# Hilton Head Surf Fishing Questions



## Banker43

I enjoy surf fishing and have been to Hilton Head several times in the last 5 years. Can any locals or frequent HH surf fishers help me with some questions?

First, if I recall, no license is required for South Carolina surf fishing correct?

Secondly, many years ago I used to be able to catch mullet by the bucket full with a casting net, but have not been able to do this since. Any update on these mullet populations coming back?

Typically I catch small sharks in the past. Any advice on catching either larger sharks from the beach or nice edible game fish? Usually fish sinker at bottom with two rigs baited with frozen squid.

I usually fish mornings until swimmers start coming out-have not really tried evening fishing in the past too much. Are bigger sharks more prevalent in the evening? Anyone have better luck in the evenings?

Heading there in 7 days-would welcome any advice.


----------



## SmoothLures

Welcome aboard. 

Starting last year you do need a salt water license to surf fish SC. 

Mullet will just depend on where they're at and if they're in the surf for you to net. 

I've never done good on squid here. Try fresh shrimp, sand fleas from the surf, cut mullet, bluefish, or croaker. 

Bigger sharks will eat bigger chunks of cutbait. You need to be aptly geared to target them.


----------



## mbrajer

I just caught a 6'2" shark a few days ago on casted gear. Here is what you need:

For bait, I use whiting heads. My family eats the whiting, I use the head for bait, and the rest of the guts gets thrown out or used for crab bait (no waste).

For hooks, I like Mustad 16/0s. You need to gap this hook for it to work well.

For the leader, I start with a section of 10' 400lb mono and keep a foot-long tag end out of the hook crimp. Wrap this long tag end several times around the rest of the 400 lb mono and crimp it (it will be about a foot long and a double helix in shape- it just is more abrasion resistant near the shark's teeth). I then add a snap swivel on the mono to create a sliding trace. I make the weights myself.

For rod/reel, I use a Penn 9500SS paired with an OM 12' 6-12oz heaver, but you don't need this heavy of gear. The 9500SS is loaded with 50lb Powerpro. The 6'2" shark took at most ~100 yards of line, so unless you want to target larger you could use any rod/reel that could get your bait out 30-40 yards and still have 150-200 left for the fight just in case. I think 300 yards of line capacity is plenty.

Hope this helps!

Mike


----------



## Kellercl

FYI, shark fishing on Hilton Head Island is prohibited, for obvious reasons.


----------



## steveo

*hhi surf fishing*

fished hhi at nfb for several years
before the beach refurbish did very well
last couple times not so good
for table fair use shrimp and not to far out at high tide
or close to high on incoming
for larger toothy critters use whiting head or live bait
if u catch mullet and cut it will guarantee a hook up
but never do this when swimmers are around
have caught topsail cats there often
dont eat reg sea cats
good luck steve


----------



## Banker43

*HHI Surf Fishing*

Guys, 

Thanks for the great advice.

Kellercl: I've seen the "No Shark Fishing" signs before at HHI-but unless you are chumming-I'm not doing anything different than any other fisherman in trying to catch fish. It's really the luck of the draw on what you catch. I'm out at the crack of dawn and back in by 9:00 a.m. so very little beachers at that time. As long as you are not stupid about it-no problems.

Smoothlures: I have tried fresh shrimp in the past but had more luck with the squid; whiting, small sharks, etc. The shrimp tend to come off the hook easier and got very few strikes. If you are that confident in it though, I will try again this year and report back. 

Steveo: Uh-oh. I'm at NFB this year-that doesn't sound too promising. I do hope I can net the mullet though-these are golden.

Mbrajer: Have caught several whiting in the past here. When fishing FLA last year-had great success with "fishing the catch"-caught a very nice 7-pound bluefish. But have not tried this much at HHI. I'll try that-but just the head huh? Is this more successful than the entire fish hooked and cut up? 

Thanks again and good luck.

Banker43


----------



## Kellercl

Banker43 said:


> Kellercl: I've seen the "No Shark Fishing" signs before at HHI-but unless you are chumming-I'm not doing anything different than any other fisherman in trying to catch fish. It's really the luck of the draw on what you catch. I'm out at the crack of dawn and back in by 9:00 a.m. so very little beachers at that time. As long as you are not stupid about it-no problems.


http://www.hhisleinfo.com/fishing.htm

Don't play dumb, you are doing something different than other fisherman, you specifically asked how to target large shark. HHI is a family place with many children in the water, shark fishing is prohibited for obvious reasons. I know I can't stop you, but I just wanted to point out, you are breaking the rules. If enough people break the rules, eventually surf fishing will be banned on the island. It only takes a few people to ruin it for everybody. Using large cut fish in the surf is for one thing and one thing only. We both know it.


Oh but to answer the legitimate part of the question. You can catch pompano from the surf. Check out the foam areas and use some Silly Will jigs, which can be bought online. Also there is red drum in the surf. Use a small piece of shrimp where the waves break. I have caught a few blues on shrimp as well. Squid is terrible bait, shrimp is the ticket. Cut it in half, use small pieces.


----------



## Banker43

*Hhi*

Thanks Kellercl. I do hear what you are saying-and appreciate it. Depending on how populated an area I go to-I will be smart about it. I'd sure hate to be the one they name a law after for not surf fishing at all on the island. 

I will take your advice on the shrimp and seriously try it this year-I'd rather catch a pompano or red drum than the small sharks anyways. It's just seems that that is the majority of what I have ever caught there, thus the thought to go bigger if that is all that I can get.

As for fishing the shrimp-do you just let it sit on the bottom? I know I've had problems with crab getting the shrimp this way in the past. Or is it OK to fish off of a suspended bottom weghted rig? I'm thinking it's not the shrimps "natural" presentation being dangled above the bottom-so not sure which would be best.

I'm assuming best is to go with live shrimp than frozen? Is this readily available at the bait shops on the island? I've heard two schools of thought on hooking the shrimp-some say through the back sections of the tail, some say through the head. Any preference?

All this talk is making me want to leave sooner!!


----------



## Kellercl

I use a 1 ounce pyramid weight. I put the weight about 12-20 inches above my hook using a clip. There is a small shop in Palmetto Dunes, before the guard shacks (right before the round about) which sells frozen shrimp, but it seems fresher than most frozen shrimp. It works well for whiting. With some luck drum, trout or flounder will hit. It has also worked well for small sharks, which are everywhere. I usually cut the shrimp in half and simply try to cover as much of the hook as I can. I have used a float during low tide with shrimp, ended up catching sharks. I would also try some spinner lures if you can. I will be on the island in 3 weeks.

Also sorry if I sounded harsh on the shark thing, but a few weeks ago I hooked a decent shark and it ran down shore, I had to ask a family to move out of the water. My line ended up breaking. But I felt bad. Sad part is, I wasn't trying to catch shark, it just hit. I have had a little experience with decent size sharks, in my opinion they are quite dangerous. Very powerful compared to normal fish.


----------



## Banker43

*Hhi*

Thanks again-I know of the bait shop you refer to in PD. I'll give it and the shrimp a try.

Chasing that shark down on the beach and having swimmers get out of the way is a riot! Sucks that you lost it.

My very first time surf fishing in HHI-probably 10-12 years ago-I hooked a 40" sting ray. I was WAY to cautious with it as I didn't know what I had at first and didn't want my line to break. After about an hour of it running out and burying itself-I finally saw it break the surf.

Prior to me hooking it-there wasn't but 1-2 runners even remotely close. When I finally brought it to shore-there was a crowd of about 25-30 people looking on. I'm sure if you would have landed that bigger shark you would have drawn quite a crowd too.

You have a great trip and good luck fishing. I'll try and report back how I did before you have to leave.


----------



## Banker43

Just back from Hilton Head. No great stories. From North Forest beach caught 1-croaker about 10" long-then caught about 25 small black tip reef sharks-most in the area of 12"-largest was caught by my son of 16". Got bored catching the sharks and went up to Port Royal area-fished the Skull Creek Marina Docks and caught another small croaker, 2-rays about 14" and a 3-foot eel. Not what you would call a great fishing vacation. Used shrimp most of the time. If I go back to HHI-I'll try Sea Pines-South Beach area. As for Surfing-I'm liking the Gulf Coast of Florida a lot better than HHI. Good luck to all.


----------

