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I'm spending a week in Hilton Head staying in Sea Pines the week of July 14. I'm bringing my 18' flats boat. I have never fished in this area. I typically fish inshore but I also like to fish/troll for kings/spanish off beach or go to nearshore reefs. Can anyone point me in the right direction? What's biting in mid July around HH? Also, as I'm with family (mostly girls who prefer to lay on the beach) let me know if you have experience fishing the area and would like to go out on my boat with me. Experienced fisherman only please.
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Hey Simpleman, Welcome to the boards. I dont know the HH area well enough to give you any advice. Capt Shannon and Tarpon4me might have some advice. I live in GreenvilleSC about 4 hrs from the coast.We are having a BFT get together the 14 and 15 of july @ MB and Murrells Inlet. You might wanna check it out!
Also what kinda flats boat do you have? Im shopping for one right now.
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I have a Seastrike 180S. I have it rigged with a 115hp motor and 24v trolling motor. It's not exactly Hell Bay but it's in near new condition and allows me to fish in almost any water. I love the boat for the price range. Second only to the boats' draft, the front deck on a flats boat is really important. I would look for a boat that has a large flat front deck. If I was willing to drop the cash, I'd like to have a Hell's Bay but there a several other quality brands out there. Walk around gunwale is big too. Thanks for the reply.
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I'm not from the area but have been going to HH because of family a week in june for most years for the past 8 years. I fly there but my brother-in-law lives close enough to bring his boat. But he doesn't, we don't even bother bringing fishing poles anymore, the fishing just isn't usually that good. This year my brother-in law skipped out and went to the Florida keys for 2 weeks. I joined him for a week of great fishing and then put in 2 days at HH without fishing before leaving the family behind to finish up the week without me. I do always go in mid to late June, I don't know if things might pick up in July or not.
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Hilton Head should be doing pretty good around about that time frame. The spanish are all over the place, if you're into light action trolling. You know, Doc and I were talking before about how the weather has really screwed things up. Usually, there is a spring run of kings, but this year there wasn't, atleast not to any amount. They pretty much stayed offshore. Last I heard, if you're not 10+ miles out, you won't see a king, unless you luck up on a snake. I know I went out to paradise reef a couple weekends ago and released an 8' tiger shark. I have pictures i'm going to post when I get the chance. It was a really nice fish, and if you have the equipment and know-how, sharks make an excellent game fishing opportunity. When nothing else is around, you can always chum up a shark or two. To me, there isn't a finer target species when your luck is down.
If I were you, i'd head to the bay in Beaufort. Sheepshead, flounder, small sharks, jacks, etc..... They are all over the place. I'd start by loading up on some fiddler crabs and fish under over hanging trees and structure with a carolina rig. This produces some nice sheepshead and also the occasional drum. Drifting the holes with live mud minnows or mullet can produce alot of fish as well. I'm positive you have sonar on your boat, so locating the hot spots shouldn't be a problem at all. If you're trolling, and want to target spanish, stay close to shore, in about 25' of water or less. Bring some binoc's with you so you can find the birds and bait. Once you've found the birds, I like to troll either #00 or #01 clark spoons on 20lb fluorocarbon leader attached to a #1 planer. That usually makes for a deadly combo for spanish this time of year. Don't be affraid to drop a large Yo Zuri swimming plug in the wash either. You never know what else might be lurking around. Make sure and troll very slow. I have a 150 on my center console, and I usually troll around 1200 RPM's. Just above a creep. If you can anchor off around the rocks and get your hands on some live pogeys, you should find some success with spottail bass on the bottom with a carolina rig.
I hope this info helps out, and I wish you luck. Please ask any other questions you may have and make sure and post a fishing report!!!!!
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Tarpon4me....thanks for the reply. Good info. I'll definately work the Spanish. I was down in Gulf Shores last week and boated several large Kings slow trolling just off the beach sandbar in 20' of water using dusters rigs baited with spanish sardines. I'll take your advice in HH and let you know how it goes.
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Hey Simpleman..I was checking out some photos of the seastrike 180s. I couldnt really find a good pic of the front deck. Is it a large deck...Good for casting a flyrod?
Man Im ready for some more Salt!! Just went to a few local ponds Farm and Golf course ponds.....Fished hard from the bank......Caught a few Dinks!!!!!!! Im so sick of small fish! If I had a dollar for every 1-2 lb bass I have caught I would be a wealthy man! I hope your trip to Hurtin head goes well! Sounds like you got the Kings dialed in!
Tight Lines
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[#000000][size 1]SC_flyguy.....the front deck on the Seastrike is not the best for flyfishing. We do a fair amount of flyfishing for Reds/Trout and the occasional Tripletail (attached..Not me...my buddy gets the glory, I pole). My decks not completely flat and the trolling motor tends to get in the way. One way I combat this is with a stripping bucket. The best decks are completely flat with nothing for the flyline to get hung up on. [/size]
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[size 1]Some Boats have a toe plate that runs up both sides all the way to the tip of the bow. This let's you easily feel where the end of the boat is with your toe and gives you the ability to get to the edge without looking down. You can also lean forward without feeling like your going to fall overboard while your casting or stripping. Next boat I buy will have this feature. Good fishing![/size][/#000000]
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So far so good. Staying in Sea Pines and fishing the south end of the island. Trout are abundant in the early morning while the tide is still moving in and before the sun gets too high. I caught about ten this morning near grass/oysters on gold spoon and then on a Berkley gulp shrimp and red head jig. Just as the trout were winding down, I saw a huge school of menhaden just behind me in the bay. Trolled over there and caught about 40 or 50 in one cast! Next cast I caught about 10 and a small shark. I then went out to the south point of the island near the buoy and anchored up near the rip. Fished with egg sinkers and live Menhaden and caught shark after shark. Had a couple of big ones bite through the steel leader. Spanish were all over and kept running into my line and severing it. I put on heavier leader and larger hooks and next thing you know, we hooked up with a 38" 16lb cobia. Took about 20 minutes to land. The fish was tagged so I'm going to send the tag in.
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