Author Archives: dave lusk

72lb Cobia from the Kayak! *video*

WOW!  The fishing is absolutely on fire! Inshore, offshore, nearshore, from the shore, you name it!  Drum (big and small), Cobia, Mahi, Black Drum, Trout, Flounder, Bluefish –  all kinds of stuff happenin’ on the Outer Banks right now.

Matt and I packed up the Hobie Kayaks and headed south to chase some Cobia.   We had actually went for a short trip the day before and I managed a small one, but saw a ton.  They were on the move and didn’t seem to want to bite anything.  Conditions were shaping up for the next day, and we knew it was going to be game on!

We got out there around 9:30am and started looking – it didn’t take long to see the first brown bomber.  I casted on the fish about 10-15 minutes after launching, and put a 20lber in the boat.  I was ready to bag a big girl now.

We were seeing fish, but not THAT many. . . We just kept peddling south. Eventually we started to get among all the boats, and started seeing some fish again.  I caught another shorty somewhere in there, and threw him back.  My brother puts a nice 30+ pounder in the boat. 

After about 30 minutes of cruising around the area that seemed to have the most life (turtles, rays, lots of hammerheads) I saw the big girl cruising out in front of me, and heading straight towards my kayak!  I actually got a little too excited and made an awful cast way off to the side of her.  I guess it wasn’t that bad since she turned on it immediately and crushed it!

The fight went on for about 20 minutes before I got her to the kayak.  She was pretty beat by the time I got her next to the boat, and was surprisingly pretty easy to handle at that point.   After a few whacks to the head with a hammer – I stuck a gaff in her lip and Matt and I put her in the back of my kayak.  I was pretty bummed with my video and photos, but I threw together what I had for a short little edit.  Check it out, and thanks for checking www.SaltMinded.com!

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Frank & Co.

Had an AM trip with Frank, his Pops, and their friend Fred and….. You guessed it, PUPPY DRUM!  Found a few schools of pups and doubled / tripled up a bunch.  These fish are so much fun on light tackle.  We had them crossing under the boat and all that jazz.  Fun time with these guys.  We went searching for a trout or flounder for a bit, but with no luck we headed back to tug on some more drum.  Thanks a lot guys – great trip!

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Kayak Fish Magazine Cover

My brother got a request from one of the editors of the magazine looking for a cover shot for the summer issue.  Matt gave me a call, and we went searching for some fish…. The funny thing was it was the middle of winter, and freezing outside.  Stoked to say that we found the motherload of drum backed up in a creek and Matt nailed the shot.  Here is the shot of me fighting a slot sized puppy drum while standing in my Hobie Outback Kayak.  Big thanks to my brother Matt as he did all the work and all I had to do was go fishing.  Thanks Matt!

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Monster Black Drum from the kayak *video*

Wrestled with these giant sea creatures in our kayaks on Sunday afternoon at the shoals of Cape Hatteras. Matt and I headed down with intentions of finding a school of big red drum or even a cobia, but we were surprised with massive black drum in the 60-70+ pound range schooled up on the surface. We casted buck tails to them and they put up an incredible fight! Lots of life out there, can’t wait to go back. We had our gopros rolling so I put together a little video for you guys. Another epic fishing adventure with my brother.

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More Pups

Had an afternoon charter today,  and once again we smoked the puppy drum.  We had our limit in the first 5 minutes of fishing.  He insisted that I fish with him, I didn’t argue =)  Call me to get in on this hot bite!

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