Bigbendgyrene
Senior Member
Despite living 16 miles from the coast, finally put the boat in salt for the first time this year on Sunday (repowering boat & covid ramp closures mostly to blame).
Bit choppy in the morning but managed to run to a few spots I hoped would hold cobia, and buddy and I tagged and released 4 that were just an inch or two short. Should add they stay around all summer, generally until late September before they migrate back to deeper waters... BUT targeting them means pretty much giving up serious efforts for trouts, reds, and other fish caught drifting, and can be a trade off for EXTREMELY slow days for 1 or even NO cobes versus fun drifting catching LOTS more fish.
Picture below shows why I only gaff them if they're massive and OBVIOUSLY bigger than the required limit... so many we catch are right at the required limit so I've learned to judge them short until actually putting tape on them.
Trip out was to celebrate buddy's graduation from graduate school, so at his request we decided to see if we could find any tripletail, as neither of us had ever caught one. He managed to get one fairly quickly, though again, just an inch ore two short.
Kind of funny reading about folks having issues with puffers and short trout... we didn't catch the first puffer and almost all of our trout were keepers. Blessedly managed to limit out fairly quickly.
Most intense moment of the day was having a line scream like a king had taken it, only to scan all around for the line and see it going up to THIS frigate bird. Blessedly it dropped the bait but then flew around us for about 5 minutes, quite aggressively and obviously wanting another bait. Kind of freaky looking -- like a mix between a GIANT seagull, bald eagle, and wide-winged pterodactyl.
Waters were mirror smooth at day's end and reminded me just why I love fishing the coast so much... like a balm that soothes my soul.
Bit choppy in the morning but managed to run to a few spots I hoped would hold cobia, and buddy and I tagged and released 4 that were just an inch or two short. Should add they stay around all summer, generally until late September before they migrate back to deeper waters... BUT targeting them means pretty much giving up serious efforts for trouts, reds, and other fish caught drifting, and can be a trade off for EXTREMELY slow days for 1 or even NO cobes versus fun drifting catching LOTS more fish.
Picture below shows why I only gaff them if they're massive and OBVIOUSLY bigger than the required limit... so many we catch are right at the required limit so I've learned to judge them short until actually putting tape on them.
Trip out was to celebrate buddy's graduation from graduate school, so at his request we decided to see if we could find any tripletail, as neither of us had ever caught one. He managed to get one fairly quickly, though again, just an inch ore two short.
Kind of funny reading about folks having issues with puffers and short trout... we didn't catch the first puffer and almost all of our trout were keepers. Blessedly managed to limit out fairly quickly.
Most intense moment of the day was having a line scream like a king had taken it, only to scan all around for the line and see it going up to THIS frigate bird. Blessedly it dropped the bait but then flew around us for about 5 minutes, quite aggressively and obviously wanting another bait. Kind of freaky looking -- like a mix between a GIANT seagull, bald eagle, and wide-winged pterodactyl.
Waters were mirror smooth at day's end and reminded me just why I love fishing the coast so much... like a balm that soothes my soul.
