Hilton Head Island, S.C. (July 2012):
Hey guys, I just got back and posted this report on my local fishing forum. It's certainly sad to be back in my office, but I'm glad I had a good trip. I didn't get many fishing hours in overall due to family activities, but I fished quite a bit for speckled trout and reds in my favorite lagoons on the island. I also fished the surf a few times. On my last day there I ventured down to Seapines which was pretty awesome. Most of the lagoons are connected by a winding mess of creeks and were exploding with activity. There were large schools of fish pushing 12 inches in most of the connecting waterways outside of the big nature preserve along Lawton Canal Rd. I fished inside the park there and caught black crappie of all things. I saw a few alligators and lots of cool birds, but didn't catch anything exciting. They are in there, though. I've fished there before and caught some big bass, but it gets a lot of pressure.
Surf fishing went pretty well all week. I caught a ton of small blues and what I think were menhaden for bait and threw them out for shark bait. I had 6 big hits on the trip, but couldn't land any of them. One of the fish broke a 50pound steel leader. Another one actually bent the metal clip on the end of the leader. It was the first vacation where I didn't catch a decent sized shark
I learned a few good tips for surf fishing this year. While finding bait with my fishfinder rigs, I focused more on casting to the depressions that were exposed during low tide rather than casting really far out. I had non-stop action from areas that were sometimes only 5ft away from me. I also brought down super sharp hooks from Trokar that made a world of difference. I think they were size 4 straight worm hooks, and the fishfinder rig was one of those cheap $0.99 contraptions from Walmart (slightly modified). I know a lot of people complain about getting their bait stolen. I was setting the hook the second I felt a tap and got them almost every time with these sharp hooks and a small piece of shrimp. I had a 9ft rod with a very flexible tip...next year I'll probably just bring a smaller rod with faster action to help set the hook better. The tide and wind really add a lot of slack line, so it's hard to get a good hook set on these little ninjas. Keeping the rod tip down helped, as well as using smaller hooks.
Overall, the trip was awesome. I spent a lot more time with my family and rode my bike around the island chasing trout and reds. While I didn't catch any sharks, I did catch quite a few speckled trout and reds. That was awesome. I focused most of my time chasing reds and speckled trout in 3 specific lagoons. I found them, and really thought I had them figured out after the first day that went so well, but I lost a lot of my good lures to oyster beds and bridge pilings, so bring extra lures with you since finding tackle on the island is so hard to come by. I really liked the DOA shrimp and soft plastic swimbaits (paddle tails) this year. A big bucket of Gulp Alive shrimp might have been the best thing to bring. A local told me the "Glow" color was his favorite, followed closely by the "New Penny" color. I don't think color mattered as much as fish behavior and weather, however. Clear stable weather on the first day allowed me to target bait fish schools in the middle of lagoons, while increasing winds on the trip really had the bait scattered. There were trout jumping out every day I went out, so I know they were feeding. I saw reds swimming around as well on the first two trips out, but never again after that. I checked my usual spots on 4 different occasions at high tide (+/- 15 minutes) and never saw them again...that's the kind of thing that makes fishing exciting and challenging.
I hope you enjoyed the report...it certainly was a "different" trip overall for fishing. Limited beach fishing due to crowds, and I was staying very far from my usual favorite inland lagoons. I had to bike 5-10 miles to get to my spots so I just didn't have enough time to fish for them thoroughly enough. I told my friends in Ohio that I hope I didn't disappoint anyone expecting big numbers and bigger stories, I usually catch something big. Good luck to anyone else going down there. Feel free to contact me for information or maps, I've got a lot more thoughts on fishing HHI that I'll save for another day. I'll post pictures of what I caught when I upload my camera later.
-House
Hey guys, I just got back and posted this report on my local fishing forum. It's certainly sad to be back in my office, but I'm glad I had a good trip. I didn't get many fishing hours in overall due to family activities, but I fished quite a bit for speckled trout and reds in my favorite lagoons on the island. I also fished the surf a few times. On my last day there I ventured down to Seapines which was pretty awesome. Most of the lagoons are connected by a winding mess of creeks and were exploding with activity. There were large schools of fish pushing 12 inches in most of the connecting waterways outside of the big nature preserve along Lawton Canal Rd. I fished inside the park there and caught black crappie of all things. I saw a few alligators and lots of cool birds, but didn't catch anything exciting. They are in there, though. I've fished there before and caught some big bass, but it gets a lot of pressure.
Surf fishing went pretty well all week. I caught a ton of small blues and what I think were menhaden for bait and threw them out for shark bait. I had 6 big hits on the trip, but couldn't land any of them. One of the fish broke a 50pound steel leader. Another one actually bent the metal clip on the end of the leader. It was the first vacation where I didn't catch a decent sized shark
I learned a few good tips for surf fishing this year. While finding bait with my fishfinder rigs, I focused more on casting to the depressions that were exposed during low tide rather than casting really far out. I had non-stop action from areas that were sometimes only 5ft away from me. I also brought down super sharp hooks from Trokar that made a world of difference. I think they were size 4 straight worm hooks, and the fishfinder rig was one of those cheap $0.99 contraptions from Walmart (slightly modified). I know a lot of people complain about getting their bait stolen. I was setting the hook the second I felt a tap and got them almost every time with these sharp hooks and a small piece of shrimp. I had a 9ft rod with a very flexible tip...next year I'll probably just bring a smaller rod with faster action to help set the hook better. The tide and wind really add a lot of slack line, so it's hard to get a good hook set on these little ninjas. Keeping the rod tip down helped, as well as using smaller hooks.
Overall, the trip was awesome. I spent a lot more time with my family and rode my bike around the island chasing trout and reds. While I didn't catch any sharks, I did catch quite a few speckled trout and reds. That was awesome. I focused most of my time chasing reds and speckled trout in 3 specific lagoons. I found them, and really thought I had them figured out after the first day that went so well, but I lost a lot of my good lures to oyster beds and bridge pilings, so bring extra lures with you since finding tackle on the island is so hard to come by. I really liked the DOA shrimp and soft plastic swimbaits (paddle tails) this year. A big bucket of Gulp Alive shrimp might have been the best thing to bring. A local told me the "Glow" color was his favorite, followed closely by the "New Penny" color. I don't think color mattered as much as fish behavior and weather, however. Clear stable weather on the first day allowed me to target bait fish schools in the middle of lagoons, while increasing winds on the trip really had the bait scattered. There were trout jumping out every day I went out, so I know they were feeding. I saw reds swimming around as well on the first two trips out, but never again after that. I checked my usual spots on 4 different occasions at high tide (+/- 15 minutes) and never saw them again...that's the kind of thing that makes fishing exciting and challenging.
I hope you enjoyed the report...it certainly was a "different" trip overall for fishing. Limited beach fishing due to crowds, and I was staying very far from my usual favorite inland lagoons. I had to bike 5-10 miles to get to my spots so I just didn't have enough time to fish for them thoroughly enough. I told my friends in Ohio that I hope I didn't disappoint anyone expecting big numbers and bigger stories, I usually catch something big. Good luck to anyone else going down there. Feel free to contact me for information or maps, I've got a lot more thoughts on fishing HHI that I'll save for another day. I'll post pictures of what I caught when I upload my camera later.
-House
