House Creek Fishing Pier (Old House Creek Dock)

House Creek Fishing Pier is a small public dock at the end of a wooden boardwalk over the marsh, on Old House Creek on the north end of Hilton Head. The Town, which runs it, calls it Old House Creek Dock. It is free, quiet and a little hidden, and a good place to take children crabbing. For deeper water and a bigger pier, the other public option is the Charles C. Haigh Jr. Fishing Pier; our guide to Hilton Head’s fishing piers compares them.

Finding It

The dock is at 50 Sterling Pointe Drive, about 500 feet down Sterling Pointe from Silver Oak Drive. The drive in passes through residential streets, so keep your speed down and your music low: the neighbors are the reason it stays a pleasant place to fish. The parking area holds only five or six cars. On a summer weekend, go early or be ready to come back later.

Crabbing and Fishing on House Creek

Crabbing is what most people come for: a chicken neck on a string or a drop net off the end of the dock, and blue crabs come up on a rising tide. Anglers catch pinfish and croaker most often, with the odd flounder or spotted seatrout, and the occasional stingray. It is small tidal water, so fish the two hours either side of high tide; at dead low the creek can drain nearly to mud. The Hilton Head tide chart will tell you when.

Keep an eye on the marsh as well as the line. Egrets and herons work the grass, and roseate spoonbills turn up on the mudflats, which makes it a good stop even when nothing is biting.

Before You Go

Crabbing with three or fewer drop nets, traps or hand lines needs no license. Fishing with a rod does: anyone 16 or older needs a South Carolina saltwater fishing license. There are no restrooms, so bring what you need and take everything home with you, and pack bug spray for the evening. The dock is short: about five or six people fit comfortably at high tide. For charters and other ways to fish the island, see the Hilton Head fishing guide.