Cobia running wild in July
Cobia usually make their way through Destin sometime between March and May.
But apparently some are a little behind schedule.
Earlier this week a few of the captains spotted several pods of cobia near the beach.
Capt. Jason Hallmark on the Mother Lode said he saw 70 on Wednesday and caught 22. All were in the 30-pound range, except for one about 60 pounds, he said.
Hallmark said Capt. Jeff Shoults of the Mollie also spotted a large number of cobia moving along the beach Wednesday.
But when Hallmark went back on Thursday in search of the ling, they found nothing.
"We went from 70 to zero overnight," said Josh Goodson, mate on the Mother Lode.
Although they didn't see or land any cobia, they did manage to pull in a limit of red snapper and a king mackerel.
One boat that did land a big cobia on Wednesday was the Dawn Patrol with Capt. John Tenore at the helm. William Smith of Jackson, Miss., hauled in a cobia that weighed about 70 pounds. Smith said it took 40 minutes to get the fish to the boat. In addition to the cobia, he and his girls caught red grouper, red snapper and flounder.
Besides all the talk about cobia, there were some huge king mackerel on the docks Wednesday and Thursday.
On Wednesday, Kaitlyn Strothkam of St. Louis, Mo., pulled in a king mackerel that weighed about 50 pounds while fishing aboard the Top Gun with Capt. Jeff Culbreth. She and her family pulled in 11 king mackerel.
On Thursday, Capt. Ricky Hayles on the Seascape found the honey hole. They had a king that weighed more than 40 pounds and two at about 30 pounds. All together they had nine king mackerel, 13 red snapper and three triggerfish.
Capt. Robert Hill on the Twilight backed in with four-and-a-half king mackerel (something had taken a big bite out of one of the mackerel), two amberjack, a grouper and a pile of red snapper.
Anglers on the Sunrise with Capt. Kelly Windes reeled in a limit of red snapper and four king mackerel.
Alabama anglers on the First Light with Capt. Steve Haeusler reeled in a nice catch of red snapper, scamp and a huge grouper. Bill Watson of Moody, Ala., was the man on the reel who pulled in the 50-plus pound grouper. Prior to Thursday, the biggest fish he'd ever caught was a 17-pound red snapper.
Anglers from Georgia had a big day on the First Shot with Capt. Mike Dates. They landed four flounder along with several red snapper and white snapper.
The Sea Notes with Capt. Doug Dietz brought in a limit of red snapper, three king mackerel and one barracuda.
Capt. Brady Bowman on the Perfect Shot pulled in a limit of red snapper, 15 big triggerfish, a couple of scamp and a grouper.
The Gulf Ranger filled the racks with red snapper, mingo, triggerfish, rock salmon and king mackerel.
As you can see fishing is good, and apparently they have their own schedule.
See you at the docks.