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  • Little Fishing Feet

    “Little Miss Judy’s Believe It or Not!”


    I published this story on January 22, 2006 after the passing of my long time friend Kitty Strozier. Kitty was a long time resident of Tybee Island, Georgia. She had a wonderful soul! Believe me time flies much too fast and I think of her often! I been asked to publish the stories I wrote about her. So here goes Kitty Strozier story number one! September 18 2019 fishing report


    It has been purchased, made beautiful once again, and to get information on possibly renting this wonderful cottage on Tybee Island, Georgia or learning more about stiff Kitty’s go to face book ...Stiff Kitty's Cottage and/or go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/6134...8767909047926/
    You know you grew up at Tybee (The posted conversations and information is priceless!)

    Great friends going fishing!




    This is a fun photo for sure!


    My father with his famous cap and King Edward cigar, Captain Sherman I Helmey, Captain Chuck Fischer Wilmington Island, and me Captain Judy Helmey at the helm! And Yep that’s Kitty Strozier Tybee Island who owned and lived in Stiff Kitty’s for a long as I can remember! Don’t you just love Kitty’s expression? It basically says it all! No matter where Kitty was her presences was definitely known and in a grand way too!
    (Stiff Kitty’s was the name of her cottage)


    Little Fishing Feet
    My good friend Kitty loved to go deep-sea fishing. Back in the real old days I would have what we called “the girls yearly fishing trip!” We would load the old Miss Judy boat up with so much stuff that her water line would temporarily be changed for the day. Bag after bag was brought onboard as if we were going for days rather than just for usual 12 to 14 hours. At any rate, after the loading off we would go. Everyone was always on time, because they all knew that the fish were waiting for us! We hadn’t pushed off good before everyone on board was talking about who was going to catch the biggest fish. As our arrival time to the fishing grounds got closer the bets and the previous fish landings got bigger. This just goes to show you a fish no matter whether it is in the water swimming or not the tales still do grow! And that is why fishing is so much fun! The not knowing what you are going catch and how big that sucker just might be!


    I remember this one trip where Kitty was sitting on the gunnels of the boat with her rod in one hand and holding on with the other one. It was a little rough that day, but it didn’t matter to us seasoned fishermen. The day was about over, we had caught quite a few fish, but no really big ones to speak of. However, we still had at least another good hour of fishing left before we had to head in. I looked back just in time to see Kitty basically fall off her present perch and on to the deck she landed. A little drinking and wave action might have been involved!


    Her rod was still in her hand and the laughing was quite loud. As Kitty began to stand up she felt a large pull on her line. Apparently when her feet slipped out from under her she fell a “hook-set was installed.” For those of you that don’t know Kitty she had very little feet, which meant for balance especially on the boat, she danced a lot to keep from falling. Well, in the case of having a big fish on and the boat also rocking her feet were definitely doing overtime in the moving/dancing department. Kitty was rocking, dancing, and smiling big as she reeled her large catch to the boat. We watched knowing that this was probably going to be the biggest fish of the day. As Kitty reeled anticipation raged!


    Back in the old days I don’t ever remember carrying a dip net as we do this day and time. It’s probably a good thing especially in Kitty’s case. The large gag grouper was not only the catch of the day but also of the year. This all boils down to the fact that Kitty’s fish wouldn’t have fit in the net anyway. With a large smile on her face, that I can still remember today, and those feet that would hardly keep her balanced, Kitty held the big grouper up dancing all the way! No music needed!


    I don’t have to tell you about the ride home, because you can already figure about how that went. To this day I don’t know whether the fish hit or her own move while trying to adjust those tidy feet caused the great memorable fall. However, the bottom line to this whole story is that “sometimes when you fall there is a catch!




    Dedicated to my friend Kitty Strozier February 6, 1949-Januray 9, 2006
    This is Kitty Strozier and one of her most interesting pets. Meet Dewberry! Dewberry went everywhere with Kitty! And heck you might not see him, Why? Because he was always in Kitty’s purse along with her camera and her xzat-tow-knives! And this was far before dogs were accepted like humans! However, Dewberry was a sincere exception! Dedicated to my friend Kitty Strozier February 6, 1949-January 9, 2006
    Thanks for reading! Captain Judy