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I took Friday off from work and met up with Gary (Hemingway) and Eric (somdevil) to try another shot at cobia before the bite fizzles out shortly in the area we try. The forecast was for 1 foot waves max and winds NW 5 - 10 with it being closer to 5 all day. Wrong! Some storms came through the night before and the wind was still blowing steady 10+ and causing the conditions to be easily 2 - 3 ft chop when we arrived. Screw it though. I had bait, chum, and already had taken off from work, so I might as well go. It was a choppy and wet ride out but eventually we made it out to the general fishing area and anchored up.
Fishing was slow from the start. We caught and released a couple rays, but mostly feed and pulled up crabs for an hour or so. I pulled a couple into he kayak to save and try for bait later when the cut bait was running low. Although they never caught anything; they were just cannibalized by more crabs.
Eventually the wind and waves laid down to nothing as forecast, so we made a move to another spot. It resulted in a ray or two and many more fat and happy crabs.
Gary getting towed around by a big southern ray for a while.
Since nothing was happening it was time for another move. Gary went back inshore to try a slough we crossed on the way out, while Eric and I went further out towards where we had luck last Saturday. We anchored up dropped down and bam! Must of dropped right on his head as I hook up instantly. It comes up to the top and I see it's a cobia. I hear Eric's clicker start going and I see he's hook up too - another cobia. Doubles no sooner than we dropped down! I eventually get mine in, a short 34"er, while Eric had one just short at 36.5".
I'm thinking it's going to be lights out now since we both hooked up as soon as bait hit the bottom, but it wasn't the case. A little later I had a blazing run that dropped the hook
Really wish I hung into that one as it was steady taking drag as it ran.Then dropped another one that felt like a ray, and then we hooked into a ray or two. An hour or so later I hooked into another release size cobia. I ended up pulling the hook on it as I was kicking it into the kayak and it bounced off my lab and back over the side for a quick release. Got a pic right before I pulled it in.
We stuck around a couple more hours and tried one more spot but only picked up a sandbar shark and another ray. I'm not sure I'll be able to get out and try again for them this year so I'm happy to have at least caught and released a few. It would of been nice to find a keeper but I think I should have started earlier in June when some bigger ones were being caught in the area.
Fishing was slow from the start. We caught and released a couple rays, but mostly feed and pulled up crabs for an hour or so. I pulled a couple into he kayak to save and try for bait later when the cut bait was running low. Although they never caught anything; they were just cannibalized by more crabs.
Eventually the wind and waves laid down to nothing as forecast, so we made a move to another spot. It resulted in a ray or two and many more fat and happy crabs.
Gary getting towed around by a big southern ray for a while.
Since nothing was happening it was time for another move. Gary went back inshore to try a slough we crossed on the way out, while Eric and I went further out towards where we had luck last Saturday. We anchored up dropped down and bam! Must of dropped right on his head as I hook up instantly. It comes up to the top and I see it's a cobia. I hear Eric's clicker start going and I see he's hook up too - another cobia. Doubles no sooner than we dropped down! I eventually get mine in, a short 34"er, while Eric had one just short at 36.5".
I'm thinking it's going to be lights out now since we both hooked up as soon as bait hit the bottom, but it wasn't the case. A little later I had a blazing run that dropped the hook
Really wish I hung into that one as it was steady taking drag as it ran.Then dropped another one that felt like a ray, and then we hooked into a ray or two. An hour or so later I hooked into another release size cobia. I ended up pulling the hook on it as I was kicking it into the kayak and it bounced off my lab and back over the side for a quick release. Got a pic right before I pulled it in.
We stuck around a couple more hours and tried one more spot but only picked up a sandbar shark and another ray. I'm not sure I'll be able to get out and try again for them this year so I'm happy to have at least caught and released a few. It would of been nice to find a keeper but I think I should have started earlier in June when some bigger ones were being caught in the area.
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