Saturdays Make up Report

Man, Saturday was just one of those days that keeps you coming back.   I put together two Cobia make up trips earlier this year.  The first one was Saturday and it was a great time.  I watched the forecast all night and finally made the call to fish out of Hatteras even though the reports were pretty slow.  

We got out and conditions were fishable, but tough.  Breezy and choppy.  The swell was down so it was just a surface chop we had to contend with all day.   Only a handful of boats out on the shoals.  We did have that nice clear water though – top to bottom in 12-15 feet of water.

First fish happened pretty fast. About a 40lber that came off a turtle, Craig reeled that one in and into the box he went.   Super stoked for a great start.   We kept on looking around – then we saw a piggy…..!

The fish comes right behind the boat and grabs one of the jigs, YES! After a couple seconds he shakes the hook, NO!…… Lucky for us the cobia decided to hang near the boat.  We kept throwing at it and it hits again!  This time we came tight and Graham is on the rod.  After about 30 mins he gets the fish next to the boat.   I went to gaff it and she gets one good kick and nearly pulls me in the water. The gaff comes out and she fights a little while longer.   Fish gets back up again and I gaff her again and she flops off again and the line breaks and away she swims…..

However!!!!!!!!!   The water was so clear that we were able to stay with her for a while as she swam half dead on the bottom.  After the second gaff shot she bled out so much that she was done.  She started coming up to the top and Graham snags her tail  with a bucktail and pulls her in.  I finally successfully gaffed the fish and in the boat she came.  YES!!!!!  That was one unlucky cobia.   That fish had 4 chances to get away.  76lb stud.

Got back up top and started looking again.  It didn’t take long and we found another stud fish.  That one went pretty smooth and Curtis puts a 75lber in the boat.  Caught a few smallish keepers somewhere in between there along with a couple throw backs.

It wasn’t much later I saw a dark shadow on the bottom. Couldn’t tell what it was but always worth a cast.  A couple pops off the bottom and up comes another great fish.  Craig manhandles a nice 65lber to the boat and the cobia coffin is full.  8 fish total with 3 nice’ns.  Very enjoyable company.  Thanks alot guys – great day!

Nice little trip

Woke up this morning and the wind wasn’t doing what I thought it would be.  I figured it was only a matter of time before she started honking.  Got all the way to the inlet and it was still layed down enough to slip out and look for a cobia.  Put 2 keepers in the box and the wind started kicking. Headed back inside just in time.    Picked up a few flounder and bluefish.  We also got a new record on the boat today.  See below.  Records don’t always mean the biggest.

Blah

Pulled a kook move and put someone down for May 19th when it was supposed to be June 19th.  So I woke up with a day off.   I had some photography work to catch up on so I took care of that and gave my buddy Bryan a call.  We got a tiny bit of fishing in before a nasty storm popped up.  Saw about 25 fish in 45 mins……. Crazy !  Really wish I had a full day trip out there today – good as it gets folks.

Flail fest

Had one of those days where we had too many missed opportunities.  Broke the line twice, pulled off a couple, had some missed shots, all that stuff.  All good though, we managed to put 2 in the box with a bonus piggy.   Fun day, back at it tomorrow.  Thanks for checking!

Double Double

Had my neighbor Pete on the boat today for some more cobia hunting.  It doesn’t feel like fishing as much as it does hunting.  We left OI and made the 40 mile run to the shoals.  We got in there and got it done quickly and had 2 double hook ups and put four good fish in the box up to 45lbs then headed on back.

On another note, I had to watch my best friends boat float out to sea after being overturned on the shoals today.   Everyone got out of the incident safely, but the boat is a total loss.  He will be back to fishing soon enough and I’m hoping the next steps go smoothly and swiftly so he can get back on the water.  Thinking about you buddy, here for you whatever you need.