Fishing statement: To try to insure that fishing stays in the hearts of those that love it and to help the ones that are going too!
An offshore fish catching story that needs to be told!
Chris Cochran Guyton is holding up his just caught gag grouper! Captain Judy approves and showed him the way! Since Robert McKinnon provided the perfect size vermilion as bait we all think that he should get some of the glory! Thank you Robert!
Let’s set the stage first! Robert McKinnon of Hughes Supply Company booked and took....
Bubba Cribbs of Cribbs and Son Plumbing, Rincon Georgia, Chris Cochran of Cochran Plumbing Guyton, Addison Pulley rep for Pulley & Associates Marietta. And what happened? This group of four turned into “My Dream Fishing Team!” Why? Because they just wanted to spend a day on the ocean, do a little fishing, and some catching, that’s if the darn fish were biting! I (Captain Judy) and Captain Kathy Brown (first mate) was their crew for the day! It was a beautiful sunny day, no wind, predicted less than two foot sea conditions, sunny and I could go on, but I think you get the picture.
Ok....don’t panic this picture was taken many years ago before the “Steer Clear of Whales!” It is illegal to approach and remain within 500 yards of a right whale! Believe me this picture was taken when film was used! Anyhow this is a right whale and it was my theory that these whales stood on the bottom and stuck their heads up to take a look around. The particular right whale must have liked what it saw, because it stayed in this position and we drifted along with it for quite a while.
Back to the fishing trip...
After powering up at the old Oglethorpe Hotel better known as the Savannah Inn and Country Club we only slowed down one time for a quick nature break! As we made way to the Savannah Snapper Banks we all talked about many different things on our 2 hour boat ride. I always suggest to everyone, especially during this time of the year to watch out for right whales. And then I always say, “And the great white sharks!” Normally right whales migrate through our area starting in December and that’s about the time the sharks arrive. Why? The right whale is one of the great white’s greatest food sources! Why? When they die, they don’t sink they float! The fact of the matter is in the old whaling days this is how this whale got its name Right Whale. This was due to the fact that it was the right whale to kill!
Once arriving in about 100 feet of water, we baited up, and made our first drop, which didn’t yield much action. At the second drop we had about the same no go action! So I decided to keep trying spots looking for that Honey Hole! I told the guys that I was going to limit each spot by only making two drifts, which as it turned out helped us cover more area quicker.
Chris Cochran Guyton, Georgia is showing us that this jabbing trigger fish jabbed a little too long!
As drifts went on, the fishermen caught an assortment of fish at most spots with some being keepers while others were not. (Vermilion snapper, trigger fish, black sea bass, white grunt, and etc) I can say one thing for sure, “There was no shortage of genuine red snapper hook ups! I stopped counting snapper when I reached number 23. And they came in assortment of sizes from peanuts to sows! Most of the time when we got in a school of hungry snapper that is all we caught! Why? Snapper are known for holding and feeding in the upper water column. This means your bait most likely will not make it to the bottom before a red snapper hits it. My fishermen were using two hook rigs, which meant both hooks had nice snapper on each one! So therefore when the genuine snapper took over the spot I moved on.
Our Captain Kevin Rose of Miss Judy Charters has been doing a little fun fishing, but in his case you could really call it catching! Nice Sheepshead for sure! I love the winter time colors that fish sport this time of the year! Break, Break now is the time to start considering scheduling your offshore artificial sheepshead fishing trip.
2019 Captain Judy’s Inshore/Offshore Fishing Clinics
February 23, 2019 Saturday and February 24, 2019 Sunday
On inshore/offshore boats in the water
$150.00 per person for inshore
$150.00 per person for offshore
Morning departures
Time: 8:00AM till12:00 NOON
Afternoon departures
Time: 1 PM till 5:00 PM
Snacks and drinks provided by Captain Judy Place: Miss Judy Charters dock
202 Wilmington Island Road, Savannah, Georgia 31410
912 897 4921 for more details!
Did you know that a sheepshead can hit a fiddler so fast that it can **** the insides out leaving only the empty shell left on your hook? This fish makes this feeding move so quick that you don’t even feel it even while paying attention and holding rod! And this is why I am always saying to my customers, “Check your fiddler up close and personal, because all you might be using for bait is a perfect cleaned out shell!” These clean out fiddler shell make for great Christmas presents! Why? Not too much smell and makes for a great conversation piece!
On the freshwater side...we have
While inshore with Captain Garrett Ross of Miss Judy Charter Mickey Holbrook (guide on Lanier) took what is better known a serious busman’s holiday! Long time friend Captain Garrett showed Mickey the saltwater catching way! And I am sure when the timing is right Captain Garrett might take Mickey up on his offer to take him to do a little striped bass fishing! Now for those that want to do some saltwater inshore fishing give Miss Judy Charters, 912 897 4921, and book Captain Garrett Ross. For those of you that want to do a little fresh water fishing I highly suggest giving Mickey Holbrook owner operator of MAD GILLZ Fishing Guide Service a call. (470 262 6035) There are two things that we know for a fact ...and what is that? Our new fresh water connection is Mickey Holbrook! And I approved this message!
Addison Pulley Marietta, Georgia is holding his just landed amberjack sometimes referred to as reef donkey’s guarders of the reef! Why? Schools of amberjack hold in the upper water column watching over the reef and trying to eat just about anything that cares to penetrate their tight schooling pattern! Captain Kathy Brown is assisting and giving a big thumbs up!
Addison Pulley Marietta, Georgia is showing us that wonderful fish catching smile! Captain Kathy Brown is holding Addison just caught black sea bass while sharing that same grand fish catching smile!
While bottom fishing I put out a live bait, which I normally let bounce on the bottom. This rig attracts the feeding interest of some pretty interesting big fish from grouper to amberjack to sharks. However, on this day, since assorted size schools of genuine red snapper seem to have covered just about every drop I had to make a few a changes. I decided to fish my live bait around 30 feet off the bottom. The first live bait hit that we got was a nice amberjack, which Addison did a great job of catching this fish. And of course we had a few hits, which I know right off that they were large genuine red snapper. Heck, after all when you pull your line in and all you have left is the bait fish’s head minus the gill plates this normally is the calling card leftovers from a large sow snapper.
This is a small bank bass (rock fish) that I have lipped hooked to use a grouper bait. This bait fish along with ruby red lips (tomtates) sand perch, blue fish, pinfish, and others small biters will also work. The bottom line it is all about location location location!
Captain Kathy Brown is holding up a nice vermilion also known as a b-liner! I have found that using a vermilion snapper, especially during cold water times that this bait works best when targeting gag grouper!
Captain Kathy is removing Robert McKinnon’s Rincon, Georgia just caught prefect size vermilion snapper. And this is the fish that Robert gave to Chris Cochran to use for gag grouper bait! Did work? Oh, yeah it did!
Chris Cochran Guyton is holding up his just caught gag grouper! Captain Judy approves and showed him the way! Since Robert McKinnon provided the perfect size vermilion as bait we all think that he should get some of the glory! Thank you Robert!
I had couple of spots that normally holds some nice size gags at this time of the year, since it was after noon; I headed over to give that type of fishing a try. While using large barely legal (12 ½ inches) feisty vermillion snapper as bait I lipped hooked it up on a 12/0 thin tinned circle hook. The leader made of 80 pound test monofilament was approximately 14 foot long. I dropped the rig over the side and let the Carolina style rig made with an 8 ounce egg sinker fall directly to the bottom. Once on the bottom I reeled up a few feet and dropped the bait back a few feet. A grouper, especially a gag, when it sees something it wants to eat, well then, it eats it. It doesn’t snack on it, it slams it or should I say “inhales it with genuine force!” However, to successfully hook up you must understand this fish’s feeding demeanor in respect to the bait rig that you’re using.
In our case, as described, I was using a large circle hook, which I placed through the lips of the vermilion. I placed the hook behind the lips from bottom to top of the bait fish’s head. This hook up allows bait to move somewhat freely. It also prompts a more solid bite. Once a grouper is lured in by your bait, its curiosity gets the best of it. This big mouth big lipped grouper nudges the bait trying to **** it down head first. This is your first indication that you got a grouper at your bait. It’s not a solid hit, it is not a snatch and run, it basically what I call a “nudge!” This is the best time to perform a controlled free spooling move. How do you do this? Release the bail, lightly hold your thumb on the line, let your bait fall naturally back to the bottom, and then keep it there. Here’s what could happen next? The grouper is going to be very unhappy due to the fact it tried to eat this fish head first, but when it tried it hit the leader. Once the grouper hit the leader the bait first was pushed away confusing, but only for a moment the whole feeding ordeal. This is where it is going to get real for sure. The grouper, now very upset as well as confused, is now going to hit this bait fish with all it has got. And yes it is going to swallow it tail first which is hard to do. It may take a couple of gulps or two to get it inside it mouth to swallow, but if patience’s on your end is allowed you could be having grouper for dinner!
Once hooked up the grouper is going to run straight on the bottom back to it home base, which is the ledge in which it lives. You do not want this to happen. So therefore you have got to disorient the fish as soon as possible and do all of this without putting too tension on the drag. A couple of side to side rod moves can help to make this happen. However, don’t ever underestimate the power that this fish has once it set its sights on the ledge in which it just came out of. Once this fish gets on its imaginary tracks it hard to stop a train! This is why I call them Freight Train Pulling Grouper!
Robert McKinnon Rincon, Georgia has hooked up a big reef shark and has been fighting it for over 30 minutes. Captain Kathy is just giving Robert a little moral support!!
On our next spot I headed over the Desperation Point, which is a ledge that normally does not let me down especially in the action department. On the first drop everyone hooked up a double genuine red snapper! The live line, which was being fish at 40 off the bottom, started getting some hits. The customers were bailing red snaps and Captain Kathy was venting and releasing them back to the wild. A fish hit the live bottom live line and it started peeling off line. It was Robert’s turn; he picked up the rod, and a grand fish fight starting taking place. After about 15 minutes into the fight we all concurred it must be a big shark. Why? If we had hooked up a grouper, amberjack or red snapper these fish normally lose their fight after about 15 minutes. In other words the fisherman holding the rod can get more line in than is being pulled out. Now, when fighting a 5 foot plus, which turned out to be a 7 foot shark, the pulling agenda is quite a bit different. A shark is a very strong fighter and most of the time doesn’t even know it is hooked up! Robert did a great job of handling this fish and getting it to the surface so that we could get a picture.
This is a close up of Robert McKinnon’s Rincon, Georgia shark! And that’s about as close as we got!
Addison Pullet Marietta had one genuine snapper, Robert McKinnon Rincon had two Bubba Cribbs Rincon had two. We already released one and we are attempting to get the rest back in the water....
After getting numerous pictures of Robert’s shark I decided that I would make one last stop and then call it a day! So we departed Desperation Point and headed over to Daddy’s Way! As soon as we arrived everyone was ready to drop and they did! When their baits hit the bottom they all hooked up! Yep! Everyone had either one or two genuine red snapper.
It is not a very good picture, but believe me it was a big great white shark for sure! Everyone on the boat got to see it! I tried, Captain Kathy tried to get to the camera, but from between looking and trying to move fast we all failed!
As we released the red snappers a large shadow appeared right by the boat. It was a big great white shark, not just 10 foot, but maybe closer to 14 foot. I started screaming as it passed by the stern of the boat. Captain Kathy was trying to get the camera out of the box and by the time she did the shark was still here but was very busy down under eating.
After a few minutes of saying, “Did you see that? To that was the biggest darn shark I have ever seen! To I am never swimming in the ocean again to don’t anyone fall in the water!” So, then we pulled it all -together, re-grouped, re-baited, and I moved back to the spot that normally hold some nice grouper at this time of the year. My thoughts all along are this big shark is going to stay around as long as there is a food source. Sure enough I pull up on the spot and we dropped all bottom rigs. Everyone hooked up and once again we got more red snapper. So we quickly released at the non keepers and kept the legal black sea bass. Then the big rod went screaming out! It was Bubba’s turn and he pick up the rod! All I could say, “Please reel regular and don’t stop!” And he did just that!!!
Bubba Cribbs Rincon Georgia caught the last grouper of the day. Captain Kathy Brown is showing us the bait that Bubba used! We did hook up another grouper! However, the large great white shark ate it got hooked up and everyone on board got a chance to fight this fish. So a big congratulation goes out to Bubba Cribbs, Chris Cochran, Addison Pulley, and Robert McKinnon! Why? They took turns fighting the great white until I have to set it free! Why? It was past time to head home! We chased the great white for what seemed like hours.. When we finally stopped the fight we were about 35 miles offshore. We hooked the shark up at 31 miles offshore...When did we get back to the dock? Way after dark!
Just to recap! I have been taking people fishing for over 53 years and just when I thought it couldn’t get better it really did! Well, I love my customers and I love my job! A Big thanks goes out to you all!!!!!
Bubba Cribbs Rincon Georgia caught the last grouper of the day
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