Captain Matt Williams scores again!

While trout fishing George Ort caught a 42 inch trophy red fish while inshore fishing with Captain Matt Williams of Miss Judy Charters



Just when you thought fishing story couldn’t get better. While fishing with Captain Matt Williams of Miss Judy Charters George Ort (Chicago, Illinois) landed this 42 inch red fish. Here’s how fish tail started…After spending most of the 4 hour trip with Captain Matt fly and bait fishing it was time to head home. As George started reeling his trout rod to the boat this 42 incher could not resist his bait. With George being an accomplished fisherman and Matt knowing his boat as well as a red fish’s tactics a two hour fish fight ensued! And here’s the good news…this fish was caught, fought, and release back healthy to the wild!

The question I always get asked by our customers is this… “How big of a fish can I catch while fishing? My standard and now once again is backed up by yet another proven big fish catching story is this: “When you drop your bait in saltwater you never know what kind or how big of a fish is going to bite your hook!”

Inshore Fishing Times!
During the hot months an inshore fisherman is just as likely to catch a lot of fish as not. After many years of hot water fishing I have determined that a lot of factors go into catching or not. The first is the weather is it windy? Has it been raining a lot? These two weather factors alone can shut down “a would be inshore fish bite.” Our inshore captains have been fishing a long time and have put in their dues in regards to time fished. I can admit for sure there is few one consisted things that my captains always ask each other… “How was your bite? Did you find any clear water? Did you see any bait? Did you see any bird activity?” This boils down to a couple of things in regards to fishing during hot times. One fisherman might slay them while another only a few miles away might not see much action. However, the best thing about hot time fishing is that there is almost always an optional bite…whether it is for sharks or tarpon it is doable!

Stacy and Dan Martin fished with Captain Matt Williams of Miss Judy Charters…



Please meet Dan Martin he is holding a trophy red fish that he fought, caught, and release back to the wild.

It’s Tarpon Time!!



Eddie Mlavsky while inshore fishing with Captain Tommy Williams of Miss Judy Charters caught, fought, landed, and released this nice tarpon.
Eddie Mlavsky and Kristina Legerlotz chartered Captain “Little” Tommy Williams to do a little shark and tarpon fishing. Eddie’s only request was that he would like to catch a big fish! Well, Eddie got his big fish catching wish! Normally we do not bring tarpon into the boat, but rather try to take the picture is still in the water. However, while holding this fish by the boat trying to remove the hook the tarpon jumped into the boat! They took a quick picture, put the fish back in the water, and revived it by slowly pulling it through the water. The tarpon swam away to live another day!

Here’s some tarpon catching tips straight from Captain Tommy Williams of Miss Judy Charters

According to this interview with Captain Tommy, there are a few things that need to come into play so as to get your best shot at hooking up a tarpon.

You need to find some live bait. In this case menhaden is the ticket to this big fish catching ride.

Tackle used
As far as tackle … spinners or bait casters will work. The secret is to have a reel that has enough line available so that you can give this fish time to make its first move before reel setting the hook.
Ingredients need to make this rig
130 pound test barrel swivel
6 foot of 80 pound fluorocarbon leader
9/0 Eagle Claw circle hook (the hook you don’t exactly set, all you do is, when it’s time, start reeling with rod tip not high or low, but in between)
4 ounce pyramid sinker
Small adjustable cork

Captain Tommy uses 130 pound barrel swivel, which he ties a 6 foot of 80 pound test fluorocarbon leader to. To this custom made set up he ties a 9/0 Eagle Claw circle hook. With this leader/hook set up he can either fish his bait on the bottom or top. When fishing on the bottom he sides a 4 ounce pyramid sinker onto the main line and then ties this to the leader. When setting a line for a top water bait he uses the same leader/hook set up. On the main line he slides on a small adjustable cork that is just big enough to keep the bait near the surface. And then he ties on his leader/hook set up.

He has a signature way of fishing for tarpon. Captain Tommy uses two bottom lines and one top line. His preferred bait is always going to be live lip hooked menhaden.

Bait Habits
Menhaden also known as pogies have a tendency to move with the current. So therefore the higher the tide the more it seems that they get pushed inshore into the river. With this being said, we have narrowed the bait catching field. All you have to do is get the old tide log out and take a look see. If the tide is almost high then you know that the menhaden are going to be pushed into the rivers. And you also know that when the tide turns so will the bait fish swimming in it. It seems that a big fish such as this always knows the best place to lay while in the ambush/feeding mode, which is just about where you need to anchor your boat.

Great Places to meet with a tarpon
Sand bars in the sound near the ocean are going to be great place for this fish to start its feeding affair. This fish loves feeding near the beach fronts and also the waters to the east of these areas. I suggest doing a little riding and looking before deciding exactly where to anchor.


Let’s do a little bird watching!
There is a one thing that shows you the way and that is bait on the surface and feeding sea birds. When pelicans are feeding tarpon could be lurking. However, please remember that pelican like to eat menhaden alive and kicking. The presences of smaller feeding/dive sea birds constitutes that parts of fish are floating to the surface. The means that there are bigger fish most likely feeding down under and around the schools of bait. It could be sharks, Jack Crevalle, or heck even mackerel. It is hard to say, however there is one thing for sure, if the seabirds are diving they are doing it to pick up fresh fish parts and oils.


Chumming or Not?

Is the question!
Some fishermen like to use chum while others do not. For those that do, I suggest when casting for bait that put some in the live well and some in a bucket. It is up to you how conservative or progressive you want to be when it comes to chumming. (No, we are not talking about politics!)

Those that chum on the conservative side are basically on the fence of whether or not to do it in the first place. A progressive chum-er is going to be vigilance when it comes to making a chum line appear behind their boat. Once you do this you bring in the attention of the toothy monsters better known as sharks. And there is not a thing wrong with going with this tactic.


Best time to fish for tarpon in the sounds and beachfronts is the hot months
Since tarpon like menhaden so much and consider it their favorite meal I suggest letting the bait be your guide. After catching some menhaden I suggest putting them in your live well and making a move to the beach fronts or sounds area around any sand bars. Once you have located a fishy spot then I suggest anchoring and making sure that you have a buoy that you can tie on to your anchor line. The reason being is once hooked up you are not going to have time to pull the anchor. However, you will have time to throw the buoy out that is tied to the end of your anchor line. After the fight you can return back to the spot where you started, retrieve your buoy, and tie your anchor line back to the bow cleat.

With location picked now it is time to fish!
Once anchored up in the spot of your choice I suggest setting out three lines. (Two live baits on the bottom and one on the top.) Some tarpon fishermen like to fish the last 3 hours of the tide, whether it is at the low or high stage.


All is good and the fish are biting…inshore red fish spotted sea trout flounder whiting shark..and we are still seeing lots of tarpon. And as you know where you have tarpon feeding you have a galore of surface bait…most of the time they are what I call ocean pogies…

Best bait are always going to be live shrimp..however, some charter captains have found that small mullet work very good just like shrimp…however I am not talking about live finger mullet I am talking about mullet that are the size of a small to medium shrimp..This is your baiting up tip for this week!

Artificial reefs
Not many catches of Spanish mackerel lots of juvenile kings this pass week…however, bottom fishing did pick up a notch last week..we catch some nice keeper sea bass at the artificial reefs located 40 and 60 feet of water.

Savannah Snapper Banks


Captain Kathy Brown showing off her big gag!
Savannah Snapper banks lots of good bottom fishing…mahi mahi occasionally cobia amberjack and a few grouper. During hot water times it can be a little frustrating especially when bottom fishing. You can see the fish, you can drop your line, but sometimes you might not get a bite. Your best bet for getting their attention is to really work the bottom. It is a known fact that bottom fish when hovering and not feeding can be triggered to hit your bait even when they don’t want to eat.

Sand storm effect
When the bottom bit is slow I suggest dropping to the bottom, waiting a few seconds, reel up about 10 feet, and re-drop. When the sinker hits the ocean floor a small sand storm is created. The reason it get the fish’s attention is that, if not for a second it imitates movement on the bottom. Smaller fish that hover while moving create a sand trail, which can catch the eye of fish holding on or near the bottom.

Gulf Stream fishing
For those that have to go I suggest making a plan in this direction!
Blue water trolling can be very slow during these hot water times. However, if you know where to go and Captain Tommy Williams does then there is opportunity for some hot water catching times. In past few weeks there were a few sails caught between the Deli Ledge (3132.961/7943.493) and old NOAA Buoy (3139.702/7939.608) location area while trolling from/to these areas fishermen caught dolphin, Wahoo, and had a 300 pound marlin make a run through the trolling spread…after a while



Little Miss Judy Believe It or Not!


Eddie Mlavsky and Captain “Little” Tommy Williams is removing hook from just jumped tarpon!
Post Cards from the Sea!

My father used to catch tarpon so big that the scales, once carefully removed, could be used as post cards. I have seen quite a few tarpon over the years and none has had scales big enough to be used a post card. My father told me that the scales were big enough for the date of the catch, size, time, location, and most of the time a small note so as to make the recipient jealous. My question to my father, if he were still with us today, would be how much do you think this yester year postcard carrying tarpon weighted? The older I get the more questions I wished I had asked my father.

*Scale removal from tarpon is not suggested during this day and time. It has been proven that removing scales might cause the fish to develop some sort of bacteria in that area, which could lead to a premature death. So please don’t try and remove the scales from this fish. However, you can take all of the pictures that you wish. This act causes no problems to fish. In fact who knows they might be so happy that you are releasing them that they might give you a Big Fish Smile!

Thanks for reading! Captain Judy