Shark fishing in St Simons Island is one of the more popular charter trips from May-August. Sharks in our waters come in all shapes and sizes, and are quite abundant during the warmer months. You can fish fresh bait in the sounds or around sandbars to target 2-4 footers and this is very popular for kids trips. Plenty of large specimens are taken from the beaches and piers by the serious shark anglers, but drift fishing is one of the most exciting methods for catching 100#+ bruiser blacktip and spinner sharks.
Drift fishing enables you to use lighter tackle with no weights so you can truly experience the speed and power of these animals. The easiest thing to do is look for shrimp trawlers dragging their nets off of the beach, preferably in 20-30 feet of water. Fresh bait, live or dead attached to a large long shank hook, 6 feet of 400# mono and a cork is all you need for a rig. A short wire trace can be used above the hook, but heavy mono crimped to a long shank hook will suffice. A Strong rod and a reel with an excellent drag and lots of 65 pound braided line makes for a fun battle.
It may take a drift or 2 to get it dialed in, but you want to start your drift directly behind the trawler, just behind his nets, and drift down the mud line coming off of the nets. DO NOT get too close, and don’t use a weighted line, it will get tangled in his nets and he will not be happy. When the Sharks are thick it is pretty much an instant hookup, so hang on. Blacktips, Spinners, Blacknose, Lemons, Bulls, Hammerheads, and Tigers on occasion follow these trawlers around. Be careful with these fish boatside as they are very strong. Cut your hook off to release the shark or use the long handled ARC dehooking device and go catch another one.
