esfishdoc
Well-known member
David, Michael and I left my house at 630 AM. The plan was to run out of Kiptopeake and spend an hour or so catching some live bait and then set up for a slack flood tide at 930.
First stop was at the local Quicky Mart where Michael loaded up on Pringles, Honey Buns, Oreos and Ho Hos. Second stop was Chris’s Bait and Tackle. We got a flat of frozen bunker and an assortment of tackle and off we went.
There were only about 6 other trailers on the parking lot at Kiptopeake on this beautiful day. Is the economy that bad? We were soon on our way with a Southwest wind no more than 10 MPH. This made just enough chop as we headed toward the high rise to make me want to keep my tabs down and speeds down to around 22 mph.
We went on under the high rise and tucked in to 15 feet of water on the west side of Fisherman’s Island. We trolled small Clark Spoons on planers and inline sinkers and picked up a perfect size bluefish and a nice Spanish Mackerel. Michael tried a cast net over some schools of bunker by my net wouldn’t sink fast enough to get any. David got an itch to go set up.
I put us right on the mark where last year in early June we caught cobia. We could see two other boats and that was it. We were in 25 feet of water between the south end of Latimer Shoals and the green can. There was still some ebb current but not much. Before long we had out 4 lines. I was getting surface temperature readings of 75.
Slack tide came and went and the very slow flood current with the winds cooperating made it very easy to keep our lines just right. We did not chum today. About 930 we had a mystery pull that could have been a cobia but for some weird reason a brand new 80lb leader broke off at the swivel. We battled a few giant rays and a shark or two until around 1030.
At first the rod tip was showing a typical bounce of a shark. David was right there on the starboard corner and picked up the rod. He gave it line for about 30 seconds and it wasn’t moving fast at all. When he set the hook he had some head bobs that made us think shark. Then it did a smooth hard pull and we thought it was a ray. A few seconds later it came to the top and we saw one fin…. Just one. We saw it again. One fin. Not two of a ray but one. Cobia!
Michael and I cleared lines and watched. The fish never aired out and didn’t make any blistering runs but it was strong. David said it was a small one. I was convinced it was bigger than small.
We were fortunate it didn’t run around the boat. It did make one run as it got close to the boat for the first time that seemed like it was trying to cut the line on the motor. It went down a couple of times. Then we got a good look at it. David saw the corner of it’s mouth and the hook and got a little nervous. He didn’t like what he saw. Just about then it made a turn and a twist back on the leader that nobody likes to see a big fish make. It all held together.
David got it to the boat and I plunged the net once and the fish cooperated. Into the boat it came and grins all around with a few chants to the Cobia gods.
We tried till noon to do a repeat but nothing happened except for a ray that acted a little like a cobia and had us going for a few minutes.
We stopped back at Chris’s and weighed it. I had guessed 53, David 52 and Michael 51. The scale told us 56.3 and the tape was 53 inches. A fat specimen indeed!
Back at the yard we took these pics. I’m developing a superstition that I catch bigger fish when there is no camera on the boat.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33755787@N ... 4643/show/
Now that the fishing report is done.... here is a link to some bug pictures I took this week....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33755787@N ... 4444/show/
First stop was at the local Quicky Mart where Michael loaded up on Pringles, Honey Buns, Oreos and Ho Hos. Second stop was Chris’s Bait and Tackle. We got a flat of frozen bunker and an assortment of tackle and off we went.
There were only about 6 other trailers on the parking lot at Kiptopeake on this beautiful day. Is the economy that bad? We were soon on our way with a Southwest wind no more than 10 MPH. This made just enough chop as we headed toward the high rise to make me want to keep my tabs down and speeds down to around 22 mph.
We went on under the high rise and tucked in to 15 feet of water on the west side of Fisherman’s Island. We trolled small Clark Spoons on planers and inline sinkers and picked up a perfect size bluefish and a nice Spanish Mackerel. Michael tried a cast net over some schools of bunker by my net wouldn’t sink fast enough to get any. David got an itch to go set up.
I put us right on the mark where last year in early June we caught cobia. We could see two other boats and that was it. We were in 25 feet of water between the south end of Latimer Shoals and the green can. There was still some ebb current but not much. Before long we had out 4 lines. I was getting surface temperature readings of 75.
Slack tide came and went and the very slow flood current with the winds cooperating made it very easy to keep our lines just right. We did not chum today. About 930 we had a mystery pull that could have been a cobia but for some weird reason a brand new 80lb leader broke off at the swivel. We battled a few giant rays and a shark or two until around 1030.
At first the rod tip was showing a typical bounce of a shark. David was right there on the starboard corner and picked up the rod. He gave it line for about 30 seconds and it wasn’t moving fast at all. When he set the hook he had some head bobs that made us think shark. Then it did a smooth hard pull and we thought it was a ray. A few seconds later it came to the top and we saw one fin…. Just one. We saw it again. One fin. Not two of a ray but one. Cobia!
Michael and I cleared lines and watched. The fish never aired out and didn’t make any blistering runs but it was strong. David said it was a small one. I was convinced it was bigger than small.
We were fortunate it didn’t run around the boat. It did make one run as it got close to the boat for the first time that seemed like it was trying to cut the line on the motor. It went down a couple of times. Then we got a good look at it. David saw the corner of it’s mouth and the hook and got a little nervous. He didn’t like what he saw. Just about then it made a turn and a twist back on the leader that nobody likes to see a big fish make. It all held together.
David got it to the boat and I plunged the net once and the fish cooperated. Into the boat it came and grins all around with a few chants to the Cobia gods.
We tried till noon to do a repeat but nothing happened except for a ray that acted a little like a cobia and had us going for a few minutes.
We stopped back at Chris’s and weighed it. I had guessed 53, David 52 and Michael 51. The scale told us 56.3 and the tape was 53 inches. A fat specimen indeed!
Back at the yard we took these pics. I’m developing a superstition that I catch bigger fish when there is no camera on the boat.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33755787@N ... 4643/show/
Now that the fishing report is done.... here is a link to some bug pictures I took this week....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33755787@N ... 4444/show/
