For the offshore bite!



This is what we call a swarm of black sea bass. Once we hooked up one black sea bass 15 others would follow it to the surface. Since I have fished for the fish for over, well let’s say a whole bunch of years, I have learned a little about their habits. A black fish is basically a glutton, which means that they want a whole lot of something. This is one fish that will eat as much as you feed it even when its stomach is packed full. Hence forth the black sea bass would be a great fish to farm raise.

Artificial Reefs and Savannah Snapper Banks


I know that the fishing offshore is going to be on wide open…water temperatures have dropped to low eighties and I have seen a few days of high seventies…this is going to be the start of our fall bite, which normally is very good….so when you do get to go here’s what I expect we just might catch…All artificial reefs from 40 to 65 feet of water are going to have an unbelievable amount of black sea bass, triggerfish, blue fish, summer trout, and other bottom biters…we need to remind those fishing offshore that scup, white bone porgy sauce eye, and knobbed porgy season is closed until the first of the year…please suggest that when heading offshore to always check with this website out for any current closures http://www.safmc.net/

This is a very old style bird and No-Alibi Dolphin Delight lure, which worked great for me! Here’s how I rigged this set up: I would tie/crimp on about 5 foot of 110 to 150 pound test monofilament to the bird then run the other end of the leader through the squid’s head and tie/crimp on a 6/0 standard “J” hook. Once you are rigged up the hook attached should ride right at the feather line of the lure. I used to pull two of these set ups about 75 feet out on both side of my trolling spread. Before I started trolling I always “scary sharpen” my hooks. The bottom line is this: Your hooks are not sharp enough unless you have lost a little blood. I can’t tell you how many times I nicked my fingers while getting the hooks sharp. This was the old school rule when it came to sharpen hooks.

This bird lure caught just about any kind of fish and size didn’t matter. The action it caused on the surface somehow made a fish mad enough to chase it continuously until it got it. When your bird is under attack I don’t suggest dropping back to your fish. However, you can drop another lure such as a rigged ballyhoo back into this strike zone. The fact of the matter is I always pulled a rigged ballyhoo behind this bird duo. With sharp hooks and the outfield covered with baits that you can drop back it is going to be hard to miss a serious solid hook up!

I don’t know if you can still order this style bird, but if you can I suggest spending the extra bucks and getting it. If you can’t find them I suggest using a bird about this size. As far as the lure it called a “No alibi” Dolphin delight and can be purchased rigged or not. If it comes rigged with light cable it will work just fine. This lure also comes in blue with white feather (maybe called purple) pink with white feather, green with yellow, and a few others. I suggest picking the colors you like the best and think that will work with your trolling spread. I liked the blue and pink ones with the ½ ounce head the best. The bottom line to this bird and lure combination is the fact that it triggers a bite. This means the fish is not going to size it up before it hits the lure. It is going to slam it hard!



Freshies Report

Bill Vanderford is “Lake Lanier’s Legend!”
http://www.georgiafishing.com/
If you want to go, it’s time to make your spring time plans!
For more about my long time friend Bill Vanderford as well as his accomplishments, his freshwater charter trips or wildlife tours, books written and his special line up of tackle offered, please visit his site http://www.fishinglanier.com/contact.html for all the details! For more details go http://stores.ebay.com/Fishy-Racer http://www.youtube.com/fishyracer


Little Miss Judy’s Believe It or Not!



Captain Sherman I Helmey taking it easy in his fighting chair! Here’s a few thoughts about this picture….JD also known as Judy Dog is laying at daddy’s helm, how long has it been sent you have seen red igloo coolers?

“Fish Wishes”
I remember customers always asking daddy why a certain fish wouldn’t bite their hook. Fishermen have all kinds of “Fish Wishes.” Some wanted a marlin, which your chances of catching one of these fish are about none, especially on a piece of squid. However as all you know anything is possible in the fishing world, especially when the ocean is your playground. As of yet, I can report that we haven’t hooked up a marlin while bottom fishing. There were other much more reasonable requests such as large grouper and snapper, which was is normally what daddy caught most of the time. However there are times, as all of you fishermen know when the fish just don’t bite at all. Well, I remember this one-day in particular. One of daddy’s customers was complaining about not being able to catch a red snapper. All fishermen around him didn’t seem to be having any trouble. In fact they were having a great time. This particular fisherman couldn’t have caught a snapper unless it basically jumped and preformed “Keri-Keri” on his hook. (The definition of “Fish Keri-Keri: it’s an act of suicide that a fish performs when they want very badly to get out of the water. They simply impale themselves on the first available hook. After getting situated on the hook to their satisfaction they swim in a circle until the deed is done. Now you know that it’s not a pretty site.)
Hundreds of times during my fishing career I have seen fishermen who want to catch a fish, but they don’t want to work for it. The first thing they don’t do is to listen to what the captain is trying to suggest. The next thing they do is to get mad at you for repeating yourself. I have never counted the number of times that I suggest to my customers per day to “please keep your bait on the bottom.” In some cases they think that they have preformed said task already, but don’t understand that the boat is drifting. As the boat drifts the line and bait becomes simply suspended in the water, which means it’s not on the bottom. Now in some cases this is a good thing, but when the captain requests that you keep your bait at a certain depth there is a very good reason for it. This means right off that the captain has marked the fish in a specific depth only. In other words, in the captain words, “FISH HERE!” I always try to explain this to my customers. Most all participates usually listen to my suggestions, but back in the good old days things were different. I guess they would have rather argued than listened, which usually ended in “Less than zero” chances in the fish bite department.
At any rate when daddy was tired of all of the fisherman’s complaining he would make one last favorite suggestion. Daddy would say, “Pull your line in, come up here, and maybe I can help.” Upon receiving his prearranged company to the helm he would hand over a piece of paper and pencil. He then told them to write down their requested fish, which they always did with great interested. As soon as they finished he would say, “Hang this on your hook.” Maybe the fish can read, because you sure don’t listen!” My father was one of a kind and the only one that I know who could have gotten away with a statement like that one!
Thanks for reading! Captain Judy