I started going to NSB in 1982. Missed maybe 2-3 years until 2018. Never saw more than 2-3 sharks that entire time. I am extremely active in the water. Love to body surf, boogie board, swim, and surf fish (many times with bait in my pocket). As long as you stay away from the inlet, NSB is no more dangerous than any other beach.
Also, the surfers are the ones that seem to always get bit, guess where the favorite surfing spot is?
fished in surf and all over every spot in NSB.
first it would surprise you how many sharks there are. Florida Fish and Wildlife takes annual aerial photographs. There are thousands of sharks just right off the water.
second, there are just more baitfish. when mullet run up the coast, there are fish everywhere. in morning and evening I routintely see schools of fish working up and down beach. croackers, reds, blacks, jacks, menhadden, pigfish, whiting, mangroves, sheepshead, pintails, ladyfish, pompano off top of my head.
There are hundreds of areas that fresh meets salt (1), this one does so with perfect amount of umph to create some of best surfing on E Coast, 2nd water is clean, and clear. Tides arent as vicious in Fl as they are in SC. But, temps are warmer, longer.
Not sure what the reason is for larger sharks, but they do seems to predominate. Honestly ive seen just as many smaller shark in SC, very few 5-6 footers. But, I have seen with mine own eyes the sharks in FL, and its legit.
Nearly had my hand bitten after foul hooking a redfish. Put him in surf, as I did a 6 foot black tip grabbed him from my hands. App this is just common place.
Ive fished for 20 years, 18 of them in FL. Ive carried live shrimp, crab, cut bait (lady and pompano), and that snot people
eat called a scallop. swim and wade in deep water with it in my pocket.
guess ill learn my lesson.