Savana Georia Fishing Report Updated June 29, 2009
Part Two
Saltwater Inshore, Offshore, Blue Water fishing reports,
Freshies Suggestions, and “Little Miss Judy’s Believe It or Not
story! Thanks for Reading! Captain Judy
Table of Contents
Part One
Flounder Season 2009 “How to get your best shot at one of these flat fish!”
Captain Ray’s “Shadalicious Lure!”
Part Two
Offshore Savannah Snapper Banks “Etienne du Toit better known “Dream Sickle”
King Mackerel from the Beachfront to the Gulf Stream
Trolling and Strolling with The Cracker Man!
The Cracker’s Man’s Set up!
The King Mackerel Arsenal
Gulf stream “Pink and White Did It!”
Freshies Report “Sunscreen Fish Alluring Scent!”
“Little Miss Judy’s Believe It or Not!” A Question from my dear friend Phil Rodenbaugh….
Offshore Savannah Snapper Banks
Captain Kathy Brown and Etienne du Toit (pronounced: eh-tea-en duh-toy)better know and easier said “Dream Sickle”
It’s normal for me to come up with a nickname for my customers. In this particular case Etienne had some suntan lotion that smelled exactly like an old time “Dream Sickle!” Thus grouper man here became “Dream Sickle” for the entire day. DS told me that the suntan lotion “of course” wasn’t his. However, as the fish day took it’s course it was clear that the newly named “Dream Sickle” got most of the hits and caught most of the fish!” King Mackerel from the Beachfront to the Gulf Stream “Big Fish Smiles!”
Captain Kathy and “Dream Sickle” holding a nice king mackerel that was caught while trolling Drone spoons at the Savannah Snapper Banks. The king mackerel has the spoon hanging out of his mouth, which “a lure this one fish couldn’t pass up!”(3/12 Drone Spoon, sliver with royal blue back,pulled deep 30 feet behind #3 planer at 6 to 7 knots!)We caught king mackerel at the artificial reefs and the Savannah Snapper banks this past weekend. I fished old school, which is trolling Drone spoons deep in about 95 feet of water. Some kings were caught on rigged ballyhoo pulled at different depth on down riggers. Those fishermen that “went ultra light tackle used live menhaden. This bait was caught while using a cast net off the beachfront at Ossabaw and Wassaw Island area. There were a few large king mackerel caught while slow trolling the Savannah River
Area. From the beachfronts to the Gulf Stream, we have king mackerel!
Trolling and Strolling with The Cracker Man!
The Old Cracker Man, Marlin has been at it again! This time “he and crew went “king mackerel and dolphin big time!” Once the Cracker made it to the Wassaw Sea buoy, he took a heading to the Savannah Snapper banks. On board he had the standard bait, which were frozen cigar minnows and a few top-secret YO-ZURI top water plugs. Most of the plugs used were around 6 to 8 inches in length. Please remember when targeting any fish you always need to keep in mind the size fish they are eating. Just remember to “Match the Hatch” and you can’t go hook up wrong!
The Cracker’s Set up!
Once he got to the area west of the M2R6 naval tower he got his
trolling spread out. For “the real thing bait” he was using frozen cigar minnows rigged on standard light tackle “small live bait and stringer treble hooks.” In this case “some skirts” did apply. Cracker rigged the cigars as if they were alive and pulled them at different depths. For his top water plan he pulled an 8-inch YO-ZURI “mullet” look-a-like lure, which was also a hit. As far as the morning fishing things didn’t work out too well. The barracudas worked on them hard. After noon and into the afternoon is when it got exciting. The birds showed up, because the fish were too! At this point using the “chicken or the egg theory” we are not sure
which came first. However, the bottom line is “this is when the big
“smokers” came to play.” They caught pulling an array of top water plugs and rigged skirted baits keeping “The Crackers deck full of action!” The end results are what the Cracker was looking for in the first place. A 30-pound and 26-pound king mackerel! I almost forgot to mention little tunny and barracuda wasn’t their only by catch…they had “schoolie” dolphin ranging from 5 to 12 pounds! A good time was had by all!
The term “by catch” can mean different things. In the fishing world it’s not the fish you are targeting but rather what you are catching. “Kind of like targeting red snapper, but catching ruby red lips instead.” I have “Been there done that before!” In some cases it’s the fish that you do catch in order to get what you are targeting!
A King Mackerel Arsenal
Here’s a list of some of the lures that have worked in the past!
Please remember YO-ZURI is not the only plug that will. If it looks like what a King mackerel eat or thinks about eating “it will work!”
YO-ZURI
New YO-ZURI TOBIMARU Jr. floating TOBINARU SERIES it’s known for it wiggling and wobbling movement. Cast and retrieve at a slow to moderate rate.
YO-ZURI 3 D minnows fingerling, sinking suspended lures
YO-ZURI Live Bait 22-Walker PIJ R844-PCL Floating lure/soft body for deep bite
Great King Mackerel Artificial Baits
Tricks of the Trade!
Two Rigs in one!
This is a number 3 planer with 30 feet of 80-pound test line, 21/2 ounce “Judy Jig” and a set of in line 6/0 “J” style hook. This is the prefect set up for the Drone spoon…simply cut the hooks off, slide the 21/2 ounce of, and tie the spoons right on the end of the leader. The “three hooks in a row” is an old time way to rig up bait such as ballyhoo or cigar minnows.
31/2 Drone Spoons
Left to right: Top spoon is brand new, but only has one ring. You will need to add an extra split ring. The middle spoon has been pounded “over and over” by fish making it a prefect learning tool definitely not something to fish with! The last spoon is also a basic leftover after several hundred fish hits, misses, and hook ups!
All lures, at least in most cases need some “setting up” before using them. The 31/2 Drone spoon is no different in the set up department. The hook always needs to be sharp. There should be two split rings not one. If there is only one ring add one. All tackle boxes should be equipped with extra split rings. Don’t add any sort of leader wire to this spoon. The addition of the wire doesn’t allow this lure to work properly. It has to be pulled 5 knots and it works a lot better at 6 to 7 knots! I pull all of my Drone spoons 20 to 30 feet behind my planner. If you want to use a downrigger just make sure you let your lure out far enough. I have never met a Drone spoon that the fish haven’t liked. This means all colors work for sure. However, you can’t bet the old stainless steel color, because
it worked then and it’s still working now.
Gulf stream
Pink and White Did It!
The blue water crew consisting of Carter Mobley, Clay Mobley, Brian Weimar, and Eric Oetgen took that blue water plunge. Their plan was simple, which was to run out to the Deli Ledge and “make bites happen!” Once arriving the bite was so slow it basically was
non-existence. So therefore decisions were made to make a move. They turned to the east and made a 10 mile run to about 1,000 feet. Once arriving to this area it looked fishy and it was. As they made way with baits in tow “fish bites happened!” Here’s what happened while trolling rigged ballyhoo all dressed up in “pink and white skirts!” The scoreboard ended like this “18 dolphins ranging from
6 to 12 pounds.” The bottom line is “catches did happened!” This report boils down to a couple of things..no matter what a change of plans should always be considered especially when the first ones fails, sometimes a simple move to the east makes all the difference in the world.
Freshies Report
Sunscreen Fish Alluring Scent!
While putting on his sunscreen one day I had a customer make an unusual finding. According to the story this happened about 5 years ago. While fishing with a standard freshwater grub and not having much luck he decided to coat his lure in sunscreen. This was simple task, because he had a lot of this lotion on. So therefore, he rubbed the grub on his arm and cast it into his designated fishing spot. He did this seven times and caught seven fish. Now that I think about it I didn’t even ask what kind of fish, because at the
time I don’t guess it was necessary. Just the fact that seven “quick” times in a row with him rubbing the grub on his arm got seven hookups was good enough for me! Now it your turn to give this a try and by all means “please let me know!”
“Little Miss Judy’s Believe It or Not!”
A Question from my dear friend Phil Rodenbaugh….
Phil is one of my readers that really likes and makes some very good
comments especially when it comes to the stories about my father. Since my father is no longer with us and I’m his daughter I might just been able to answer this question “1950’s Daddy Style!”
Phil asked, “What the difference between Detroit light green and John Deere dark Green?” I can see my father puffing on his cigar and rings rising above his head as he was thinking about this question. His version might have not been right, but it probably would have been very interesting! He would have come up with his own version of why these engines were the colors that they were! Here’s what I think he might have said, “Since on some occasions reading wasn’t possible either from lack of schooling or not being close enough branding colors for each engine were invented.” Phil, let me know what you think! Also it was great seeing and fishing with you as well as the others!
CAPTAIN JUDY HELMEY
"Kicking Fish Tail Since 1956"
POB 30771
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA 31410
Phone: 912 897 4921
912 897 3460 FAX
www.missjudycharters.com
E-mail
FishJudy2@aol.com
Born
to Bottom Fish