Cobia!!!!! 2-27-09

    Went out on a trip last friday with Harry and Jim. The plan was to hit the deeper wrecks for big blacks we had seen the week before.


    We went out in forcasted less than 2 ft seas which turned out to be easily 3-5 with some big waves making their way over the bow at times. Harry's boat handled waves like a dream so much I wasn't even worried about the seas.


    We motored to the first spot and we must've put in the wrong numbers because we were in 50ft when it should've been 90. So we headed further south to another wreck holding blacks and couldn't find it either so we decided to drift the reef in 70ft with top to bottom vis.


    The reef was beautiful but completely barren of any shootable fish. About 10 minutes into the drift I caught a glimpse of 4 shadows in the blue about 100 ft away and 50 ft under the surface. I had just come up from a dive and realized they were cobia.


    I remembered what Harry told us about cobia not being spooky and I bolted right after them. The biggest one came up and met me half way. As I shot him I looked to the bottom and saw the reef moving. There must have easily been 50 or more circling around a sleeping ray on the bottom. Jim dove and shot a small one before he too realized all of the other cobia on the bottom.


    This fish put up a great fight and made a long run instead of just rolling like they usually do. It was like shooting a train and there was no stopping him. Harry found us and made a shot in the cobia since he saw the flopper was right under the skin. The cobia immediatley bent his shaft and we both hauled him up to the surface where it proceeded to kick my ass. I was so determined to kill it since Harry said it couldnt be done and I think he is right. Even with it throat cut and all of its guts out it still thrashed like crazy.


    I measured the cobia in 3 parts (11 pound head, 14 pound fillet, 17 pound other fillet and bones) on my scale which came out to about 42lbs gutted.


    By the time all was said and done we lost the school and couldn't find it again so we decided to go home since the seas were rough and I puked all over the place.


    Davie Peguero

    Edited 2 times, last by seaweed ().

    Cobia was good. Not at all like the one you gave me once. It was firm texture not much fish taste.

    Davie Peguero

    Davie has the fish, but this time we were good about cutting the bloodline. I think that makes a difference because they bleed like crazy when you do. I imagine that helps with the taste.

    Congratulations on the great fish:D
    Is your Cobia now the record Cobia here please?
    That is a great story and pictures. :thumbsup2:
    I dream of shooting a Cobia like those in your pictures.
    Nice team work.

    Quote from pargo

    What do you mean by cutting the bloodline? Is this done as soon as you have control of the fish? How do you do it?


    I mean just slitting the "throat". It bleeds the fish out quickly.

    Quote from JimCuda

    I mean just slitting the "throat". It bleeds the fish out quickly.

    Sorry I must be missing something. What do you mean by slitting the throat? The one time I got a big cobia I pretty much couldn't do anything to kill it other than rip out its gills. Judging by the amount of blood that comes out ripping the gills I think it pretty much empties the fish of blood.

    You should ice immediately also the "Blood line down the center of the fillet should be cut out as soon as you fillet. The lack of blood is what keeps the flesh tasting the best.

    Oh look.... Davie was nice enough to hold my cobia up for the picture! :)


    Video is up.

    I saw Harry's vid and it answered my question. I don't know if what you had in mind Davie is kill it or bleed it or both. In any case I wouldn't do the throat cutting. Ripping out the gills will achieve everything and you don't have the risk of a big thrashing fish and a sharp knife. Make sure you grab and rip the gills individually, they are strong.

    http://spearfishing.world/fish…g-forum-fish-records.html I had my cobia listed as 42lb and then as 45lb in subsequent posts by mistake. I corrected the error. Mine however was not gutted at 42lb. Davie, go ahead and put it up on the board if you want at 43lb :thumbsup5: Maybe 43.5 considering the heavy bleeding ;) BTW thanks for shrinking the pic some.

    there is a vein on most fish that is visible and runs directly behind the pectoral flipper/fin. when I have brained a fish I will often make a cut there and use the few remaining hertbeats to fully bleed the fish through there. I find that doing so and putting the fish in a mix of ice and seawater makes for some delicious fishes

    i like to spear fish

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