# Hilton Head SC July 29th...



## UFM82 (Apr 6, 2004)

Here a week and don't expect much. Fished just after high tonight and caught two whiting on the ultralight in the foam 20' from shore. Nothing biting in the deeper water 100 yards out. Got here yesterday and it has stormed both evenings heavy. The water temp must be in the 90's- it doesn't even refresh you when you go swimming. But we've spotlighted crabs, whiting, houndfish and stingrays in the surf after dark. 

Pretty place but it's not reknowned for its fishing and I can see why.


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## Cavdoc (Jan 21, 2010)

went out on a nearshore charter last week Monday. Had a blast catching Sea trout on light tackle for 3 hours, then as tide changed we bottom fished in 45 ft of water with very little action. Had a great time. Landed a 20" sea trout that the captain said was largest of his season.


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## UFM82 (Apr 6, 2004)

Today the water temp dropped to 82 degrees due to an onshore wind that blew in some cooler water. Whiting are thick in the first cut and but are all clones at 10". I have not yet caught any of the dreaded little sharks but that may be in the future. I've actually seen 1/2 dozen guys fishing around here and they are all catching the same thing.

On the unusual side, at low tide today you literally could not walk in the water without stepping on sand dollars. There are MILLIONS of them here. I scooped up 12 in one big two-handed scoop at one point. These are living sand dollars, not skeletons. I've never seen this in my life and it's freaky. My daughter won't go in the water now because she things she's killing sand dollars by walking on them. LOL

Will update as the week goes by.


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## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

I know what you mean about those sand dollars, wow. I've been going down to the island for years and I've never seen as many as I did 2 weeks ago. My brother and I were goofing around collecting tons of them and we'd swim up close to a family of tourists or a family with little kids, & one of us would say "holy cow, I feel a ton of sand dollars over here" while the other one of us would dive down, pull 50 sand dollars out of our pockets and pretend to have scooped them all up on one dive. 

I had a handful of good strikes on live bait out past the breaking waves but I never landed any of them. Circle hooks just wouldn't bite...looking back I think I might up-size them next year. All of my strikes were at high tide +/- one hour. It was the first year I didn't catch a large shark or ray down on the island. Hopefully, you'll have better luck! 

Are you going to do any in-shore fishing down there? If so, check out my post from 2 weeks ago. I think there's a map in there that should help.


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## UFM82 (Apr 6, 2004)

I will never, ever again waste a week here on vacation. In 4 days of perfect tides, excellent solunar tables, light winds and great water, I've caught exactly 3 whiting that were all under 10" long. A couple of the guys I came down here with went out on a charter today and caught 2 14" long blacktips and 3 lb bonnethead shark. $475 for that bonanza.


This place sucks. No offense to anyone who likes it here. I've fished in better mud puddles. 

UFM82


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## Jack'n Fish (Oct 1, 2007)

You need to come in May for the outstanding Cobia fishing or Book a Day with Josh Utsey for Tarpon in the May River in July and August. As far as the surf goes, I have had great success of the beach in Palmetto Dunes for sharks and ray on cut bait in the months of May through October. In my opinion the best fishery on the Island is the Palmetto Dunes Lagoons. If you are staying in there or can get a day pass, rent a kayak and drag carolina rigged cut or ideally live bait or pitch top water or swim baits. The redfish in there push 20#'s and if you can fish a water discharge the flounders on cut bait are a blast. Popping corks will get you bit on sea trout and reds as well and are a blast to fish in the early am. I go down almost every year and originally had your same opinion as well until I figured some things out. Palmetto Dunes is the way to go I don't even fish the surf anymore unless I'm there in May and June. It's no OBX but it has some very special fishing that is a totally unique experience.


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## CHOPIQ (Apr 6, 2004)

I went to Hilton Head in June and took a head boat out. Can't remember the name but it was right at Salty Dog saloon area. Anyways saw a lot of keeper black bass caught, couple cobias and I caught a 450-500 lb. 11' tiger shark. It only cost around $65. Fishing from shore only caught a couple small sharks. 1-2'ers,


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## Fishbaughzach (Oct 28, 2010)

went to obx in mid july (2nd week) fished the surf with decent luck catching about 10 whiting and spots a morning. We were in corolla. While we were there took a charter out (dream girl) and caught 25 mahi mahi those fish are beautiful and they were a blast to catch. And also pretty good eating. ha.


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## UFM82 (Apr 6, 2004)

In Hilton Head? Good luck. There are two shops on the entire island and I brought more stuff with me than the one place had in stock. (Blue Water Tackle) The other place up near the bridge to the mainland had no live shrimp and finger mullet were $2 each. Really? 

I did try the lagoons and in fact fished at what I thought was a great spot. Inlet pipe from the marsh into the lagoon that was flowing well with the incoming tide. Since I could get no live bait and the ONLY place to get fresh shrimp was Piggly Wiggly I had to go with that. An hour of drifting through the current brought nothing. The water is deeply stained to the point that I wonder if anything lives there but was told that they did well on reds in there. I did see two alligators while fishing there though. Only saw two yaks in the lagoon all week and I was staying in Palmetto Dunes so I was in the right place. 

Biggest thing I saw caught all week was a 20lb stingray that I had to unhook for the guy who caught it since he was terrified of it. 

I would hope that at some point the fishing here is decent but it sure wasn't while I was here. 

UFM82


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## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

Dang UFM82, sorry you didn't have better luck down there. I really like fishing on the island, it definitely can be a good place to fish. Did you have bad weather or anything the week before your trip?

I second what Jack'n Fish said about the cobia. That seems to be a big event down there. I'm pretty sure HHI is a big spawning ground for cobia from certain parts of the southeast coast during the Spring. I've heard of good tarpon fishing charters on HHI and Tybee Island as well and even gotten a 100+ pounder on the line before over at Tybee.

As you found out, live bait (and tackle) on the island is almost impossible to find. I've caught my own shrimp in the intercoastal waterways at high tide, but it's a messy process. I usually just stick with artificials or bring a castnet and gather pinfish and mullet in the lagoons (like the ones with pipes like you mentioned.) You have to watch out for oyster beds on the bottom when you throw it, though. I've also used a cast net in the surf and caught bait that way, but I prefer a fish-finder rig with shrimp. I'd say bad luck/user error if you cant catch _something _out of the ocean to use for bait on one of those rigs. Some years I get croaker, some years it's whiting, sometimes pinfish...but there's always something to use for bait.

It seems like every year I hear more and more people saying they prefer the inshore fishing over the surf down there and probably agree with them with the exception of those cobia. I definitely wouldn't plan an off-shore fishing trip to HHI in the summer compared to other places, but I'd certainly rent a kayak or a bike down there and take advantage of the lagoons while down there on a family vacation. It's a very safe/clean/friendly island compared to other beaches I've visited, and that bike trail is very unique. Personally, I've found chasing reds and trout in the inter-coastal lagoons more exciting to fish than the surf. That being said, it sure is fun to have a crowd on the beach watch you battle a monster shark or ray  Better luck next time to you and anyone else going down there. Feel free to send me a PM if you go back and I'll help you target some of the inshore waterways.

Here are some fish that I caught this year and last just so you know they do in fact exist:








Speckled seatrout:
































Typical "hot dog" sharks from the beach:








Cobia:








One of the bigger sharks I've caught from the shore. Atlantic sharpnose:


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