June 14, 2020. Went cobia fishing and caught my biggest fish ever in the bay.
Started out right by going to church for the first time since the covid crisis started. Got home just after noon and texted Scott to go. The only bait we had was a left over chum bag from Butlers Tackle, a few left over bunker, an old jug of menhayden oil, and the blood vein from our tuna trip. Not super convinced that we were going out at the right time as we missed the tide, but it was better than cutting the grass that I should have been doing.
We are lucky that some of the best cobia strikes seem to be happening here as opposed to going down to Windmill. We were only on plane for about 10 min. or so. My goal always is to set up on a drop off point, maybe 5+ feet or more if possible and not so worried about a specific spot. The water was big in the morning but with the tide following the wind it was only about 1 – 2 going out and most of the time we spent it remained about 2. The last hour after the tide changed we were definitely in some heavier seas. Setup anchor and was fishing.
Set out 3 rods with bunker and 1 with the blood line tuna pieces, just knitted them on and actually they stayed pretty well. Really nothing but conversation for the first hour or so. Then a good strike on the blood line. The fight was on and almost immediately the fish came to the surface so we knew it was a cobia. Pulled in about a 44″ guy and was just estatic.
Reset everything and just as the tide turned a big strike came on a bunker. I grabed the rod and immediately thought it was a ray. It just pulled too much to be a cobia but then this guy came flying out of the water and wow could you tell it was a big’un. He danced on the water 4 distinct times. My 30 Penn and thankfully on my custom rod that has all rollers was the one he chose. For the next 30 min we didn’t see him but we kept exchanging the 100 ft of line about 10 times before he finally gave up enough to get him in the boat. I was exhausted and so was the fish. 47+ pound fish.
- Temp 75 deg
- Wind 15 NE
- Water 75
The only advice I have gotten that I am sure is critical to catching these bigger fish is to have your gear in perfect condition. When I tie any knot I am very precise in how it is done, I cut off a potion of the line every month or so so the last 20 ft or so is fresh, use leader instead of just line, etc. I have lost too many big fish to poor gear. I went with some friends last year in striper season to hook a killer fish and the line broke. If you want to catch the “big” one be prepared to catch the big one all of the time.
