Not the biggest fish on the boat, or even particularly big as cobia go, but it was my first. First decent freediving fish of any species, now that I think of it. 36 lbs back at the camp.
We dove a dozen or so shallow rigs in seas that started aobut 3' and built as the day went on. Chad (Griswold) and Bill were steadily shooting red snapper, mangrove snapper, and cobia. Me, I'd dive for a little while, go back to the boat to throw up, then try again. Another new lesson for me in the differencees between scuba and freediving. Even if you're seasick, you can get come relief at depth when scuba diving. But trying to relax and breathup while bobbing in those seas affords little little opportunity to settle. Still, there were a few brief periods in between, when I could find a rhythm and get comfortable. Each trip I am comfortable a little deeper, and with things a little less perfect.
As much as I enjoyed my previous trip in bluewater, I think this was even more fun. The inshore rigs are simply loaded with life of every sort. In this case, there was some scuzzy surface water for the first 20' or so, and murk down deeper, but in between was a layer of nice clear water. This may seem odd to those who almost always dive in good visibility, but I was having trouble adapting after so many years of diving muck. I consistently misjudged the distance and took shots that were too long, and either missed or failed to toggle on fish. I also learned that my big ole double flopper slip tip may be just the ticket for close shots, but it was absolutely the wrong approach here. I'll have a couple of flopper shafts next time.
Too bad nobody was around with a video camera while I was trying to deal with this fish back at the boat. As it turned out, my mid body shot from above was a very solid holding one, but it didn't hit anything that would take the fight out of him. Remember now that catamarans are generally tall, and I am not. So there's me, down in the motor well, trying to get a hold of this thing, and puking every now and then. It truly would have been a YouTube sensation.