The Joys of Fishing
For a person who gets to fish for a living everyday begins a new adventure with unseen tales. It is not easy trying to decide what species that I would like to search for, the weather and tides can help you make your choice pretty quickly. If going offshore is ever one of the options, we will always take that window for the simple fact of never knowing what is going to be caught that day. When I am fishing in a few hundred feet of water and using a lively blue runner, visions of a huge ling swimming by and chomping the bait are fresh on my mind. Fighting a fish with the power that a cobia has is indescribable, they are known as the fish that never quits. Most of our trips begin with searching for some sow red snapper on some structure somewhere, we love using some fresh squid or a live pinfish to catch some of the bigger ones. Once we reach our limit which happens pretty quickly, our search for some deep blue kingfish starts. The baits can range from ribbonfish, blue runner, ballyhoo and then of course trolling baits. On the lures I typically use a 10”-12” inch stick bait with a bill on it to keep it down in the water column. Some days they are at 10 feet and some days they are at 20, just bring enough different things for any change of pace you may need to adapt to. Whether it be a deeper diver or maybe a different trolling speed, any of those aspects can effect your ability to catch the fish that day. When we are out there we always have our eyes wide open and looking for weed lines or floating debris. Mahi and tripletail like to hang out near or on any floating items since they attract bait. If you are lucky enough to come across some of these guys just throw anything that will get their attention. Small plastics, live shrimp or anything that mimics a baitfish will do the job just fine. Now back to talking about ling, they are a very curious fish and will investigate any noise that is not normal to them. You will be fishing and making noise in the boat and you will see a pair of them come up to see what the ruckus is about. I like to have a bucktail jig with a long paddle tail as a trailer, that or a live free lined pinfish are about my favorite bait for ling. The best thing about them as they do not ever give up, if they see you before you can land them just be prepared for the fight of a lifetime. Some big ones have completely dumped my 8000 class reels with 50 lb test, so if and when you get a chance to find a cobia just be prepared. To me being offshore and watching the sunrise or sunset has got to be one of the most beautiful sights, get out there and see for yourself. If you ever have any questions just shoot me an email. Until next time, tight lines my friends.