Cast to Catch: Fly Fishing for Bonnethead Sharks in Charleston

Explosive Action: Fly Fishing for Bonnethead Sharks in the Lowcountry

It’s an early summer morning, just before the true heat of the day sets in. The wind is light, and you are on the hunt for a specific target. While standing on the bow of a skiff in about a foot of water, you watch the water erupt just ahead of you. Finger mullet and shrimp are popping and flickering on the water’s surface, then WHAM! An explosion against an oyster bed sends bait flopping onto the dry shoreline. A big wake from the predator responsible for this chaos makes a second push to finish off the school of bait.

You can see the dorsal fin and the deep grey silhouette of the fish as it picks up speed. You quickly cast a white bend-back minnow a couple of feet in front of the wake and start stripping your line. Just as the fly intersects with the wake, it happens. The line rips out of your hand toward the open water as you set the hook, you’re on!

Charleston, SC, has a diverse fishery, and for a fly angler, it offers world class sight fishing opportunities. One of my favorite species to target on the fly has to be the bonnethead shark. The smallest species in the hammerhead family, these sharks are the bullies of the flats. Averaging around four feet and getting up to 5 feet, they show little fear of a skiff or people, these sharks will get anyone’s blood pumping!

Hooked up! One great thing about these sharks is they usually run straight to open water!

Tidal Tactics for Bonnethead Shark Fly Fishing

I find most of my bonnethead sharks during mid to low water, tailing and feeding on sand flats, creek mouths, and main shorelines where bait is sitting. While they are not usually a super spooky species to fish, they can easily disappear into deeper water. Ideally, 1–2 hours before dead low tide or after the tide changes is best, in my opinion.

I try to target large, open flats that do not have significant depth changes. This allows my angler to have multiple shots at the same shark without worrying about losing it in the depths. My ideal scenario is to be staked out with my push pole and one swims by, guaranteeing they have no idea of my presence.

Shark cruising next to the boat

How Diet Influences Fly Selection

One thing I find most interesting about these sharks correlates with an interesting fact about their diets. Bonnethead sharks are omnivores and bottom feeding opportunists. Their diets range from shrimp, crab, and some baitfish to certain marine vegetation.

What I’ve noticed over the years of watching and fishing for these sharks is that, usually, whatever they have their mind set on food-wise will be the only thing they eat at that time. This makes fly selection difficult. I like to sit back off a flat and observe what the shark is feeding on, then choose a fly that mirrors that prey and present it to the shark. That way, you know it’s already keyed in to that silhouette.

This brings me to my next point: these sharks have fantastic sensors on their face. You could compare their round, circular-shaped head to a metal detector. When choosing a fly, make sure you have plenty of it covered with material. Bonnetheads can sense metal and will veer off as soon as they detect it.

Fat shark landed on a 10wt

Gear and Tactics for Catching Bonnethead Sharks on the Fly

Fly selection consists of a variety of crab patterns, bend-back minnows, clouser minnows, and shrimp patterns. Remember the metal detector heads, so stick with long-shank hooks if possible. Bonnetheads do not have the best vision and rely heavily on scent, adding an extra layer of difficulty for the fly angler. A heavier-weighted fly that can reach the bottom quickly helps a lot. As they patrol flats, shorelines, and creek mouths, they are usually looking down for an easy meal.

For rod setup, I like my anglers to use a 10wt, although you can land them on an 8wt. The 10wt offers a little more pulling power and doesn’t exhaust the shark as much. I use a 12 foot leader and usually 20 pound fluorocarbon tippet. Make sure you make firm and solid hook sets to penetrate that tough jaw.

This shark was showing us his dorsal mid fight

A Fly Fishermans Dream

I love the progression of fly fishing. The species that were once thought to be a dream to catch on the fly have become a reality. On your next fishing trip to Charleston, give the Redfish a break and look for the dorsal fins cruising the flats. You may just catch the bug for fly fishing Charleston.

Thank you for reading,

Captain Conner Bryant

A beat shark being released to fight another day