• Savannah Inshore Fishing Report

    Miss Judy Charters
    http://www.missjudycharters.com
  • Miss Judy Charters provides Inshore fishing, Offshore fishing, and Gulf Stream fishing charters. Whether it's sport fishing for the serious angler or a leisurely day for the family, we have the trip for you. We have been fishing in Savannah, Tybee and adjacent waters for over 50 years. We have the knowledge for your inshore and offshore fishing adventure.

  • Savannah Inshore Fishing Report

    Once again I find myself saying what fishermen say at one time or the other! What is that? Well, the bite was better one day than the other! And there is that other saying “You should have been here yesterday!” This past weekend handed inshore fishermen plenty of inshore winds, which as you already know offered quite a bit muddy water conditions!” I believe one captain said, “The Savannah River looks like dark chocolate milk!” The bottom line was this as long as you found some clear water you could turn your fishing day in to a catching event!


    As far as best baits...well we have been thinking about three..and they are live shrimp, mud minnows, and finger mullet! Do they work? Yes they do! Here’s a tip you can use..if you planning to fish the Savannah River area. There is a lot of fresh water and sometimes your shrimp won’t make it. So therefore to you transport your shrimp properly under these not so salty conditions you need to stop the incoming water and just aerate your bait.


    As far as the catch our boats caught red fish, spotted sea trout, flounder, black drum, and whiting. In the red fish and spotted sea trout sector they caught some shorts and some legal sizes. Most of the flounder were way over 12 inches. So therefore the flat fish did make their presences known! How did they do that? They took the whole bait! Heck, we even caught one that didn’t hardily fit in the dip net!


    I get this question all of the time from inshore fishermen. How do you know where to fish? And that is a good question, because inshore fish are not just everywhere they are somewhere. So here’s a tip for this week I suggest fishing around bridges. How? You can always use an adjustable cork and keep changing depths so as to find the strike zone. Or Rig yourself up a Carolina Classic rig using a short leader and give that a try. How do you work this rig? Drop to the bottom around the structure, let it sit, and simply move by lifting your rod. Please remember when using a Carolina style rig with any sort of live bait the sinker is the only thing that sits on the bottom. And what does your bait do? It’s constantly on the move. Why are bridges great places to fish especially this time of the year? All fish are on the move and this is one area that not only holds fish all of the time, but extra fish during the fall/winter time. Fishing structure properly is just like working anything other. You got to figure out the feeding times! And Plenty of practice makes perfect!



    Offshore fishing..

    Artificial reefs are still holding top water fish from Spanish to king mackerel and barracuda! I am still reporting that the bottom bite in these areas is still on the slow side, but if you move and check enough spots, you just might catch a mess of black sea bass. To catch bottom fish such as black sea bass, white grunt, flounder, and etc on the artificial reefs you need to think outside of the box. Don’t fish the biggest spots on the reef! Go to the most isolated spots! Now I fish them all, but I know that if there is a large concentration of fish anywhere in these areas, it is going to be found while fishing an isolated area. I sometimes refer to these areas as my desperation spots! Why do I call these spot this? Well, you can catch fish there, but the bite won’t last long. So if you fish isolated areas early and then maybe visit again on the way home before finishing your day, it will most likely make your day. (And sometimes not, but well worth the catching chance! And when are desperate, it is a good plan to have)
    Savannah Snapper Banks
    I do have to report that I made it to the snapper banks this past week. We fished in about 120 feet of water, which is little more 40 miles than off the coast. It was interesting for sure. The sea conditions due to the pending passing of Hurricane Maria were a little on the convoluted side. It was not a solid 2 to 5 foot sea, but it was getting close to be a solid straight up 4 foot when I started home. After getting about 20 miles from the coast the sea were as predicted 2 to 4 feet and not so darn angry! As far as the fishing the ocean color wasn’t the norm and I believe that the just passing of Hurricane Irma (couple weeks previous) still has the bottom quite stirred up. I did notice quite a few small crabs swimming on the surface, which is an indication that bottom is still in that somewhat milky and unsettled mode. The best news is by the time you read this...Hopefully Hurricane Maria will have passed and things in the abyss will have gotten back to normal!
    I got to say, if you go I am always suggesting this area. The Savannah Snapper banks holds the attentions of different size and species of both top and bottom fish. With that being said, “It is oh so true that when put a bait in the water you really never know what might bite your hook!” I have caught the usual to most unusual top and bottom fish while just baiting up a hook. The bottom line is there is lots of action to be had when fishing these areas.
    With water temps falling a bit and less daylight it has put all fish from small to super large on notice. And what would that notice be all about? Well, Well, it is all about bulking up for not a subtle, but a darn hefty water temperature change.
    Gulf Stream
    It hasn’t happened yet, but it is going to. Pretty soon water temps will fall and all waters to the west of the stream once meeting the pretty blue warmer Gulf Stream waters will form the old winter’s edge! And what does that mean for us blue water fishermen? It’s tuna and Yahoo Wahoo time!

    At this time I normally suggest going to sstcharts.com for your free temps charts. However, the web site that we all use and have been using for many years has been temporarily closed due to some technical issues. I talked owner operator Tanya Terry and she says that will have site back up and running soon. Sstcharts.com has for years supported the fishing community while offering free fishing reports and sea surface temperature charts for those that fish from the east coast all the way out to blue waters of the stream. The fact of the matter is I hope they get it up and running soon I/we (over on the Georgia’s coast) use this site all of time to keep up with temperatures in the ocean.

    Thanks for reading! Captain Judy




    Captain Judy Helmey
    www.missjudycharters.com
    912 897 4921
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