• Savannah Fishing Report - GA Part Two

    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 Fishing Report - GA Part Two

    Savannah Snapper Banks

    Kevin Tucker Augusta, Georgia is holding up a large almaco jack, which caught while offshore fishing with Captain Kennickell of Miss Judy Charters




    Casey McCoy Brooklet, Georgia which caught the large amberjack while offshore fishing with Captain Kennickell of Miss Judy Charters




    Joey Scott Brooklet, Georgia is holding this pretty good size amberjack which he caught while offshore fishing with Captain Kennickell of Miss Judy Charters



    Offshore Genuine and Shark infested Savannah Banks Report
    Now don’t get me wrong, the fishing at the banks is very good and on some occasions to darn good. It is ok for customers that don’t want to keep much fish and also for those that do!


    For those that don’t want to keep fish your options for a rod bending arm wearing out situation is endless! While plain old bottom fishing, you could find yourself catching some of the biggest genuine red snapper that we have ever seen. Heck and they just keep getting bigger! As you know you cannot keep any size or amount of genuine red snapper. According to those in the know this species of fish have been greatly diminished by years and years of over fishing! Well, it is my opinion as well as many others, not just off the Georgia Coast that this is not true. However, it is my thoughts that those responsible supposedly for saving this greatly diminished stock need to get their head out of the sand. And I have said way too much, but this is how I feel!
    And while I am in the mood to complain, let’s talk about the strong solid shark population. This is another fish that is greatly protected. We hook up and bring a lot of large sharks to our boat. One serious reason that we have so many sharks around our boat when we are bottom fishing is the fact that they are very capable of picking up any blood scent and also the stress signals of the fish being reeled to the top!


    Once we get the bottom or top fish to boat, they ones that don’t get eaten first, we keep the legal keepers and we release the rest. The rest equals to genuine red snapper of assorted sizes. And what does this do for the powerful plentiful toothy monsters below, it feeds them. Where you got one shark there are likely more to come, because of the free food. Believe me, some of the red snapper are more than a mouth full!


    I saw a video that someone took of numerous size sharks schooling around a beachfront pier. Well, it is a known fact that as long as you provide food the sharks will stay to feed. And why wouldn’t they? Stop the food and the sharks will move on! When we get shark frenzy around my boat, what do I do? I bring in all the lines, move to another spot, and repeat. When the sharks find us again I repeat and then repeat.


    Now for those of you out there in the fishing world that want to target a large shark this is the place to visit. We take a lot of fishermen out there in the fishing world that have catching a big shark on their bucket list. The shark is one of the strongest pulling fish on the ocean. It has a lasting passion for survival and is will to fight until the end. It is strong and can make strong long runs. When we target a fish like this we use the right stuff meaning the proper tackle! I want my customers to get the chance to pull on this fish and worry too much about breaking the line. Even when using strong tackle it is still possible to break your fish off. However, if you follow the rules of not tighten your drag too much and knowing when to reel and not, things will look very good in being able to document your catch! Believe me we will help you with this. However, you will be the one reeling, holding the rod, reeling, and trying to hold the rod. Occasionally, especially after about an hour of hard reeling and not getting much line back on the reel, we will bring out the harness! What does this do? Well, it helps your back a bunch! But no matter what you still got to reel and do a lot of walking about on the deck!



    When one of my customers get a big shark hooked up I have several signature retrieving moves. The first is too back up as far as you can on the deck. When walking forward, I suggest reeling in as much line as you can. This move quite often confuses the hooked fish and causes them make a turn. I call this “Changing the fish’s mind!” Another suggestion is to brace yourself at the gunnel and pull your rod up strong, but not wildly. With rod in the high position, I suggest slowly dropping it while taking in any slack. I call this “the head turner move.” It seems a big fish such as a shark, once it feels this move; it tends to move its head a bit side to side. When the fish does this it usually goes hard right or hard left. No matter the turn it will be your time to get some line back on the reel! And then there is the standoff mode. This is where the big fish seemly isn’t moving and you aren’t or can’t reel in any line. I call this “you rest he rests mode!”





    David Miller and his son Christopher Miller visiting from Blue Ash, Ohio are back fishing with us once again! Christopher is holding his father’s just caught soon to be released genuine red snapper. I told you they were getting bigger!



    Christopher Miller Blue Ash, Ohio is holding up a nice white grunt better known to the locals as a hog fish! According to stories told the state of Florida made a fortune way back in the old restaurant days advertising on the menu their signature “grits and grunts!” How do I know this? My father and I, way before I-95, traveled a lot to the south down scenic Highway 17 South. And once crossing the Georgia Florida line all seafood restaurant served “Grits and Grunts.” In our case, it was grits, grunts, and lots of ketchup! My father always had to pay extra for that bottle ketchup that he ate! Now I know when Christopher reads this, he is going to smile, because guess who likes ketchup too?





    Christopher Miller Blue Ash, Ohio is holding up a nice genuine soon to be released red snapper. And of course we have Captain Kathy Brown of Miss Judy Charters smiling for us big time! And once this fish was released along came the biggest shark and what did it do? Well, you guessed it; it had a quite lunch before moving on. And we moved too, because too many sharks had started schooling around the boat. Could we see them? Yes we could!



    Yep, here you go! This is the first shark of the day of the day making a strong pass. Why? Christopher landed a big snapper and all this shark was waiting for was the release!



    David Miller Blue Ash, Ohio hooked up a big boy! It was a very big strong running shark!



    David Miller Blue Ash, Ohio got his shark to the boat and it was big one for sure! Once we took this picture, we released it back to the wild to feed another day! I have to wonder, how many red snapper do you think this shark ate on this fish day?



    As soon as we released David’s shark Christopher Miller Blue Ash, Ohio hooked up another big shark! Captain Kathy Brown and Christopher were both happy, because as they were smiling the shark was peeling off line. It was basically “smoking the line!”
    See the cloud in the distance? Well, I had been watching it on my radar for quite a while. I knew we were directly in its path and I was hoping that Christopher got his fish to the boat before we had to move due to turbulent weather situation. I had already seen a small funnel cloud drop a tail, but it didn’t stay too long on the water. So therefore, no water spout was created!



    Christopher Miller Blue Ash, Ohio did a fine quick reeling job and successfully brought this big sea monster of a shark to the boat. And it wasn’t a moment too soon either. We touched the leader several times confirming “we got the shark!” And then we cut the line! Why? The weather quickly was upon us!



    We didn’t have any time to make ready to depart, so I just headed toward home. The storm followed closely for about one hour. And here’s what it did. I started tracking two major spots in the storm. When tracking the storm it would tell me direction and speed of the storm. The first spot was heading the same direct I was, which was 305 degrees. And believe it or not but we were making 21 knots and so was this part of the storm. The other section of the storm that I was tracking took an entirely different track or should I say, “Stance?” It was heading same direction same speed. However, there were times where this part of the storm would show a counter clock wise move showing speeds of up to 45 knots. And then as if a switch was flipped, this area would slowly go back to the original speed and track. This happened about four times in an hour. I watched as the storm seemly like it was following us move ever so slightly more to the north. This storm basically was moving more north of North West than not!

    Now this strange move within the storm could have meant that there was a small funnel cloud trying to drop, but just couldn’t make it. And my friends that was a very good thing! After about an hour the storm’s intentions were confirmed...it no longer was drafting with the Miss Judy Too! Got to love a good weather story! And before I stop..did you know that when cannons were used as main weapons on wooden war ships that defense was not the thing that they were used for. Captains of ships proclaimed and supposedly document that if you fired cannon into a funnel cloud better known as a water spout that it would dissipate. I am trying to find cannon to mount on the bow of the Miss Judy Too, just in case!! Look out weather channel we might be changing the way we are doing things!





    Mike Davenport Fort Stewart, Georgia is holding a nice genuine red snapper that he caught while bottom fishing at the Savannah Snapper Banks with Captain Kathy Brown on the Miss Judy Too! Now what can I say about this picture? Well, the fisherman is smiling, the fish knows it will soon be put back in the water, and all colors match!




    Gus Kihn Fort Stewart Georgia is holding a small composite Atlantic Sharpnose. The shark that he caught earlier took about 50 minutes to get to the boat. After it made a pass and right before heading back to the abyss we all knew holding a shark up that possibly weighted over 250 pounds was completely out of the question. So when Gus caught this more manageable shark I decided this picture would go great with the other much bigger shark tale! Captain Kathy Brown of Miss Judy Charters is smiling also and showing off her big thumbs up!





    John Reffcor Fort Stewart, Georgia is only a nice soon to be released genuine red snapper! Captain Kathy Brown of Miss Judy Charters is assisting!






    From left to right: Gus, Dan, Mike, Dennis, Ray, and John! (Fort Stewart, Georgia)

    A great fishing team!




    Thanks for reading! Captain Judy
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