I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more COBIA!
Posted: August 27th, 2010, 1:31 am
With a cobia landed each trip out this summer and my last trip taken nearly a month ago, I had developed a major case of cobe fever. Knowing the prescription, talked Bman into making a Wenesday trip out. Told him we could work on getting him a respectable keeper this time, unlike the "baby gap" 33 1/2" barely-legal keeper he caught during our first trip together. 
Looking to improve his street cred, Bman was eager to go and talked board member Toden into also making the trip so he could provide moral support.
Being superstitious, both Bman and I brought along our lucky hats. You've all likely seen his so won't show it again, but will share a quick pic of mine. Both ours have seen much wear, but mine does differ from his a bit...
Met up at Econfina right at dawn. There wasn't another vehicle in the parking lot. 
Ran out of the river in time to watch the sun rise. Absolutely beautiful, with the gorgeous morning whispering the promise of untold adventures.
With the tide going slack, we had some time to catch bait so Bman and I started talking smack about who could catch more pinfish. Bman promptly starts catching pins on a single small hook while, in a moment that would set the theme for the day, I have a sabiki malfunction. 
Hooks on my sabiki rig are all rusted and one at a time break off with each pin hit. With Bman pulling ahead by a dozen or so pins, I quickly rush to tie on a new sabiki and the moment it hits the water I get a triple! 
Should have had the sanity to stop the childlike contest... but no... Bman and I continue to taunt one another as pins fly into the boat left and right. We don't stop until I point out that my live well look like it's got a solid block of fish in it. 
More bait than we can possibly use 
, but we've also failed to notice that storms have built to the point we now have white caps surrounding us. As a result of our stupidity we crawl out to deeper water.
Ultimately hitting 4's and 5's while circled by dark clouds we decide that maybe we should check out a spot that's 18' deep. We quickly sink down all the pins we can (seeing as we had hundreds ). Unlike trips in July when schools of macks, jacks, and blues were plentiful, we saw zero bait activity and my sonar was spookily quiet. After 20 minutes passed and we had not a single bite I began to wonder if our love of “lucky hats” might be unfounded.
Then something happened that let me know Bman’s hat should be bronzed while mine might need to be stowed away. Bman gets a huge surprise hit. The fish is running like a cobe and I’m 99% certain it’s a nice one. Instead of running from the boat it runs under the boat and to the other side. In doing so it wraps my line and Toden’ line. Toden’s is easily untangled but mine is knotted around Bman’s line, as well as my prop, and the knots look like rubber band balls. Bman begs me to cut it and I do.
Then Bman manages to get one of my unused rods with a silver spoon on it tangled in his line too.
With a NICE keeper cobe hanging in the balance, I hurriedly remove it with tension still on the line and it flies directly into my shirt and embeds all three hooks past the barb. 
I’m thinking this absolutely can’t be happening. Meanwhile a seagull begins harassing a pinfish we’re floating way off the back, and Toden races to bring the line in. The gull races against Toden and pulls a Kyle Busch at the edge of the boat and gets hooked trying to steal the pin. Swear that gull sounded just like a screaming baby (Bman, hope you liked that sound! ). With Bman’s cobe still waiting to be landed, I give up on trying to get the treble hook out of my shirt and hurriedly take off the shirt. Toden meanwhile manages to miraculously assist the gull in unhooking itself and flying off in good condition. By this point, I truly am thinking someone should be filming us as the vibe of the scene is eerily reminiscent of “The Hangover” movie, with me wondering what crazy thing can happen next?!!! Take a deep breath to settle the nerves, grab my boga, and man Bman’s cobe into the box. Turns out to be a nice 28 pounder.
From there it really turns into a dream like blur. Other than a single short grouper Toden caught while we drifted from one spot to anther, it’s an ALL cobia day. In the span of 4 hours we saw at least a dozen cobia, landed eight, and tagged the ones we didn’t keep.
Worth mentioning was a nice double up towards the end of our time offshore. Bman was wrestling a nice cobe, when Toden got a good solid hit. We briefly believed it to be another nice cobe, but turns out it was a quite feisty black-tip. Mentioning “The Hangover” one more time, I have no idea why catching a shark put Toden in a Christmas mood, but he kept yelling something about one of Santa’s reindeer – Dasher. 
Don’t know what was up with that, but he and Barry laughed so insanely hard that I couldn’t help but laugh too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZvgjWVHIAg[/video]
Not having the sense to learn from a hard lesson given just hours before, we sat through the slack afternoon tide and let things get rough again for our ride back in. DOH! Turns out we have to ride back with the waves hitting us from the side and with the wind pushing up spray in the same direction, thus preventing the large flared bow of my normally quite dry Panga from being able to protect us from spray. Turns out Bman makes an EXCELLENT splash guard! Though rough, I run at wide open throttle for the sheer humor in seeing walls of water baptize him time and time again. Toden and I laugh so hard that I get the dang hiccups. Hate the hiccups but it was absolutely worth it.
Head to the hill and we’ve got so much meat stowed in the cooler, Bman has to clean them until dark while I clean Marine’s dream. With only 4 fish put in the cooler, he has right at 80 pounds of fish to carve on.
Finish the day ABSOLUTELY bone tired, but smiling from one of the zaniest days spent on Marine’s Dream. Definitely one I will remember for years to come.
Looking to improve his street cred, Bman was eager to go and talked board member Toden into also making the trip so he could provide moral support.Being superstitious, both Bman and I brought along our lucky hats. You've all likely seen his so won't show it again, but will share a quick pic of mine. Both ours have seen much wear, but mine does differ from his a bit...
- P1020240.JPG (84.86 KiB) Viewed 4826 times
Ran out of the river in time to watch the sun rise. Absolutely beautiful, with the gorgeous morning whispering the promise of untold adventures.
- CIMG0215.jpg (143.85 KiB) Viewed 4826 times
- CIMG0219.jpg (147.38 KiB) Viewed 4826 times
Hooks on my sabiki rig are all rusted and one at a time break off with each pin hit. With Bman pulling ahead by a dozen or so pins, I quickly rush to tie on a new sabiki and the moment it hits the water I get a triple! Should have had the sanity to stop the childlike contest... but no... Bman and I continue to taunt one another as pins fly into the boat left and right. We don't stop until I point out that my live well look like it's got a solid block of fish in it. More bait than we can possibly use , but we've also failed to notice that storms have built to the point we now have white caps surrounding us. As a result of our stupidity we crawl out to deeper water.
- CIMG0222.jpg (91.39 KiB) Viewed 4826 times
). Unlike trips in July when schools of macks, jacks, and blues were plentiful, we saw zero bait activity and my sonar was spookily quiet. After 20 minutes passed and we had not a single bite I began to wonder if our love of “lucky hats” might be unfounded. Then something happened that let me know Bman’s hat should be bronzed while mine might need to be stowed away. Bman gets a huge surprise hit. The fish is running like a cobe and I’m 99% certain it’s a nice one. Instead of running from the boat it runs under the boat and to the other side. In doing so it wraps my line and Toden’ line. Toden’s is easily untangled but mine is knotted around Bman’s line, as well as my prop, and the knots look like rubber band balls. Bman begs me to cut it and I do.
Then Bman manages to get one of my unused rods with a silver spoon on it tangled in his line too.
With a NICE keeper cobe hanging in the balance, I hurriedly remove it with tension still on the line and it flies directly into my shirt and embeds all three hooks past the barb. I’m thinking this absolutely can’t be happening. Meanwhile a seagull begins harassing a pinfish we’re floating way off the back, and Toden races to bring the line in. The gull races against Toden and pulls a Kyle Busch at the edge of the boat and gets hooked trying to steal the pin. Swear that gull sounded just like a screaming baby (Bman, hope you liked that sound! ). With Bman’s cobe still waiting to be landed, I give up on trying to get the treble hook out of my shirt and hurriedly take off the shirt. Toden meanwhile manages to miraculously assist the gull in unhooking itself and flying off in good condition. By this point, I truly am thinking someone should be filming us as the vibe of the scene is eerily reminiscent of “The Hangover” movie, with me wondering what crazy thing can happen next?!!! Take a deep breath to settle the nerves, grab my boga, and man Bman’s cobe into the box. Turns out to be a nice 28 pounder.From there it really turns into a dream like blur. Other than a single short grouper Toden caught while we drifted from one spot to anther, it’s an ALL cobia day. In the span of 4 hours we saw at least a dozen cobia, landed eight, and tagged the ones we didn’t keep.
- CIMG0241.jpg (107.79 KiB) Viewed 4826 times
- CIMG0244.jpg (66.66 KiB) Viewed 4826 times
Don’t know what was up with that, but he and Barry laughed so insanely hard that I couldn’t help but laugh too.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZvgjWVHIAg[/video]
Not having the sense to learn from a hard lesson given just hours before, we sat through the slack afternoon tide and let things get rough again for our ride back in. DOH! Turns out we have to ride back with the waves hitting us from the side and with the wind pushing up spray in the same direction, thus preventing the large flared bow of my normally quite dry Panga from being able to protect us from spray. Turns out Bman makes an EXCELLENT splash guard!
Though rough, I run at wide open throttle for the sheer humor in seeing walls of water baptize him time and time again. Toden and I laugh so hard that I get the dang hiccups. Hate the hiccups but it was absolutely worth it. Head to the hill and we’ve got so much meat stowed in the cooler, Bman has to clean them until dark while I clean Marine’s dream. With only 4 fish put in the cooler, he has right at 80 pounds of fish to carve on.
- P1020237A.jpg (438.37 KiB) Viewed 4826 times
Finish the day ABSOLUTELY bone tired, but smiling from one of the zaniest days spent on Marine’s Dream. Definitely one I will remember for years to come.
No way I could handle two on one rod so I pulled it away. All the time I'm fighting the mess John is worried about the treble hook in his new fishing shirt 
Every time she snacks I snack. I got to do something. I cant afford a baby and a new wardrobe for myself! 
;the fishing part