Captain Judy's Fishing Report
May 12, 2008
INSHORE
The Power of a Logbook!
Captain Rick Reynolds offers up and confirms what an inshore fisherman needs to do to insure "bite times later!" In this report you will find a May 1, 2007 and May 3, 2008 fishing report. This all boils down to the fact that a logbook can help fishermen catch more fish, "when and where!"

First Report May 1, 2007 Fishing with Captain Jeremy Reynolds
Captain Jeremy Reynolds along with charter customers fished the Salt Pond area. Both water and air temperatures were around 70 degrees with this sporting clear to light stained water conditions. As the customers fished action from light to large bites were taking place. One of the customers fought and broke off a large shark right at the boat. As this fight was taking place Captain Jeremy watched as a large bull red "made way making wake" feeding as it went. As soon as the shark broke free, another rig was handed up, with instructions on where to place the bait. As soon as the cast was made, the red fish took the bait, and the rest is pictures taking history! (See picture dated May 1, 2007)
Please notice the red fish pictures. These are large bull reds in the 29 to 31 inch range and they are pale in color. This is an indication that they just came in from offshore.

May 3rd 2008 Fishing with Captain Rick Reynolds
Captain Rick had an 8-hour charter on this day with Miss Judy Charters. The water temperature was around 70 degree and very stained. They fished all of the outgoing tide in a stiff 15 plus wind out of the southeast. The bite was scattered with the customers catching a few blue fish, spotted sea trout, and red fish. Below is a picture of a 30-inch redfish that we released. (Dated May 3, 2008) This particular fish was over the keeping limit by 7 inches. This was a beautiful red that had probably just arrived from the ocean. Shortly after we released this fish, he wind really picked up and we left salt pond.

Here's a note of the similarities in regards to May 1, 2007 and May 3, 2007. The winds on both days were predominately out of the south. The water temperature was basically the same. The only difference is the clarity was not! Both picture are located near the end of this report!

Special Bait Tips from Captain Rick!
Here's a great bait tip from Captain Rick Reynolds of Miss Judy Charters. He suggests that when purchasing live shrimp to also get some mud minnows. When targeting spotted sea trout and you happen to have blue fish and Spanish mackerel mixed it's best to save your shrimp and change up to mud minnows. These fish can destroy a quart of shrimp in about 15 minutes. The bottom line to this suggestion is mud minnows are about $3.50 versus $20.00 a quart for shrimp. While in this change up bait mode don't be surprised when you catch a larger trout!

Redfish Report By Captain Rick Reynolds of Miss Judy Charters
When asked what is your favorite inshore fish to target, you will get several different answers. Some people like Sea trout, a true predator. Why do I classify a trout as a predator? Just look at his body design, and note that his eyes are on the top of his head, and he has those 2 front "K-9 type" teeth. They almost always nail a live shrimp the headfirst - that's when delivering a killing blow is priority. I can always tell when I have just missed a trout strike. Usually the whole face of the shrimp will be gone. If the shrimp's head is intact, then the bite is from a Bluefish, Black drum, Flounder or Redfish. Also Sea trout prefer live shrimp. Rarely have I caught a trout on a dead shrimp.

The other favorite inshore species seems to be the Redfish. I don't actually classify a redfish as a predator. When you look at a redfish, his eyes are looking down and a lot of your redfish bites are going to come from fishing very close to the bottom. They will take fiddler crabs, small blue crabs, mantis shrimp, live shrimp, and dead shrimp. A redfish will root around on the bottom looking for the above-mentioned bait.

However when we have a New Moon or a Full Moon, then expect tides in the 8 to 10 foot range. This will allow the Redfish to go way up in the Marsh and root around. This is when they often can be seen tailing. If you have a flats boat this is a good time to target these fish and try to sight cast to them. Even though he might not be in the same class as a sea trout, a nice redfish will give your equipment a real workout. If you are fishing a traditional 9-inch float, you will see it completely disappear, and that bite is usually a sea trout bite. When a Redfish takes the bait from the same outfit, often the cork is pulled sideways by the hooked fish.

Currently in Georgia (2008) the slot size limit for a redfish is 14 - 23 inches, and the limit is 5 per angler. Any redfish over 18 inches will give you a great fight on light gear.

It is common in late April and early May to catch some really big redfish out in the Salt pond area, easily up to 35 inches. These fish often are not very red, as they have just migrated into the sound from the ocean. Besides catching these quality fish in the sound, you can catch them up the Savannah and Back Rivers. These fish tend to have a much deeper red color to them.

You will find that Sea trout and Red fish inhabit the same areas. When fishing Wassaw Sound, I usually like to target both species about 2 hours after low tide and fish for them all the way through the high tide and all the way to almost low tide. I like to find areas of dead oyster shells that have points and pockets with a good current flow. Also Redfish and flounder both like thin grassy areas around the points. If the water clarity is dirty, then that knocks out trout fishing, but the redfish is always rooting around and can smell your bait. I also like fishing with any of the popping corks, but the Inticer cork have turned out to be a really good cork to use. It makes a unique sound that definitely attracts both trout and redfish.

When fishing for redfish in the Back River, I like fishing the last hour of incoming and the first couple hours of the outgoing. I like using a traditional float when fishing above the floodgates. It's been my experience to use a float that has a black bottom. Not sure why it makes a difference, but it does. I look for where the grass has two levels, sort of like porch steps. At low tide you can see the lower level and at high tide, you know it's there and covered with water. The Redfish seem to cruise right over the lower level grass, next to the higher grass.

Redfish loves structures as well. It can be a broken pipe or clusters of abandon dock pilings. Some of the bigger redfish that I have caught have been where the channel of the river might be 25 feet, but up near the riverbank it has risen to a depth of only 6 feet. The redfish cruise in the channel, but come up into the shallow water to feed. 

So no matter if your prefer to fish the Inland Savannah River system or the beautiful Wassaw sound area, Redfish are there to be caught. Another tool that I use is a fishing log. It doesn't matter if you write it or use a computer program, it's best to try and keep a log book of your fish days and catcher or not!.

Things to record:
Date of the trip
What species you caught
Where you caught the fish ( longitude / latitude)
Water and Air Temperature
Barometer - rising or falling
Tidal information for your location and WHAT TIDAL STAGE (very important)
Time of your catch in relation to the tides
Bait used
Water Clarity
Wind Direction and forceEven if you get skunked - write it down. That gives you information on what to avoid.

OFFSHORE

Near Shore and offshore waters can be very interesting especially at this time of the year!  Trolling or bottom fishing "are on tap" with interesting possible fish bites to be had! The secret is to be prepared and confident in what you are going to use for bait whether it's the real thing or not!

Back in the old days we only had and use certain baits, because others hadn't been invented yet. It seems though that back in those days all we used worked and we didn't know any better anyway! I guess what I am trying to get across is the fact that use what you have, trust that it will work, and most of the time it will!

Here are few shorts that can help you feel better about the way that you might fish!

Lets talk a little about bottom fishing: A fish eats your bait, because it looks or smells good. Before the fish eats it on some occasions it's watched first other times not so much. So therefore when bottom fishing and all you have is presentation on the hook itself smell is a strong factor unless you add movement to it…. Now comes the part where movement is added meaning moving your rod tip up and down or just letting the current move your bait. So therefore the bottom bait used needs to be cut small and close to the hook's point or long and stripped so that the it can be take on movement from the ocean currents!

When fishermen troll their baits, bites received are not thought about, but rather "triggered." Fish hit trolled baits for many reasons: it could have just happened to be in their personal zone, they hit it before another fish did, it caught their attention, or heck they might be just hungry and want a quick snack! I could go on forever on this subject and I'm sure as you read this you could throw a few of your ideas in…. The bottom line to this situation is that in most cases anything your troll that even resembles a swimming fleeing fish will get some sort of bite action…some baits more than others!

Offshore bait substitutes can be found in your cooler or at the fish market
I'm not talking about squid; I call it "fish bellies"…. It really doesn't matter which fish you get it from just use it. It's very durable bait, which can be re used after freezing. There is even better news refreezing over and over is popular with this bait! Belly strips can be used for trolling or bottom fishing. Stomach walls are protected on the outside as well as the inside and they are easy to cut into shapes that work best for baiting techniques used. The best bellies strips that I have used came from sharks, king mackerel, tuna, Spanish mackerel, dolphin and Wahoo. The bottom line to this suggestion is that it's available and it doesn't cost anything!

Offshore baitfish tricks
When using larger live bottom baits such as sand perch, rock bass, or vermilion snapper it's always best to loosen up a few scales before sending them to the bottom. When the loose scales start to shed, these little calling cards chum the fish bite up. Here's what happens..the smaller fish are attracted bringing on a larger bite suitable for the bait used. The best hook to use in this situation is a 13/0 circle hook. The reason being is that it gives the larger fish time to eat, because there is no setting of the hook involved. Have a great weekend! I'm going fishing!

FRESHIES REPORT!

Jerry LaFavor has been there and done that!
I received an email from Jerry LaFavor, which contained some great fishing information. He offered up some good change ups from freshwater to saltwater baits. According to Jerry one of the best baits for a cobia while patrolling the flats is the old 12 " black or grape plastic eel. This bait works just as well as a live crab, eel, or menhaden. There are more pluses to the old worm's column; it's mush less expensive in regards to time as well as money.

For those targeting king mackerel, Jerry suggests giving the old fresh water spinner baits a try. Wooden top water plugs are great when targeting striped bass. This is one of those old time suggestions, which works with style!

Jerry has a tip to offer up when trying to get that finicky snook to take your bait offered. According to Jerry the only way to hook up a snook when in the finicky mode is to "free line" the bait back to the fish. This is almost a guarantee, at least for the moment, for getting hook up! Although snook isn't considered a fish we find in the coastal areas of Savannah about three were landed last year. This all boils down to "when you fish anywhere you never know what you might catch!" I guess that's why the lure of fishing is so popular! Thanks Jerry LaFavor III for sending such a great informative email!

Little Miss Judy Believe It or Not!"

Old Time Out Riggers!
Part Two
My father's outriggers were something else. I have to admit they did do the job. However, in the looks department it was a little confusing…

Store bought outriggers are made so that they can swing in out from the boat. There are bracket made to hold outriggers at a certain angle. When under "fast making way mode" outriggers should be pulled tight to the boat. In the case of fishing, you let them out like dropping a set of wings. In my father's case there were no brackets made much less used to hold his homemade outriggers. All he did was drill a hole through the swinging pipe and through the stationery section, line them up, and pushed a nail through to hold them. When he wanted the outriggers in the down and fishing mode there was another hole drilled for this stage. I have to admit lining the hole up in rough sea conditions was a little hard, but it worked never the less. The best part was the string that held the nail, which was attached to the boat. No matter how many times you dropped it, the good news was you didn't lose it!

Here's my line now bite my hook!

Captain Judy