# Hilton Head (South Carolina) Surf Fishing 6/18-6/25



## HOUSE

I'm heading down to Hilton Head this weekend to do some shore fishing. Has anyone been down to S.C. lately that might have any feedback. I've always caught small shark from shore. I'd really like to get into something bigger this year. Can you give me any advice? Here's what I usually do:

I usually fish around high tide. 10' surf pole (usually I bring 2), 50# braided line, steel leader, 2 ounce flat sinker, single circle hook (I forget the size, 5 maybe?). I have always used squid and shrimp for bait from the local grocery store. I wade out as far as I can and bomb out the line, I have a PVC pipe wedged into the sand to hold it. I catch fish, but nothing really that exciting until last year when I used a 10inch shark for bait and ended up catching a 50 pound stingray. That was sweet. 

I'm thinking I have 2 problems: The bait I'm using sucks and I might be using the wrong hook size. Any suggestions what I might try differently? I'm thinking about bringing a smaller pole to catch some smaller fish that I might use for cutbait. I was also thinking about going down to the marina and asking one of the charters for some leftover bait. I have a cast net, but I don't think I want to pack it because it takes up so much space.

Thanks in advance, I'll fill out a complete report when I return!

-House

p.s. Should I be using some sort of 2-hook rig like one of these:


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## McBride757

Whenever I go surf fishing in Hatteras, I use a fishfinder rig and whole finger mullet. I've never really fished for sharks, but there is some info on this forum I follow. Hope this helps. http://forum.reddrumtackle.com/index.php

This is all for the Outer Banks, but I'm sure it will apply to SC.

The second rig on your post is good for spot and croaker. Use bloodworms to catch them. Spot and croaker make good bait as well.


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## Fish Scalper

A lot of surf fisherman use a standard crappie rig, but upgrade the hooks a bit is all. If you can find the one's made on wire, they'd be best.


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## HOUSE

oh 2 great replies, thanks. I have some crappie rigs in my garage that I'll use to catch those bait fish. I'll tie on some heavier line for leaders. Awesome. I'll also troll that red drum forum and see if I can find any helpful tips. Thanks guys.


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## nitsud

Dang, you get around!

For bait catching, rock a sabiki. Put a sinker on the bottom, your mainline on the top, and some squid or shrimp on the hooks. You'll catch something that you can cut up and put on your hook or throw out whole. You might be surprised what you catch. Caught this neat little guy on that rig down in Fla.


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## HOUSE

That is the goofiest looking fish I have ever seen! I'd be laughing too hard to use that for cut bait  What is that thing?


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## nitsud

It's called a lookdown. Wanna guess why? 

He was too cool to cut up...


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## FishGuru

That fish is African Pompano and a really hard fighter once reached maturity age. They much bigger and can be found around reefs. They are very beautiful fish.
Good Luck.


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## McBride757

I love talking about surf fishing. I'm counting down the days until my trip to Hatteras in Oct. Good luck in Hilton Head


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## jcustunner24

How long did you fight the string ray? I took a walk on the beach in Ocean Isle, NC, and watched a guy fight one (it was enormous) for over an hour because it got into the sand and wouldn't budge.

Not fishing related, but if you get the time while you're in Hilton Head, take a drive down to Savannah, GA. It's about 35 minutes and there's some good food/microbrews to be had on River Street.


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## kasting king

Warehouse, too bad you wont be down there the 1st thru the 9th of july. We are taking our boat down to do some fishing and I am looking for someone to fish with. My brother in law doesnt like to fish so I am looking for another.

Andrew


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## nitsud

This is an african pompano:










They do look a lot alike, though.


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## Capital outdoorsman

Been going down several years now. Always do a lot of surf fishing. Only ever catch bluefish/whiting/shark/skate in the surf on HH. I've seen some nice catches, like a 4.5 foot hammerhead. I've found the rig doesn't much matter if you're fishing bottom. I do normally use a fishfinder rig that I pick up at the True Value there. Sometimes I just tie on a hook with a 2-3 oz sinker and it works just the same. This year I'm going to try some artificials in the surf. 

You should consider kayak rental and some light tackle. Fish the backwaters for reds and trout. Good eatin.


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## HOUSE

Thanks for all of the posts guys, I'm packed up and leaving in a few hours. I'll try and upload some pics while I'm there from my phone. It certainly would have been awesome to fish with some of you guys down there. My family would probably kill me if I stayed another 2 weeks, lol, but thanks for the offer to fish with you!

I packed up 2 surf rods and a medium action spinning reel to catch bait and fish the lagoons. I tied up my leaders and shark rigs, I can't wait to see what they bring in. I'm also going to try and hook up with a guide I met at a restaurant last year named Byron Sewell. Anyone heard of him before? He's a local there and I think he was on the show, Spanish Fly a few times.


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## HOUSE

What's up dudes! Day 1 just came to an end...I caught 2 stingrays, 5 small black tip reefers and 1 monstrous unidentified shark that was 3 feet long. I'll post a picture tomorrow if I can find a way to link it. I had 150 yards of 50# power pro on 100+ yards of 40# mono and almost got spooled! Madness on the beach with a huge crowd wondering what it was.

I went out again before dinner and caught a bunch of croakers for bait for tomorrow morning. Kind of scary, I was catching most of these fish right at my feet. It sure makes you wonder what is bumping into you while you are out in the surf!

Thanks again for all of the help, so far you guys have been right-on with advice. 

-House


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## McBride757

Sounds like your killing it. Can't wait to see some pics.


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## loves2fishinohio

My brother in law hooked into something down there years ago off the beach that nearly spooled him. He couldn't even slow it down, probably a big shark or a ray.


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## HOUSE

I ran into some technical difficulties today...the rod I was using to catch croakers kept breaking off line on me. It turns out, during my recent muskie trip to St. Clair I damaged the rod tip on a boat dock and it has a very sharp edge. I was casting out and the sharp edge was cutting into my line. I lost at least 4 rigs before I figured out what was going on 

I found out that if I throw out cut bait, I almost certainly end up with a dink black tip reef shark or a large ray. If I throw out a full croaker, I almost always end up with a bigger shark (or a thud on my rod with an empty hook.) I had to add a trailer hook to the tail or dorsal of the croaker to fight back. I lost the first 2 trailer hooks using 50# braid. I think their scales cut it. I bought some 70# mono leader material, but tying knots on that stuff is a real challenge. What kind of knot do you guys suggest I try? It's like trying to tie a cable! I tied a decent surgeon's loop that I clipped into the leader on one end. The knot on the hook end was the problem. Too thick to do a cinch knot or palomar. I ended up doing a really ugly 3-turn Uni. I think I need to crimp it  Suggestions?


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## nitsud

Sounds like you might want to get some wire leaders. That big mono is a pita. You could always do a uni in your mainline and an overhand in the leader. Another option is to do a uni shock leader as shown halfway down on this page:

http://www.stripersonline.com/forum/thread/359413/overhand-uni-knot

Good to hear you're having some luck!


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## HOUSE

I ran into a bit of trouble catching bait fish today. They didn't like squid for some reason or the blue fish finder rig that I was using. I caught 3 more black tips, and ran into this guy on my last croaker:


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## LmitingOut

WAREHOUSE said:


> Thanks for all of the posts guys, I'm packed up and leaving in a few hours. I'll try and upload some pics while I'm there from my phone. It certainly would have been awesome to fish with some of you guys down there. My family would probably kill me if I stayed another 2 weeks, lol, but thanks for the offer to fish with you!
> 
> I packed up 2 surf rods and a medium action spinning reel to catch bait and fish the lagoons. I tied up my leaders and shark rigs, I can't wait to see what they bring in. I'm also going to try and hook up with a guide I met at a restaurant last year named Byron Sewell. Anyone heard of him before? He's a local there and I think he was on the show, Spanish Fly a few times.


I fished with that Guy last year, he seemed like he didn't want to be there. I was very disappointed in the charter. When I called the charter I asked what the prime time would be for redfish and they told me that it doesn't matter they are catching everything from reds tarpon sharks and permit. I find out its BS when I talked to Byron. Byron laughed when I said can we try for tarpon. At the time the tides were so bad that there's only a couple hours morning and afternoon to fish for reds. I stood at the bow trying to throw a weightless fluke into the wind which was just impossible. It just seemed a waste of time and money, he told me that he been doing three charters a day and when he got to us late in the day it was like he was burnt out. On top of it he was using my cell phone for about a hour cause he didn't have one. 
I would recommend try a different charter



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## McBride757

Very nice fish, now I'm really itching to get to Hatteras. Maybe I'll give shark fishing a try.


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