Captain Judy's inshore offshore monthly fishing forecast

During the month of July inshore fishing can be steady, that is if you are ready!

For those inshore fishermen that just want to catch fish I suggest purchasing or catching some live shrimp. This is the number one bait that all fish like. With that being said, “Your chances for hooking up when baiting up with live shrimp are very good!” And the bottom line is that all fish like to eat shrimp, because it’s easy for them to catch, it’s easy eat, and they are just like us, they just plain love the taste! Our captains have been catching their own live shrimp for the last couple of months. They, of course, have their secret spots, but since there is shrimp in the creeks you can most likely catch them too! And it is fun too!

Here are few tips about catching shrimp at this time of the year. As soon as the water leaves the grass is a great starting time. Most shrimp during this time are caught in less than 5 feet of water. Our captains are using a 6 to 8 foot cast net with 3/8 mesh for bait shrimp. After polling everyone I have found that the Betts “Hi-Tider cast net is one brand that is preferred especially at this time of the year. And it seems lighter weights on these nets are the way to go when targeting shrimp. I suggest doing a little checking and talking with a Betts dealer so that you can find you a net that fits you prefect. Also I suggest checking all current state regulations making sure that your net size used is legal for what you trying to catch and keep. Please know that there are different regulations for bait and food shrimp!

Now, if you can’t buy or catch live shrimp you will have to go into the improvising mode, which mean use what’s available. During this time the creeks are full of peanut menhaden. They can stay pretty healthy if you don’t try to keep too many alive in your well at once. In the back of creeks there are schools of very small finger mullet and they are perfect bite size. The mud minnows especially during these leans live shrimp times have really saved us. This bait can be caught using a minnow trap baited with bacon, cat food, or saltines. I have one captain that swears that if you put a small McDonald burger in the trap the muds just can’t turn away. Now what hits these improvised baits? The larger versions of spotted sea trout, flounder, and red fish! The secret to using these baits is that you have to give the larger fish time to eat!

When it comes to fishing with live shrimp, finger mullet, peanut menhaden, or mud minnows there are several good presentations: There is the traditional adjustable float, which comes in all sizes from super large to mini sizes. The ever popular popping cork, which when popped makes a sound just like a fleeing live shrimp. The only down side to using this float is your length of leader used restricts you to depth of water fished. The leader shouldn’t be longer than 4 feet and can’t be shorter than 12 inches. I suggest using this float when fishing in depths from 2 to 6 feet of water. Then there is “fishing naked!” Most fishermen want to do this, because the weather is so hot. No I am not talking about taking your clothes off! When fishing naked all you do is tie on a short leader to your main line and then tie on a small Kahle hook. Then I suggest placing the hook under the shrimp’s horn located on top of the head and letting the shrimp make its own way. When it comes to using peanut menhaden, finger mullet or mud minnows I suggest lip hooking them. Or another hooking up method is placing the hook right behind the dorsal fin. It’s a known fact that all baits once laced on a hook will try to go where they feel safe and it’s also a known fact that larger fish have already figured the bait’s game of hide and seek out.

Shark fishing is very good during this time of the year. Lots of sharks are being landed while fishing in the sounds, off the beach fronts, around surfacing schooling baits, and while fishing all points east. Since it is my opinion that it is shark mating season time it seems that they are a little more lively offering a longer/stronger fight. As far as the tackle it really doesn’t matter whether or not you are light tackle fishing with smaller baits or heavy tackle fishing with larger baits your chances of having a great fish fight is very good!

Best baits to use when shark fishing is just about anything you got on hand. I have caught them on shrimp, cut fish, whole live, and whole dead fish. My number one bait used is what I call a fish steak. What is a fish steak? It is any size whole fish cut up like a loaf of bread. Since sharks are free to roam any depth of the water column …fishing from the bottom to the surface are great areas to present your preferred bait. Why? A shark’s keen scent of smell is unbelievable. Even the smallest drop of blood or scent from bait such as a fish steak can be detected from long distances.

For those fishermen fishing in shore or near shore I suggest picking up a copy of 2019 Georgia Sport Fishing Regulations booklet. This booklet is full of information that fishermen need when it comes to fish identification, explanation of rules/regulations, and some really interesting helpful reading facts. For those that are reaching for the catching stars I suggest checking out the current Georgia saltwater game fish records and deciding which one you want to personally break!

Offshore Options! Our beachfronts and artificial reefs are holding some pretty interesting top water catching opportunities! I call the month of July the “If you can see the fish you can catch them month!” Top water fish such as Spanish/king mackerel, barracuda, little tunny, jack crevalle, and cobia have arrived! All fish will hit anything from a small trolled lures to a spoon being pulled slowly behind your boat. Another way to get one of these fish’s biting attentions is to cast right into the school of fish. The best thing that I can suggest is that you “match the hatch!” This means that you match the size of bait you use to the fish’s mouth that you are targeting.. For instance: Let’s start with Spanish mackerel, little tunny, and jack crevalle their favorite meal is glass minnows and juvenile squid. Small silver spoons sizes “0 and 00” made by Clark are the best to use and do a darn good job of imitating the real thing. Now don’t get me wrong there are lots of different kinds of spoons on the tackle shelves, but the Clark spoon with the red ball is proven by fish many times over. When targeting the larger fish such as king mackerel and barracuda then I suggest using a larger spoon. The best spoon for this job is a 3 ½ inch Drone. And if you really want to get a barracuda’s attention try using a fresh dead or alive Spanish mackerel. The secret when using a fresh dead Spanish mackerel is to pick the fish that looks the shiniest!

We got a cobia season! So if you catch you can keep! When targeting cobia, which is the fish that looks like a shark or a large catfish in the water, I suggest using a 6 to 8 inch diving plug or a hair jig tipped plastic eel/worm type. Hands down the best jig for this catching job is called Cobia Candy Blue Thunder. Go to https://nuts-and-bolts-of-fishing-bo.../on-line-store and order some today.

If you happen to have some live bait in your live well anything from shrimp to small fish works like a charm on the old cobia! It’s this fish’s delight to look it over before sucking it down! The secret to unlocking or better yet “lock this bite” is to give them time to eat!

Savannah snapper Banks Blue water fish in green water!
Those fishermen in your boat or mine that make way to this live bottom area, which is located about 30 miles off Georgia’s coast, could find themselves catching anything from billfish to a Yahoo Wahoo! And there is a good reason too! When the waters west of the stream reach the same temperatures blue water fish go into the traveling mode. They make way to the west, which means it is not unusual to catch them at the Savannah Snapper Banks! Heck not only there, but also this could also happen at any of the artificial reefs! Just know that catching options at the banks are great this time of the year, because you could catch anything from grouper to red snapper to cobia to amberjack to all kinds of bottom fish! Back to the old saying, “You don’t know if you don’t go!”

Before heading out I always suggest giving http://safmc.net/ and take a look see. I suggest if you are fishing offshore whether it at the artificial reefs or all the way out to the blue waters of the stream, that you should have a copy of these rules and regulations on your boat. The main closer at this time is genuine red snapper, which is closed to harvest and possession. However, if you want to target and keep genuine red snapper the open dates for this month are Friday July 12, Saturday July 13, and Sunday July 14, 2019 and Friday July 19 and Saturday July 20, 2019. For more details please go to http://safmc.net/ and print out a copy of the regulations

Gulf Stream High Speed Trolling! There is old saying, which no longer is associated with the month of July. Blue water fishermen used to say, “When the month of July rolls around the “blue water bite slows!” However, since things have changed “We Georgia fishermen have a blue water bite year around!” And all of this boils down to once again, you don’t know if you don’t go! Here’s a suggestion when going to the blue water during the month of July….I suggest high speed trolling starting at about 50 feet of water and pulling this lure or lures until you pull the throttles back. (Best high speed lures are http://ballyhood.com/high_speed_lures.htm Just buy them they work!)

And if dragging lures and baits doesn’t work I suggest giving bottom fishing a try. The fish that feed deep down under are bigger and better than you think during this time. As far as best bottom live bait, I suggest menhaden, sand perch, ruby red lips also known as tomtates, vermilion snapper, pinfish, or blue runners. Actually any hardy live bait will work. And how do you catch these baits? You can catch your own with a sabiki rig, which they just can’t seem to pass up. As far as the menhaden I suggest breaking out the old cast net and loading up before departing the sound area. Here’s another great bottom bait suggestion, I suggest cutting a belly strip from one of those just caught top water fish in your cooler! The type of fish does not matter. Belly strips cut from amberjack, sharks, little tunny, king mackerel, Wahoo, and etc will work. The fact of the matter is any fish will work!

If you don’t want to use bait there is always jigging, which is very effective in deeper water. I suggest a williamson-lures-benthos-speed-jig (5 to 8 ounces) on braided line. I like using 80 pound test braided line. I suggest adding a line to line leader of about 4 feet of 60/80 pound monofilament or fluorocarbon. This jig is made for high speed vertical jigging. Best way to work this jig is to let it free drop to the bottom and if you don’t get hooked up I suggest doing this: Reel your jig about 10 feet up off the bottom and work it vertically at that depth. If you don’t have any luck drop back to the bottom and repeat changing depth worked. As you can see there is lots of fish catching opportunities for the month of July! Good luck!

Thanks for reading! Captain Judy Helmey Miss Judy Charters








Captain Judy Helmey
www.missjudycharters.com
912 897 4921