The Hilton Head Homes Blog

Hilton Head & The South Carolina Lowcountry – An Angelers’ Paradise

When discussing fishing on or from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, the defining characteristic is diversity. There is fishing for every level of experience and enthusiasm. Couple that with facilities to support almost every category of sport fishing and you have AN ANGLERS’ PARADISE.

The variety of fish that are caught in the waters around Hilton Head is amazing. The fresh water creeks, streams and rivers yield over forty species of fish, the most frequently caught include:

• American Eel
• Black Crappie
• Blue Catfish
• Bluegill
• Bowfin
• Chain Pickerel
• Channel Catfish
• Common Carp
• Largemouth Bass

There are eighty saltwater species available to the angler fishing the saltwater bays, coves and ocean surrounding Hilton Head. Approximately forty of these are available to the inshore angler. The South Carolina record for five of these species was set for catches made in Hilton Head waters or from deep sea fishing boats out of port Hilton Head.

If you want in-depth information about the species in and around Hilton Head or throughout South Carolina, an unequaled resource is the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources site, www.dnr.sc.gov/ where you will not only get a vast amount of information on sport fishing in and around the Lowcountry, but pictures of each of the species to help with identification.

A Great Day Fishing On Or Nearby Hilton Head Island

You only need a fishing rod, reel, line some lures or live bait, The South Carolina Lowcountry provides the rest. There are piers, docks, beaches and inlets where the fishing is convenient. Most of the docks and piers have amenities nearby and there is always plenty of room for a comfortable chair and a cooler.

A Great Day Fishing – Inshore

Inshore fishing calls for a small boat, a skiff or for the more adventurous, a seagoing fishing kayak. Inshore is generally defined as fishing the "flats" or inside a bay where the water is shallow. This is where the angler can catch Bonefish, Tarpon, Redfish, Spotted Sea Trout, Snook and others.

This type of fishing is probably the most popular among serious saltwater anglers since the novice can get into the sport with a very low cost of entry. The fisher person who starts out on a dock or a beach and decides they love the sport and want to move up to accessing a greater quantity and diversity of available fish can rent the appropriate boat to try the adventure. Boats are available for inshore fishing to accommodate from four to eight anglers or one less if you are inexperienced and want to rent your fishing vessel with an on-board captain.

There are some locations on Hilton Head or over the bridges in Bluffton, along the May River, where the adventurous can rent a seagoing kayak or a small skiff with an outboard and ‘test the waters’ so to speak, for a minimum entry fee. Once the decision is made and the angler wants their own vessel, there are over fifteen boat ramps between Hilton Head and Bluffton, giving the diversity of launching into several waterways and the ability to trailer the boat and keep the maintenance costs of their fishing craft affordable.

A Great Day Fishing – Offshore

If you are serious about participating in big league fishing and want to catch many large cobia, tarpon, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, grouper, snapper, sharks and tuna, you should go off-shore. What is offshore? It is generally twenty to fifty miles out into the Atlantic where the water depths are one-hundred feet or greater. The fish are bigger, the boats to get you there are bigger, equipped with lavatory, cooking and napping accommodations, because the fishing trips can last anywhere up to three days. Landing a fish, unlike fighting a bass from the beach or a sea trout from a skiff inshore, can take hours. It is an expensive sport if you acquire all the equipment yourself.

In Hilton Head, you can enjoy this fantastic angling adventure without breaking the bank. There are over twenty-five charter services with magnificent deep sea fishing vessels to allow you a day of top-of-the-line fishing for the ‘big ones’. A day you will never forget or regret.

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Fishing is regulated in South Carolina, so to protect the environment and to stay out of trouble visit www.dnr.sc.gov/ to get the information about licensing and seasonal limitations.

Hilton Head and the South Carolina Lowcountry
An Anglers' Paradise