Inshore Fishing Suggestions + Mullet Jumping!

What is on tap in the fishing world?

With the arctic blast hitting us last week we haven抰 been doing too much inshore or offshore fishing. However, when it comes to going fishing I always suggest going when you can. This is a great time to forget the live bait and to go straight to artificial only. The thing about using artificial bait is that you have to believe in what you are using or you won抰 get much attention. Let me explain: Call this information anything you like, but negativity doesn抰 seem to catch as many fish! It抯 like it travels down the line and sends out some sort of stay away signal. Believe what you want, but when using any sort of artificial I suggest that you like it too!


What does this inshore picture show us?



These smooth lines are fish slicks, which are made when some sort of feeding takes place. (Leftover fish oils float straight to the surface) In this case I would have to say that these dolphins have had a feeding field day and are looking for the whereabouts of the bait fish or maybe red fish. No matter what, see the bank at the top of the picture? Well, this would be a great place to do a little red fish watching!

When it comes to red fish patterns especially at this time of the year there are some things that you need to be aware of. They are not just being watched by us, but also by the porpoises. These mammals know where to look and find that prefect red fish meal. Believe it or not but we can learn a lot from watching the whereabouts of the porpoises.

What is a resident fish?




This small black fish is as dark as can be. We caught this fish while bottom fishing at a near shore artificial reef. The fish most likely has been in darker color water for some time, because its natural camouflage just about proves it. I call these resident fish. My father used to call some king mackerel he caught sliver kings, which I never understood. Once he explained it to me over 50 years ago I kind of got it, but not really. However, since I have gotten to see fish in all kinds of situations I now understand that color of outer skin can tell an interesting story. My father called some king mackerel that he caught silver kings, because they had just made way from the offshore clearer water to the west抯 darker conditions. After they get here their skin color starts to change to adapt to the darker water. So therefore the silver kings were the ones that had just arrived. To me all snake kings should be called silver kings, because they don抰 stay in one location very long. It seems their skin doesn抰 have much time to make a change, because they are always on the move!

I took this picture at the Savannah Snapper Banks!
I have named it, 揗ahi Mahi Almost Ready to Eat!?br />


This is a school of Mahi Mahi that just happened by my boat. When bottom fishing every time you drop down or reel up with either a 揾ooked up fish or not,?it sends a possible feeding opportunity. This school of Mahi that happened by my boat didn抰 exactly have their feeding lights on. When a Mahi has its lights on it抯 hard to stop them from feeding on anything that you throw at them. These fish partially have their feeding lights on. This stage of lighting is what I call a dimmer feeding stage, meaning just not sure, but still going to stop by for a quick check. These fish stopped, schooled in a circular motion, half turned their feeding lights on, and didn抰 like anything we had to offer. Soon as they came they left with feeding lights on dim!


African Pompano

During this time of the year, you could find yourself catching black fin tuna, dolphin, (Mahi Mahi), king mackerel (most likely silver kings), or Wahoo. Heck, I am even going to throw African Pompano into this possible catching mix. December-February is great months to give the naval towers close pass by. The African pompano are known for schooling inside the legs. In other words sometime you can see them, but you can抰 get to them. However, it certainly offers a fisherman one heck of a reason to try to get them to charge a bait outside of the tower legs.

The tower of power!



For many years the offshore naval towers have not only held the attentions of fish, but also fishermen. This is a target rich environment for any kind of fish. With that being said, 揟he towers are target rich environments for the fisherman too!?

Since most species of pompano are preyed on by mackerel, tunas, and shark hanging inside the legs of the tower could offer a sense of safety. And of course this is a great area for an African pompano to feed on the thousands of small baits fish and shellfish that find this area their home port. Since we don抰 catch this fish all of the time seeing them schooling inside the legs of the tower could be once in a life time seeing affair. I have been fishing there waters for many years and have only seen them once at R3 naval tower. Over the years I have caught quite a few while bottom fishing, but not enough to say we have a season on them. So therefore, I rely on reports of sightings from fishermen. There have been some sightings! So there抯 your sign to keep a look out!

How do you get your best chance at catching one of these wonderful looking fish?
The ones that I have caught have been while plain old bottom fishing with cut squid. They just happened by, saw our bait, and ate it. If you see them schooling around the tower I suggest giving slow trolling flashy baits a try. If you have any live bait such as Spanish sardines or cigar minnows, which offer quite a bit of flash, I suggest giving these a try. Your main goal would be to get them to hit bait while you are moving away from the tower. The reason being is this fish pulls strong just like an amberjack!


Little Miss Judy Believe It or Not!

This is my father Captain Sherman I Helmey with a big stogie in his mouth. I have never seen him smoke an entire cigar! He would light them, puff a few times, and then put it down anywhere he pleased. If a cigar smoking hobo had followed him around they wouldn抰 have ever been without! My father had so many rowboats that he didn抰 know what to do!




The Smoking Icebox
My father loved smoked mullet. He loved to catch, cook, and eat them. He didn抰 smoke his fish in a regular smoker. He used an old refrigerator, better known in the old days as an 揑ce Box.? There was a fire put under the box and it had holes that Daddy put in the top, which allowed the smoke to escape. Inside the icebox were the shelves in which he laid the fish. My father didn抰 scale his mullet. He simply gutted them leaving the head on. He would split the entire fish including the head lengthwise. After what seems like hours of soaking in his secret brine, off to the old icebox/smoker the fillet fish were taken. Daddy then began what he called the 搒ituating process.? He arranged the fish on the shelves as if it were an art of some sorts. According to him they had to be placed a particular way so that they would cook just right. After this I pretty much got bored. You can only watch smoke escaping out of the top of an icebox for so long!

How did we catch the mullet that we smoked?

This is a3 1/2 horse power Evinrude outboard motor, which comes standard with a single stick operation. Toward the back of the engine is the gas tank, which you can easily fill with aid of a funnel. However, if you don抰 have a funnel, which I never did, sometimes, I did spill more than went into the tank. Back in my childhood days all gallon jugs were made of glass. This means I broke quite a few jugs, which means lots of gas in the boat. I am so glad that daddy didn抰 happen to have the cigar too close. This outboard had one gear and that was forward. However, it would swing all the way around offering reverse when you needed it.

Mud Puppy Jumping!

I love going to Mud Puppy to do a little sliding. I would point my bow to mud bank, go as fast as it could, and then I shut the engine off as soon as I got more of the row boat on the mud than not. We called this mud sliding at its finest! You would be surprised how far a 13 foot wooden boat powered by a 31/2 horse power outboard motor will slide up on a mud bar. It did a great sliding job! The bad news was that sometimes the motor did such a good job that we had to wait until high tide to get un-stuck! When this happened we left the boat and just played in the mud! Life was good!

Mullet Jumping




This is a mullet. As you can see they are not aerodynamically shaped and because of this they抮e out of the water jumps are signature! When they break the surface they make a splash, once they reach their jump height they seemly just hang their, and then they fall back into the water. the tail then the mid section is the first to hit the water on re-entry.

My father was known of doing things his way. After thinking about the way he accomplished everything not only was it the best, but the easiest way. He applied himself quite unbelievably when it came to what was normally called 搈ullet netting or fishing.? In his case we called it 揗ullet Jumping,?because that抯 exactly what they did. My father loved to eat smoke mullet. So therefore he became very accomplished at both catching and smoking.

Our transportation to the fishing grounds was a 13-foot rowboat, which was powered by a 3-?horsepower Evinrude. Believe me that extra ?horsepower back in those days made the difference in a boat race, but that抯 not what this story is about. When it was time to gather the mullet there was a getting ready process. He always picked a night when the moon was full and the tide was low. I remember it always being so beautiful at night when we went on one of these great adventures. In our rowboat we would always have two flashlights, a white sheet, and a cooler. Upon arriving to our destination point, which was right around the creek抯 bend from the house, we would quietly start getting ready. My job was to hold up one end of the sheet while daddy held the other. After getting situated we simply turned our flashlights on, shinned them on the sheet, and the mullet jumped into the boat or should I say, 揂t the sheet!? As soon as he thought that he had enough for his smoking desires we would turn our lights off and drop the sheet. I must admit the first time I experienced this type of fishing it scared me to death. However the next time we went I knew what was going to happen so I came prepared. I wore a pot on my head and a towel around my neck. This helped detour some of the misguided landings of the mullet. They were supposed to hit the sheet not the one holding it! I have to admit I certainly did have a wonderful and interesting childhood.


It抯 time to wet a line.
Bill Vanderford is 揕ake Lanier抯 Legend!?br /> Lake Lanier Fishing Secrets Revealed [Kindle Edition]
Bill Vanderford (Author, Photographer)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IOW2A18
http://www.georgiafishing.com/
If you want to go, it抯 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