Sharks are kind of fun to catch, especially for kids and people visiting the area. I’ve fished different spots in the harbor with success, but for a change of pace what other areas are worth trying? I’ve never caught any at Breach Inlet (could’ve just been the times I was there). How about Folly River or Stono Inlet? The harbor gets kind of gnarly on the weekends and with any wind, so just wondering if there are other calmer spots for those days.
My other question: What about larger sharks? Everything I’ve caught have been 3’ - 4’ sharpnose and bonnetheads. Is there a good way to consistently find larger ones without getting offshore? Or do they just get hooked by chance? Maybe surf fishing at night is the only way to find them.
Feel free to PM me if you’d rather not say to the masses.
Oh, and obviously I’m thinking about next spring/summer when the waters warm back up.
Big Creek mouths/points off larger deeper inlets are where I have seen and found them. I’ve been on some good ones in N Edisto and in St Helena Sound. Channel side of Deveraux Bank is good - Combahee Light too. South point off Edisto Beach and Coosaw-Combahee Rip is good. IMHO being next to a deep channel is key. Best hole I know hands down is mouth of Trenchards Inlet. The Bull Point side on the left and the St Phillips Is side on the right. Parts of Trenchards is near 80’ deep. The tide RIPS in this area. If you don’t have a really good anchor you can forgetaboutit. I had my son out years ago on a “Shark” trip and I got tired of taking small-med ones off the hook there.
He almost got snatched out the boat when he set the hook on one and got bit off 3x with drag screaming. One rolled beside boat that was 8-9’. He had a freaking ball. He wanted to catch the big one!! Caught a 6’ ray that same spot that I had to take a beer break on. Whipped my butt. He wanted to gaff him with a hand gaff. LOL There is a place called the “Boca” on out from Trenchards closer to the main channel that I hear have some beast lurking about. That was my plan that day to go there. That was way too big of water for my skiff at the time so I never made it out there to try it. It’s not offshore but, you cant see land to the south - might as well have been for me.
Thanks for all the advice, jford. I love exploring new areas so all that sounds fun, but I’m in the Charleston area so I’m generally fishing between Kiawah and Dewees. Anybody else on here have some general areas worth searching for larger sharks in Charleston? Sounds like I’ll try jford’s tip of looking for the deepest water I can find.
If i have some “out of towners” on the boat, and the weather is too rough to go out to the reefs, i usually take them to the drum island and fish this hole for sharks. I havent pulled any monsters, but its a constant hookup on sharpnose, bonnetheads, and rays. the kids and out of towners always seem to have fun there.
Just some generals, target any steep drop off or hole or creek close to the main channel as close to an inlet you can get, use a big bait. If you don’t have heavy gear don’t target big sharks because you will just waste gear and trash the water/kill fish.
Small and medium sharks are fairly easy to catch and a bait to size ratio of 1oz to 5 lbs is fine but if your targeting a monster chum, chum, chum and use a gigantic bait and big gear. Monster fishing would be best at the inlet on the edge of channel or hole end of May early June. For you I would say in late may and arrive at Stono inlet backside of Kiawah/Sandy point 2 1/2hrs before low first sling a few handfuls of loose chum out, then drop your bucket or bag in. Rig your very large bait (40lb stingray center cut is ideal) on very big gear 50w with 80lb braid minimum to your 25ft mono leader at least 300lb and a slider clip for your weight probably 2#s for current to at least 5ft of double wrapped #15 wire or higher with your double hook rig with 20-24/0 hooks or 16/0 owner Grander or Super Mutu. Continue the loose chumming periodically and wait and wait and wait repeat to you succeed. Drop a few smaller lines for some medium sharks 5-8ft. You will catch a lot of 6fters before you get the monster and you will likely loose your first few tangles with a monster. Deveaux banks is worth the trip.
S. Edisto Inlet is covered up in big ones in the late summer. I set up on Pine Island across from Big Bay creek right on the dropoff from the sandbar and put out cut baits. The sharks there are big. Wading anywhere around Pine or Cougar Islands is almost suicidal IMO! The St.Helena sound is a wild place…
Mechanic, 40inch & Optiker: Thank you so much for the responses. I really appreciate the different ideas/spots to try out. 40inch, that sounds like a fun plan for some day in the future. I’m not trying to set any records, but finding some fun 5’-7’ sharks would be awesome. I mainly just appreciate knowing that you guys have had success in different inshore spots than where I’ve been. I’m excited to try some new places next year and wanted to hear that I’m not wasting my time.
S. Edisto Inlet is covered up in big ones in the late summer. I set up on Pine Island across from Big Bay creek right on the dropoff from the sandbar and put out cut baits. The sharks there are big. Wading anywhere around Pine or Cougar Islands is almost suicidal IMO! The St.Helena sound is a wild place… </font id=“red”>
Every time I go by otter Island and see all the boats and people I always wonder when we’ll have a shark attack. Never thought about it as a kid, but I’ve seen some of the big boys caught in that area. I help out(mostly ride) from time to time on a shrimp boat and we’ve had some pretty big ones come around the boat in that area as well. Don’t for get Mary Lee pinging right off Morgan Island. One of who knows how many out there and she pings all over our coast. Wonder how many more Great Whites we have?
Couldn’t tell you how many times we’ve jumped in for a cool off while cobia fishing that area. No more. Probably just paranoid, but not taking the chance.
“If Bruce Jenner can keep his wiener and be called a woman, I can keep my firearms and be considered disarmed.”
Speaking of MaryLee. We were shrimping off Otter two yrs ago and she pinged within 100 yrds of where were at. Not far from channel marker at mouth of Ashepoo. We saw a big fish roll. I thought it a tarpon or sturgeon but my buddy after seeing track on Ocearch swears it was her. idk you never know. Some big ones come from that area every year when B&B / Bennetts has that shark tourney
Mary lee swam through the stono river through the wapoo cut and out the jetties a few years ago, when it happened I was fishing the stono river and hooked a 8ft plus shark that swam across the river towing my boat before it jumped in front of a boat that was cruising down the river and broke me off, it was much larger looking than the man driving the cc standing up. I think it jumped because the boat spooked it. I don’t think it was Mary Lee but I do think it could of been like a 10 or 12ft Great White since they were already in the area and the size of it. One got beached on the folly light house a few years ago.
