group that should eventually due to cooling water temperatures move our way. However they're supposedly are a few weather conditions that will determine whether these fish track near shore or offshore. Near shore would mean that they would track our way in 50 to 60 feet of water. This track gives us the best winter king mackerel fishery. The not so good situation is if the cooling up north isn't seasonal. In other words, if a large cold front moves and drops the water temperature too drastically then the fish will track to the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream. The down side to this scenario for our mackerel build up off Georgia's coast is that we won't get the full impact of the migration. As far as I am concerned all of the signs are here that would lead me to believe that the kings are making way to our area.
A few snake kings and a couple of nice smokers were caught in the middle ground area of the Savannah snapper banks this past week. However, there weren't any reports of kings being caught at any of the artificial reefs that are located in our area. I guess I should define "snake kings". They aren't real big and run the in the 5 to 12 pound range. However, don't get discouraged we caught quite a few big "smoker kings" last year at this time. The "smokers" run from 20 to 50 pound range. The kings that weight in at the teen pounds are called, "teenagers." The normal winter run does consist more of the smaller (snakes and teenagers) than the large smokers. At this point, I just want to get on with the fall/winter catch. I know any of us fishermen would be happy to catch any of the above size fish. There's a secret to getting the most out of any particular size fish that you are catching. All you have to do is lighten up on the rod and tackle design that you are using and it all comes into prospective.
The above mentioned kings were caught deep into the water column using rigged cigar minnows and ballyhoo. The biggest mackerel were caught on a flat line while the customers were bottom fishing. The smaller snakes were caught while slow trolling deep around the R-6 Naval tower. I must report that the barracuda are still hot and heavy around the towers. So therefore you might not get the entire fish that you hooked up with. So I guess you had better be happy with what you get even if it's only a head. It might be your only proof!
KING MACKEREL UP DATE
(they seem to be getting closer)
I talked to Fred Bergen and he told me that he caught snakes and teenager kings just north of Edisto area last week. Fred caught the kings in about 60 feet of water on rigged ballyhoo. He was using the smaller size ballyhoo for bait. Another good bait to use is a rigged cigar minnow. This bait is plentiful at this time of the year. Most live bottom and artificial areas are holding large schools of these minnows. Get out those gold hook bait rigs. You can catch 6 to 8 minnows at one time. According to Fred the bite was solid and they caught as many as they wanted in a very short time. He added in fact that they left them biting. As we talked we both decided that these fish are part of the migration if kings that are probably heading our way. The king mackerel are getting closer!
SAVANNAH SNAPPER BANKS
The ride is definitely worth it to get to this area. The bottom fishing is great. Lots of catches can be had on just plain old cut squid. However, if you would like to spice you catch up a bit give live bait a try. The big bottom fish are starting to get away from the protection of the ledge a little further each day. The reason being is that the bait fish have moved a bit. So therefore their meals aren't as accessible as they were in the warmer months. Hunting and getting food is a little harder which means your chances for a big hookup on live bait is much better at this time of the year.
LITTLE MISS JUDY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
I know everyone has heard about the Old World War Two ocean mines. I haven't seen one in person but my father has. He told me about the time he came upon one just floating in the ocean. According to Daddy it was made out of ruff looking iron. Many years of soaking in the salt water and now the salt air was taking a toll on the iron that it was made out of. At any rate daddy described the mine by saying it was covered on the surface with protruding prongs, which had all kinds of things hanging off of them. According to daddy you hit one of those and "BOOM" you are gone! These prongs when hit were supposedly the detonating device or what I called the triggers switches. Daddy told me that it look pretty weird not to mention the fact that it might still be able to blow up something if it was plowed into. I had already started having visions of this scenario.
Daddy said that he examined it, but not too closely. He tried to contact the coast guard, but with no avail. It was either his radio or the coast guard's that wasn't working properly. In the fifties it could have been either. After all Daddy wasn't but about 10-miles offshore, which is almost screaming distance. So he decided that he would just report it when he returned home. On his way home he had started having thoughts about all of the things that might have happened. A ship or even worst another small boat could have run into. He kept trying to make contact as he got closer to the dock and finally he got though. He told the coast guard of his strange finding and I assume that they sent a boat in hot pursuit. The never found the floating mine. The good part of this story is that no one else did either!
Now for the radio and what caused the problem. My father's radio had tubes in it as well as everyone else's at that particular time era. However my father's radio had an added attraction. A dirt dauber liked the radio so much that it made a nice nest right between some of the tubes. I mean the dirt dauber really packed the damp dirt hard between the tubes. When the dirt dried it pushed one of the tubes just enough to break it's contact with the radio's panel. The tube only made a half descend connection when the boat rocked in the tube's favor pushing it back to a contact situation. Thus making daddy able to contact the coast guard at that time. You got to love a boat and all of its possible associates!
Sea You Later,
Captain Judy