Fished Copahee saturday and sunday morning. Got some crabs from crosbys for free and caught some finger mullet. Had a few reds on half of a blue crab but they raced right toward the oyster beds and broke the leader! This was very frustrating! Caught a few decent sized trout. Hooked into these nice bonnethead below and they put up a good fight.
37 inches. Didn’t get a weight on him cause he was frisky.
This beast measured in at a little over 40 inches! I was very surprised at how strong it was but this is also the biggest shark I have ever brought onto the kayak. For a newbie this was pretty intense! Caught him on half of a blue crab.
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Benjamin Franklin
Malibu Stealth 12 with Lowrance Mark 4 Fishfinder/GPS
Perception Access Angler
Very nice bonnets. Those fish were probably more like 20 +/- lbs though. It’s hard to guess their weight without a scale. The state record is under 30 lbs I believe. Great fish!
Yea maybe your’re right on the weight. I should have used the scale. I’ve never pulled anything onto the kayak that big and they were putting up a fight.
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Benjamin Franklin
Malibu Stealth 12 with Lowrance Mark 4 Fishfinder/GPS
Perception Access Angler
Bonnets are a blast. As for the reds, not their first time at the rodeo. I have my drag set pretty high when I fish Copahee and the fish still cut me off about 1/2 the time.
I hooked 2 big reds but they immediately ran right for the oyster beds! I’m tempted to throw on a steel leader but with my luck I wont get a hit at all.
quote:Originally posted by Too Busy
Bonnets are a blast. As for the reds, not their first time at the rodeo. I have my drag set pretty high when I fish Copahee and the fish still cut me off about 1/2 the time.
I thought about keeping one but I read that you have to bleed them out asap and after hooking a big black tip out there I didn’t think it was a good idea to be paddling around with a blood trail behind me lol. What do you do with them after you catch em?
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Benjamin Franklin
Malibu Stealth 12 with Lowrance Mark 4 Fishfinder/GPS
Perception Access Angler
Must have been you me and my bud saw Sunday. No one else out there fighting the wind that I noticed. Wanted to fish the low tide that afternoon but the wind was getting worse so we decided to pack it in early. Got one red and a few small sharks. The one red made my day though. Not a very good pic but I wanted to get it back in the water after a long fight.
Nice red! Yep that was me. That wind was horrible! Glad I didn’t try to head out behind Ft Moultrie. After you caught that you were pretty vocal lol. I was curious as to what you caught but I didn’t want to invade your space. I hooked a couple big reds with half a blue crab but they ran into oyster beds. Thats the first time I’ve ever hooked into a red at Copahee. Only been out there twice. I need to start setting my drag heavier. Tons of finger mullet though.
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Benjamin Franklin
Malibu Stealth 12 with Lowrance Mark 4 Fishfinder/GPS
Perception Access Angler
When that big red hits in the open, stand up if you can and get that rod tip as high as possible. You might break off here and there, but I promise you will have better success!
I think I saw you out there last Saturday. You were fishing in a good location but the reds move around a lot in that area. I chased them around for a couple of hours catching 6 and losing a few throwing ZMan crabs. Maybe I will see you next time I am out there.
Planning on fishing that area again Sept 5 and Sept 20 if I see you again I’ll make sure to say hi. Like you I’m always leary of talking to folks while they’re on the water 'cause I don’t want to infringe on their space. Sorry for all the noise but I get excited when I hook up on a nice fish.
Lol you don’t have to apologize I would have done the same thing. I just thought it was funny cause I was a couple hundred yards away and I could tell you got something nice. Its easy to spot my green malibu and I’m always wearing my “lucky” fishing outfit, green shirt/shorts lol.
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Benjamin Franklin
Malibu Stealth 12 with Lowrance Mark 4 Fishfinder/GPS
Perception Access Angler
You have to eat them fresh freezing doesn?t work to well
Was in contact with Brian- Shark Man ? SC DNR ? and he gave me the run down
Really Messy
Smack hard in the back of the head(Hammer)just to be safe, Cut off head + gut right away ? let it bleed out ? soak in Buttermilk over night (get rid of all acid taste)
I cut in steaks not to thick about 3/4inch thick ? marinate all day I just use Italian dressing + some hot sauce and just flop on the grill
You only can clean on you kayak/Boat a non game fish!!! Bonnet Head or Atlantic Sharp Nose
I only keep the small ones up to 2ft ? older sharks seem to taste diff + it is said they retain mercury also
