About 15 years ago a friend of mine was telling me these sharks he was catching in the surf off of Folly Beach. He was using crabs he caught along the groins and he said the sharks had a funny shaped head. He was not from here and did not have much in the way of saltwater fishing experience and I really thought he was just catching small hammerhead sharks. He looked them up and told me that they were not a hammerhead, but a bonnet head shark.
In almost 30 years of fishing in Charleston, I had never caught a bonnet head shark in my life and I had been surf fishing since I was a little guy. It was not until a couple of years later I caught my first one and now some days it seems like that is all we catch when targeting other species. They are plentiful and can be caught on a variety of baits. Crabs are one of the sure fire bait to use when targeting them, but we’ve caught plenty on live menhaden especially around the surf.
Bonnet heads provide a great fight and are a really good fish to target especially with young anglers that are just getting into fishing. Every kid loves to say they caught a shark and with the abundance of these sharks inshore they are fairly easy to catch. You will find them running along the edges of the marsh lines and many times they are swimming right along the surface. Pitching a crab in the area where you see them will certainly result in a strike. You may also target areas like the surf with crabs or live menhaden and you can find them. Some anglers like to put a crab down close to the bottom while they fish for other species while anchored up and just wait for the rod to bend. Circle hooks are great and easy to unhook as they normally hook the shark in the corner of the mouth. Always remember to check the SCDNR website to see what the regulations are currently on sharks if you plan to keep any to eat.
Regulations are “Currently” one per person per day with no size limit. Regulations change quite frequently so always make sure you know your regulations befo