Got skunked on the Subury River, advice needed.

[Gentleman4561]

My friend and I took a trip down to Sunbury river to do some shark fishing, we dropped in at the boat ramp and drifted cut mullet on the bottom for a couple miles with one single bite on a balloon rig.

I am thinking next time we aught to get a bigger anchor that will actually be capable of holding us down in the channel or close to it and then running two baits on the bottom and 2 balloon rigs, how does this strategy sound? I figure our baits were bouncing along the bottom at 1-3mph which was certainly not ideal.

What about bait? We tried to catch stingray off the Sunbury pier the night before but caught nothing but a ton of sea trout and a bunch of toad fish. Will the sharks around there eat mullet? I can get them frozen here in Atlanta pretty easily.

 

[WalkinDead]

Mullet work quite well for both redfish and sharks, stingrays work well for sharks if you can catch them. The frozen mullet you pick up in Atlanta may prove a bit mushy once thawed out. Typically fresh mullet work much better. You can also cast net poggies (menhaden) and finger mullet fairly easily and use them for bait, as they are the bait they typically pursue. Eels also work quite well for sharks, if you can find them. You can catch larger sharks fishing 200 yards behind a shrimp boat, if you can get to them, ballooning your baits about 10-15 feet deep. Frozen Bonito work as well, cut into halves or thirds.
The four bait approach would catch you more fish, definitely. Not familiar with the Sunbury area, but what works here should work there also. We fish mainly for bull reds, but catch quite a few medium and bigger sharks in the process, can't be helped. You, most likely, know all of this, not much more I can add to it.

 

[sea trout]

Ah man there's nothing worse than catching a ton of sea trout!!!! Gosh them suckers!!! Ahh ha ha ha joking!
Cut mullet is great shark bait.
Anchoring in the channel is also perfect.
I'm not familiar with the sunbury river but it sounds like the things you already mentioned that you want to try are gonna work great.
It might be getting a little late in the year for sharks. Idk exactly. But the big bull and cow reds will eat the same chunks of mullet so you can kinda fish the same way for 2 fish and will be in for a fun fight catching either one!
Also with mullet some more good bait is chunks of bonita, which most coastal bait shacks will have a frozen bonita for sale. Also good bait if you can catch some croakers, blue runners, and/or lady fish.

 

[jfish]

fished as a kid out of sunbury at ossabaw. plenty of sharks there but more so toward sound and in between ossabaw and st catherines. the sea trout heads are fine shark bait. sharks eat about anything. crabs maybe not so great.

post where you caught the trout i will eat them while you catch shark.

you can buy mullet as well local even at grocery stores around sunbury. it works but its a tick mushy. still will catch shark. you can throw a net at about any creek point, ditch, mud bar and catch mullet. this time of the year they are bigger and easy to spot.

 

[Danny Leigh]

Gman, what rig were you catching the trout on?

Not sure how many sharks are around the ramp, but should be plenty in the sound between Ossabaw and St Catherines like jfish said. I would agree that being stationary might get more bites than drifting.

 

[Mexican Squealer]

Forget the frozen mullet from Atlanta. Fresh bait

 

[Gentleman4561]

Trout were caught from the pier using pieces of cut mullet.

We caught some finger mullet in the cast net but catching them while out on the water is tough from a kayak.

 

[Danny Leigh]

Trout were caught from the pier using pieces of cut mullet.

We caught some finger mullet in the cast net but catching them while out on the water is tough from a kayak.

Trout on cut mullet is a new one to me.

 

[shotgunhales]

be willing to bet them sea trout were/are croakers

 

[WalkinDead]

My wife and I have caught some pretty good size trout on cut bait off the pier during the fall while fishing for redfish in 35+ feet of water. Hard to mistake a trout for a croaker.

 

[shotgunhales]

You can catch Summer Trout/Weakfish with cut bait, catching spec trout with cut bait is rare but sure its possible. The idea of catching a ton of sea trout on cut mullet is very unlikely probably a case of mistaken species.

 

[WalkinDead]

Quite likely, if you're unfamiliar with the species. While we haven't caught that many using cut bait, we have caught quite a few using cut bait over the years. It is a rare occurrence, but it does happen, and they tend to be larger than most when it does happen. Four to six inch croaker make excellent bait for large trout; Dave Siplar (AKA Jettywolf), a guide out of Jacksonville, uses them when the large trout are in his area in good numbers.

 

[Ihunt]

My friend and I took a trip down to Sunbury river to do some shark fishing, we dropped in at the boat ramp and drifted cut mullet on the bottom for a couple miles with one single bite on a balloon rig.

I am thinking next time we aught to get a bigger anchor that will actually be capable of holding us down in the channel or close to it and then running two baits on the bottom and 2 balloon rigs, how does this strategy sound? I figure our baits were bouncing along the bottom at 1-3mph which was certainly not ideal.

What about bait? We tried to catch stingray off the Sunbury pier the night before but caught nothing but a ton of sea trout and a bunch of toad fish. Will the sharks around there eat mullet? I can get them frozen here in Atlanta pretty easily.

Imo the shark fishing is over for this year. The large bonnet heads are still around. We fished behind the shrimp boats this weekend and got one small bite.

 

[WalkinDead]

Yep, the shark fishing is pretty much over. There will still be bonnet heads and sharpnose around. The bull reds are running the beaches now and can be caught around the shoals, sandbars, channels at the inlets, and jetties into December.

 

[shawncweed]

Gentleman4561

I live across from Sunbury on the Medway River, which I imagine is what you are talking about...Like others have said...the bulk of shark fishing is over as water temps drop below 70 degrees in the river...IMHO the best shark fishing is further down the river in St Cats sound...specifically on the south side of Ossabaw Island along the long tidal flats that run perpendicular to the island...anchor up in 15 foot of water and throw three lines in...a Carolina rig on the bottom...free line rig on the top...adjustable float in the middle..all wire leaders of course...best bait is live castnetted menheiden or Mullet...which is SEP/OCT are all over by the acre. frozen squid will work too...they really aren't that picky...the magic time is in the summer when the bait balls of mullet and menheiden are active along the beaches and the sounds and the great migration of sharks...mackerel...tarpon...are following them up the coast...check out my attachment...took this pic in SEP...and tarpon were leaping out of the air smahing the schools of fish...and where there is tarpon...there are the greater hammerhead...probably more shark than any of us want to catch...but fun to see leaping out of the water!.

 

[fuelman1]

When I was stationed at Mayport I used cut bait off of the jetties and would regularly catch speckled trout. I would catch a lot more summer trout/weakfish but there were usually some nice specks.