ST. Marks 7-1 AND 7-2

[Saltwater4me]

7-1 Had a friend in town who had never been scalloping, so we did that on 7-1. My report matches everyone elses. Scallops everywhere, no problem with a limit in short order. We went east and were within 200 yards of Black Rock (beyond the crowd). On the water at 11:00 off at 1:30.

7-2 This is when things got interesting. PUBLIC NOTICE - I was handed a sheet at the entrance to St. Marks refuge that said no more than 90 boat trailer will be allowed in the refuge at one time. This could make things interesting for the 4th and 5th. Anyway on with the fishing. After cleaning scallops for 2 hours the night before my friend thought that he had had enough of scallops. We went west in search of trout and we found them. The trout bite was as good as I have seen from 10:30 till 1:00. We were doing real good catching trout until an eagle ray came by with two cobia in tow. Like a genius I cast at the cobia with a St. Croix light weight trout rod (Falconer Custom Rod). THANKFULLY the smaller one took the bait. The bigger one was easily 60+#. Here is the end result of 15 minutes of excitement. 30" Cobia (he looked like a remora beside the other one)



Back to trout fishing. Another eagle ray and another cobia right behind. I should have learned my lesson the first time, but I threw at him anyway. There was a large boil and I was convinced I had just snagged the ray. Drag started leaving at a scorching pace and we had to crank the boat. After 20 minutes and getting spooled three times we finally saw another boat coming from Shell Point. Whoever these two guys were I thank them. We flagged them down because I didn't have a gaff. Thankfully they did and gladly loaned it to us. After another 10 minutes or so I finally go this dude close enough to get a shot with the gaff. Not bad for 8# tackle and a noodle rod. All I had was a 36" law stick and that didn't come close. He was a wide as the beam of our 16" skiff.



All fish caught in 3' to 5' of water. Gulp jerk shad was the ticket (even for cobia).

[CatchYourLimit]

Nice work! Good job getting him in the boat!

[WaltDawg]

Nice Ling!

[big bend gyrene]

Think I've used the words awesome and mogan in other posts where they were deserved, but need some new words for that MONSTER! MANY thanks for sharing

[big bend gyrene]

And anybody remember last year during the tournaments when cobia was picked as the mystery fish about three times in a row and NOBODY was catching them... this year sure seems to be the year of the cobia. Don't know if littoral or any other scientific types will read this reply, but if so, sure would be interested in hearing theories. I caught a good many last year but saw them alone or in packs of up to 3 offshore versus this year seeing MANY of them pretty much all over the place. Curious what might be the contributing factor

[Atticus]

Nice fish for sure. I caught a couple of those 30" ones two weekends ago but never a monster like that second one you bagged.

How did you clean it and cook it up?

[Saltwater4me]

Atticus - I just finished one of the best pieces of grilled fish I have ever eaten. Boneless fillet cut into about a 10 oz steak portion (dark red meat removed). I softened some butter (real butter none of the fake mess), rubbed it all over the steak and the sprinkled it with some Tony's and a little salt and pepper on both sides. Put it back in the fridge till the butter was firm. Got the grill to 450 and let it rip. If the grill is hot enough the butter will flare up immediately and fish will not stick. The burning butter makes the fish taste awesome. Cooked for about 6 minutes and ate it with a little homemade tartar sauce.

My wife asked why I couldn't make the trout taste like that on the grill,I told her they just HAD to be fried (I don't get much fried food and trout make a great excuse) It was good.

[Eerman]

Great looking fish unless you're only 4' tall

[snatch-n-reel]

Good fish

[tin can]

Nice catch on light tackle. I bet that was a hoot.