Place: Ochlockonee Shoals
Attendance: 2 paid
Water Temp: 89 Deg.
Wind 10 mph ESE
Waves: 1-2 choppy
With tropical storm Bonnie projected to dash our fishing hopes for the weekend, Nanc and I set out to the Shoals.
We stopped at 2 flat to pick up some pinfish for bait; with 8 in the well we headed to the shoals.
The water was choppy and spray was coming in for my morning shower, but the water was clear with some weeds.
Setting up a drift on the north end of the shoals in 10 feet of water was the ticket. We used the drift sock to slow us to a respectable 3/4 MPH. The action began quickly with a few keeper trout and a bunch of non keepers coming aboard. The ol' gulp in new penny kept Nancy actively jerking, and I was using the new Trigger X in white shrimp.
This nice 16" came in. We took a picture of it because it looked like a stream run fresh water trout. Absolutely, beautiful. It will taste good tonight in a fish sandwich.
When we visited Hunter in Beaufort, he asked if I could fix the handle on his Okuma reel that came apart while he was sport fishing for rays.
I fixed it (I hope) and Nancy was to test it on our return to the hill. We were gonna make the famed cobia run.
We hit the 2 pole and nothing showed. So, it was on to the tripod that Doug and I spanked them on a couple of weeks ago.
After a few false casts, and grumbles of "I can't cast", Nancy threw the cork with a pinfish right behind the tripod. I made my usual commentary of "that should get'em". Soon I saw a cobe come up and take Nancy's pinfish. She said "He's just chewing on it" and she let him have it. The road test of Hunter's handle was on.
The battle had many ups and downs as all cobia fights do. Many times the net went into the salt and brought back up with no fish as the cobe decided he didn't want to learn how to breath out of the water.
He finally made it into the boat and measured 34" and weighed 15.50 lbs.
This is Nancy's largest cobe to date.
In a side note, the LY's were in the boat basin. The first time I have seen them there, since 2 years ago. That spelled good tarpon and monster red fishing for the summer and early fall.
Also, my Yammy had been getting, what I would call vapor locks, after running it for a while. A fellow told me that letting it idle after a run may cause the vapor lock to not occur. We tried that today and the Yammy did fine. Coincidence or luck? Time will tell!
