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CaptJudyHelmey · 01-14-2002, 07:22 PM

"KICKING FISH TAIL SINCE 1956" Miss Judy Charters POB 30771 SAVANNAH, GEORGIA 31410 www.missjudycharters.com 912 897 4921 912 897 3460 FAX January 14, 2002 INSHORE The trout bite in our area has been a little slow, but now that cooler temperatures have been added to the mix, it's almost nonexistence. Keep trying those deep holes, the fish should be there and they are most likely are hungry. Anything from grubs, screws tail, or dead shrimp will work. If you get a nice weather day give fishing/boat riding a try. Catching might not be included, but you can have a lot of fun practicing. Now that you know where they aren't biting here's a good report on where they are hook interested. Joe and Cristie Toth have been having a lot of good luck fishing in the Fort McAllister area. I talked with Joe and he told me that he and his wife, Cristie have been catching trout in the 22-inch range with artificial bait. According to Joe he found that the trout in this area prefer the bottom of the water column, which you know what that means. You will need to keep your bait offering deep to get in the strike zone. His favorite spots have been those that are located in the edge of channels, which are found in brackish water. Not only has the trout bite been on, he had also been catching a few striped bass. However according to Joe, the striped bass bite has slowed down in his area and it isn't as good as it was last month, but he still is catching a few. His secret bait for both the trout and striped bass is the yellow colored assassin bait called the "Space Guppy." We have used this bait and others of the same color and shape before up in the Savannah River and it has proven to be very effective. The striped bass are here and they love these cool weather conditions. These very active surface feeding fish are also known by a second name, which is a rockfish. The Savannah River and Ogeechee River areas are the places to look. Start getting your tackle in order and sharpen those hooks. Pull out your Cisco kids, rapala lures, and rebels on stand by. Drag, pitch, and crank any of these lures fast, this fish loves to crash fast moving surface baits. For those we prefer to use live bait this fish will eat it up. The best bait is live shrimp or live finger mullet. When you find you private stock of live bait by all means you better keep it to yourself. This is due to the fact that live bait is hard to come by even if you have money to pay for it. So therefore casting might be your only option, but don't worry live bait season is slowly approaching. OFFSHORE It's that time of the year once again when I start wondering when I am going to be able to get back to my home away from home, which is the ocean. I have had a few months off and I guess you could say, "It's time for me to return, my scales are drying out." I have been out on a few fishing/searching missions and they have worked out quite well. It's still not like being out there on a daily basis. I have a few fool proof fishing plans, especially if I get a prefect weather day. You know where the seas are extremely calm and the weather forecast doesn't change for the next 24 hours. I would definitely be headed to the Gulf Stream. It's a long ride, but it would be worth it. If my plans were to catch lots of large bottom fish, such as triggerfish, vermilion, red snapper, grouper, or tilefish. I would head for 150 to 200 feet of water. To my list of things I would add any electric reels that I might have. For bait I would take squid and some of those leftover cigar minnows from my 2001fishing season. Most all of the bottom fish would love to take this bait off of my hands. This could be a rod-bending situation for sure. However, if I just wanted to troll for potluck, which also could be very interesting. Only make this decision to troll if you don't mine going home with an empty cooler. I would pull the strangest lures that I could find rigged up with the biggest ballyhoo that I had in my freezer. You could catch anything from any type of tuna, Wahoo, dolphin, mako shark, or heck even a billfish. There have been reports of blue fin tuna in our area. Don't laugh; our dreams are only a few waves away from possibly being real. If you aren't looking for a long boat ride, but instead a short ride to rod bending experience, I have the answer for that one too. The artificial reefs are holding lots of fish. Load up the family, secure some squid, and throw the light tackle on onboard. Most all of the artificial reefs that are located in less than 55 feet of water are holding lots of Black Sea bass. These fish can't resist the taste or smell of squid. Locate the school, drop down into them, and get ready for action. For those who want to use artificial bait, the fish have been wearing out an old style Hopkins lure. It has been working great for me. The larger bass love to chase and attack it. Just keep the lure moving. The fish tend to hit it repeatedly or at least until you set that hook properly. The Savannah Reef is holding lot of sheepshead. This is spot that can give you lots of action, especially if you carry along the right bait. The sheepsheads are known for taking your bait before the nibble takes place, and believe me, that is fast. The right bait to take is of course, the fiddler crab. You can find them burrow up in sandy and muddy marsh areas. However, with the ground temperature low, they are going to be deep. The act of digging could prove to be sort-of-like work. There are alliterative baits to use. I have used calms, oysters, small peeled shrimp, and barnacles. I look at the bait situation like this, the sheepshead already know that fiddlers aren't going to show up. Here's one last comment from the fish gallery. You don't have go deep or even close offshore to file my foolproof fish plan. You can catch sheepshead with those baits that I mentioned around anything that possibly could provide a prefect home for barnacles or oysters. I give you a few examples, docks, pilings, bridge foundations, and jetties. Who needs a boat? "Little Miss Judy's Believe it or not!" Over the years I have always told the story about my father and Big Al Capone. For those who don't know about big Al during his gangster days he was considered the worst of his time. Yes, according to my father's legend, he worked for big Al during the early 30's. I would like to share with you how daddy came to meet Big Al Capone. According to daddy story this is how it went. My father's automobile repair shop, Helmey's Garage was located next to Bradley's Lock and Key. They were located on State Street, which is a street in our historical downtown Savannah Georgia. My father was working late one night when a couple of guys dressed in old overalls walked into his shop asking for a quick repair job. Upon accessing the damages and costs to fix this brand new ford truck daddy suggested that they take the new truck to the Ford Dealership the next morning. The new truck was apparently still under warranty and the repairs would be paid by the dealership without any problem. The owner asked if daddy could fix it and he replied yes, but it's an 8 hours job. My father then told the owner that not only was it is it a lengthy repair it's also going to be very expensive. After hearing what daddy had said he commonly asked my father to fix the truck and then deliver it to the Desoto Hotel, which daddy agreed to do. The men in overalls paid Daddy with hundred dollar bills and then asked if there was a place where they might change their clothes. Daddy pointed the way to the restroom, which was outside. Both men went on their way to change their clothes. Before leaving one of men walked back into Daddy's garage to get something out of his truck. Daddy noticed that the men had changed from overalls to tuxedos. To top it off they had on shinny black paten leather shoes. After a couple of hours daddy went out to the garage to check on his mechanic's progress. Upon reaching the truck he realized it was unusually quite. The closer he got to the car he heard snoring. His mechanic seemed to be asleep, but in fact he was passed out. The smell of liquor was very strong. Daddy scratched his head for the second time that day. He was wondering where the liquor had come from. He never allowed his workers to drink on the job. He started looking at this truck that was packed full of all types of vegetables. Then he started thinking about the repairs he was doing to the new truck. He was making repairs to the transmission and rear end of a brand new truck, which could happen at anytime. New cars do break all the time. However then he noticed the tires they look either very low in air or heavily over loaded. Then a light went off in his head which got brighter the more he looked at the new truck. He walked over and began removing some of the not so heavy vegetables. He found the real cargo that was hidden underneath all of the vegetable baskets. At first my father nearly panicked, but after a few minutes he knew what he had to do. He would have to stay up all night, fix this truck, and then deliver it to the hotel as requested by the owner. He did just that. When he arrived at the Desoto Hotel, which was one of his own stomping grounds, he looked for the gentlemen. Upon finding one of them he held out his hand hoping to deliver the truck keys, but instead a handshake took place. He asked my father if he would like to handle some car business for him. My father decided at that moment he would so the deal was made. At that time the gentlemen introduced himself as Al Capone. Daddy supposedly worked on Big Al trucks for a period of about seven years. At least that's what dear old dad told me? The rest is a fine part of my family history! Sea you later, Captain Judy

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