Lanark cobia
Posted: October 26th, 2012, 9:27 am
We managed to make it offshore 3 days this month and experienced an amazing cobia bite all 3 days. I have been hoping for a better forecast so we can do it again, but it is not looking good. Each day we boated 6 - 8 fish and released 40 + lb. fish. It was just nuts. And of course experienced a few mishaps, damaged gear, bumps and bruises. The biggest fish we estimated was pushing 80 lbs and was a beast. That was on the first day and when I learned an important lesson: Always have a gaff in the boat. (kind of new to this offshore thing). After "releasing" a big fish (40-50 lbs) boatside by trying to get it in a net that just wouldn't fit and watching it slowly swim away, I decided if we hooked another big one we would have to wear it down and just manhandle it into the boat. 30 minutes later I hooked up with a 45 lb. fish and managed to get it in the boat, but it wasn't easy. My biggest cobia to date, but ended up not even getting its picture taken because of what happened a bit later. After fishing for a couple of more hours, hooking some BIG fish and getting broke off, releasing some smaller ones I hooked into the big one. This fish absolutely kicked my butt. After we got a good look at it my son asked "So, how are we going to get this one in the boat?" I told him the same way as the last one trying to sound confident. I really put the boots to it and had it worn down boatside after about 15 minutes, handed off the rod and went for the grab. It was so heavy I got it halfway out of the water and slipped out of my hands. OUCH, try again, bend the knees, let out a grunt and it is on the deck! This fish measured 54" to the fork and had a huge girth. I was so tired and beat up I couldn't lift it for the photo.
Here are some highlights:
Here are some highlights:
