July 9th 2010

This afternoon I wanted to get out bad. It was the first day in two weeks the skies were clear and the afternoon was not full of thunderstorms. Since it was a short notice trip, it was tough getting anyone to get out fishing on this weekday. Besides,  I wanted to take the Canyon Bay 2270 out today. I haven’t used the boat much lately so I wanted to go for a spin on it, at least give the motor a good run.

I got Lauren(who is always up for fishing) and my neighbor Capt. Nick Winger to go with me. We did the normal routine of stopping at the markers to get bait on the way to look for some tarpon. with the high sun and the bait spooky bait did not come easy. We finally got on a pod of bait, well at least enough for fishing. On the way to our Tarpon spot, I spotted a nice cobia on one of the markers. Nick put on a pumpkin seed but the fish ignored it. He changed bait to a nice fat threadfin. The fish followed it to the boat gulped it down.

Once Nick hooked the fish he handed the rod of the Lauren. I gave up control of the boat and continued to film the fight that ensued.  Yes I got the entire sequence on video which was pretty cool. We lost a fish gripper trying to grab the fish along the way, this made it interesting. Since I  don’t usually keep fish I had no gaff on board or a landing net. There were plenty of moments of nervous tension as we tried to land the fish and he kept making a multiple runs.

Lauren did an awesome job not allowing the rod to touch the boat and putting on constant pressure. We finally landed the cobia after 9 minutes of being very careful not to loose the big cobia. The fish wasn’t fat but he made up for it in length. He bottomed out the 30lb scale pretty easily so we guesstimated it at about 40lbs.

After a few photos, we continued on our trip to get a tarpon but it was not to be. All our bait had died because the livewell filter got clogged up. We tried for a little bit but all we got were snapper and a mackerel.

With the slow fishing not being a great motivation to say, we made the run back to Captain Nick’s house so we could clean the fish up before it got dark. We ended up with more than enough for everyone to take home. I suggested we take the boat over to a local restaurant and have them cook it for us while it was still fresh.

We took the boat and cruised on over the Circles in Apollobeach and they cooked 3 plates of cobia with 3 different sauces. Delicious, the End!

ps. If you have not been to Circle’s in Apollobeach on the water you should check it out. It’s the best restaurant in Apollobeach, on and off the water.  Inside is nice but the out side is very casual complete with a island style Tiki hut with full bar.  Food ranges from the bar food (chicken wings, fries etc) to Steaks and Seafood dishes. It’s a pretty versatile locals hang out kinda place.