So, heard the surf fishing off HHI generally sucks due to a gentle slope and little structure. Gonna be there for a couple days and trying it anyways bc I can’t stand sitting around on the beach. Anyone have experience with this?
Will prob fish a large rod w a big chunk of mullet for reds and a small rod with fresh shrimp for whiting/black drum. And plenty of beer.
Pat Condon
“Carla Dee”
Breadandbobbers,
You heard wrong. After hearing this nonsense for quite a while, I finally posted some information on pierandsurf.com. Either people don’t know what they’re doing or haven’t spent any time fishing there.
Here’s a link to my post that should help get you started. Fish early and pack it in once the people hit the beach. There are days when if it takes more than 30 seconds for a bite, something is wrong.
http://www.pierandsurf.com/fishing-forum/showthread.php?101791-Hilton-Head-Island
Few years back I was doing some surf fishing at Sea Pines beaches. The beach was very crowded and when I started pulling 2 to 3’ sharks, everybody moved 200+ yards away from where I was fishing. Do you think that I was in the shark hole?
Never caught anything there except sharks.
Ricky Friedenberg
Savannah, GA
2004 Sea Pro 206
1975 Mako 171 Angler
Runninlate,
Once again, I’m no expert. There are lots of sharks on HHI in my experience, especially on the southern tip as you enter Calibogue sound. But, they’re up my way too. I’ve seen them in the curl silouetted against the morning sun and caught plenty. I don’t know where you were fishing in Sea Pines. I’ve also seen them feeding in the salt marsh at low tide. Technically, you aren’t allowed to target them and I don’t. But, certain bait (ie cut mullet) catches sharks more frequently than other bait. If you’re using a whole fish, you will likely catch sharks and sometimes they can be pretty big; certainly more than I want to deal with. I don’t fish for them as they don’t want you to do so and I try to comply with the rules as much as possible. Small pieces of cut mullet work well for whiting and trout and occasionally a small black tip. Big sharks are further off the beach.
The fish on HHI are very close to the beach. It’s true that there’s not as much structure as other beaches but that makes even micro structure critical. Trust me on this. Fish close and pay attention to small nuances. If you want more structure, try Fish Haul Creek beach.