Palmetto Lagoon Charters (Palmetto Fishing Charters)

• Captain: Trent Malphrus, an island native
• Lagoon: Palmetto Dunes, catch-and-release
• Inshore: from Shelter Cove Harbour
• Trips: private, 3 to 8 hours

Palmetto Lagoon Charters is Captain Trent Malphrus’s fishing business, and the harbour’s own charter list shows the same boats under the name Palmetto Fishing Charters: one captain, one booking desk and two kinds of water. Trent is a Hilton Head native, and regulars call him Captain T. Every trip is private, from light tackle to fly fishing, for first-timers and experienced anglers alike, and the charters that go out on open water leave from Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina.

Palmetto Dunes Lagoon Charter

The trip the business is named for fishes the 11-mile saltwater lagoon that winds through Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort, in a quiet electric skiff. The water is flat and calm, which makes it a good first fishing trip for families, and the lagoon is a nursery for redfish, spotted sea trout, black drum, bluefish, flounder and even tarpon, fish that became landlocked and grew large. It is catch-and-release only, since the lagoon is private property. The skiff takes three adults, or two adults and two children 12 and under, and trips run three to six hours. Confirm the meeting point when you book.

Palmetto Fishing Charters at Shelter Cove

From the harbour, the charters work the creeks, sounds and nearshore water around the island on two boats, each for up to four people. Fish-On is a 24-foot Pathfinder for redfish and trout inshore that can also run farther out, for cobia on the wrecks, kingfish, big jacks in the shipping channels and tarpon along the sandbars. Time Flys is a restored 1993 Silver King skiff built for shallow water, poled quietly through the marsh for sight-casting to tailing redfish, with a fly rod if you like. Both run shark trips in summer, which children tend to remember most.