BigBendFishing.Net

So yesterday Doc gets the mail and jokes I've received a USMC post-discharge promotion from Corporal to Captain.

I INSTANTLY know what the letter means ... after having tagged cobia aboard Marine's Dream for years someone has finally reported catching one of them!

Some cobia have been found to travel massive distances... one tagged in Pensacola was caught 1,280 miles away off the coast of Hardeville, South Carolina less than two years later. This shared, data is increasingly pointing to two sets of cobia patterns, one being sets of fish that migrate big distances to avoid cold water during the winter months, with another set of cobia being resident fish that park in certain locations.

The tagged cobia off my boat? Well, he loved North Florida so much he decided to call St. Marks home. If the capture measurement is accurate, did manage to grow from around 9 pounds to almost 20 and was a nice keeper fish when caught. Can't wait to the next tagged fish gets caught. Got to say getting that letter was about as much fishing related fun as I've ever had while completely landlocked.

resident cobes...very cool! Thanks for sharing

That is awesome; definitely sharing the excitement with you!

Have tagged over a hundred Cobia over the years. I had one that was re-captured almost three years later and weighed almost 50 pounds. It was tagged up here and recaptured off of Flamingo (close to the Florida Keys). In speaking to Read Herndon he thought that there is a Gulf Stock of fish and an Atlantic Stock of fish, but, sometimes there is an exception. He also thought that they migrated to the Keys in the winter and returned to North Florida in the Spring. He also thought that they returned to where they were born much like Salmon return to the rivers where they were born.

Very cool John! I wouldn't leave if I lived there either.

Do you still tag them? How do you get the tags?

Dockwilson wrote:Do you still tag them? How do you get the tags?

Already tagged 5 so far this season, Dockwilson. Getting the tags is as easy writing a guy named Read Hendon with the Univ of Miss. If you email him (read.hendon@usm.edu) and give him your contact info and mailing address, he'll send you a tagging kit for free.

big bend gyrene wrote:

Dockwilson wrote:Do you still tag them? How do you get the tags?

Already tagged 5 so far this season, Dockwilson. Getting the tags is as easy writing a guy named Read Hendon with the Univ of Miss. If you email him (read.hendon@usm.edu) and give him your contact info and mailing address, he'll send you a tagging kit for free.

Cool, thanks. Now all I gotta do is catch some

Good Deal John!! would love to see the one Josh tagged caught and reported!!