CAPTAIN JUDY HELMEY
'Kicking Fish Tail Since 1956'
POB 30771
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA 31410
912 897 4921 912 897 3460 FAX
www.missjudycharters.com
Capt Judy's email fishjudy2@aol.com
Capt Judy's Cell 912 429 7671
December 8, 2008
Happy Fishing To All!
Saltwater inshore, offshore, blue water fishing report, Freshies Suggestions, and 'Little Miss Judy's story! Thanks for reading! Captain Judy
Inshore Cold Water Spotted Sea Trout Bite..
Captain Alan Collins Tells the Tale
Thursday November 27, 2008
Captain Alan Collins of Miss Judy Charters has a lot to say about cold-water inshore trout fishing. I listened, took notes, and believe me this is good stuff! During cold-water times Captain Alan has come up with a plan that works especially when it comes to putting his customers in the 'catching zone!' Firstly, and I am always saying, 'When it's cold fish are a lot like people they move and feed slower!' Heck, after all if we were out in the cold '24-7' our feeding and moving patterns would definitely be turned down to the slow mode. So therefore Captain Alan has come up with a plan that helps to get that 'slow to go trout to bite!'
Captain Alan's Bait Ideas
When you go to the bait house to purchase your live shrimp or mud minnows you get what they have. It doesn't matter whether the baits is small, medium, or large. You are going to purchase it for sure. However, sometimes according to Captain Alan what you purchase might not be what's on the menu for this particular water temperature. He has found that during the cold times spotted sea trout prefer smaller shrimp, which makes plenty of sense. Maybe it takes less energy to eat a smaller shrimp. However, it would seem that the smaller shrimp are harder to catch them the larger ones. All this seems true, but at this particular time all that is available to the trout is small shrimp. The reason I am bringing all of this up is the fact that this was what was in the stomach of these fish.
Captain Alan examines the insides so as to see what the fish are eating on any particular day. On this cold day the small to medium trout had small shrimp in their guts and the large trout had the remains of small pinfish. He did catch some trout on the larger shrimp, but when he found out what they preferred he started picking through his live well. This boils down to the small shrimp worked better than the larger ones.
Since spotted sea trout are sight feeders and want to kill on their own what they eat all this does make sense especially if you think about it. Here we have trout preferring small shrimp to the larger ones. Captain Alan has boiled it down to it's not about the size of the bait that triggers the bite it's their movement! The larger shrimp aren't as active as the smaller ones. Since he had larger ones than smaller shrimp'. here's what he did to combat his bait big problem. He made the shrimp moving agitating the bite. Captain Alan took his shrimp from lethargic to active.
Captain Alan also ascertained that the bite pattern was on the deep side. All trout hit baits that were either right on the bottom or 6 inches up. So therefore he has a bottom to 6 inches strike zone to which he adjusted his floats and leader lengths. It's always suggested that when you have been catching fish and the bite stops this doesn't necessarily mean it's time to move on. The reason being the fish could have just moved a bit one-way or the other. Captain Alan always suggests fishing the scope of your area. Nine times out of ten the fish haven't relocated to another area they have basically regrouped moved only 5 to 10 feet. The bottom line is this 'fish it all while you are there!'
Captain Alan Collins's Take on
Saturday November 29, 2008
On this particular day we had fishermen that did real good and some that didn't. It was one of those days where location was the big factor. For some reason in less than a 24-hour period most all fish advanced to the sounds. On Friday most fish were caught in the creeks and rivers. Fish are funny and really don't march to the same rime or reason for moving from one area to another! If you looked at the two days there isn't much difference in the weather patterns. However you could say, 'that's fishing leading into the fact that fish move when they darn well please!'
At any rate Captain Alan found nice spotted sea trout and red fish schooling and feeding in the sound area. For trout his bait was mud minnows, live shrimp, and artificial shrimp patterns. The red fish hit slow retrieved lures such as D.O.A's and Bass Assassins. The retrieve recipe was prefect for the terrain fished. It's best to retrieve just enough to keep your bait off the bottom. Baits that do occasionally bump the bottom offer up a simulated sandstorm, which also can ring a red fish's dinner bell.
One lure type used was 'Opening Night' by Bass Assassin. This bait was threaded on to a white jig head. This particular set up needed to be retrieved at a slow pace keeping it right above the bottom. Captain Alan was also pitching DOA's 'black and silver hologram shrimp.' These shrimp pattern worked best if you cast placed near the fish in question and jerk it a couple of time. After this move 'let it sit.' If the first move doesn't work, try it again. This is one of those baits that you never think is going to work, but it always gets the fish's attention.
There is one main thing that you must remember when fishing with artificial lures and that's 'you have to believe in it!' Captain Alan always suggests what he is using, but always says, 'Other colors and different shape baits might work too.' The bottom line never be afraid to change up your bait and just plain 'go different!'