Last year both of our scheduled Cobia outings with Capt. Kenny Louderback (Fish Freaks Sportfishing) got weathered out. This year our July outing met the same fate. Fortunately, last Monday's weather was about as good as it gets to hunt the Man in the Brown Suit.
Joining Joe and me was close friend, former squadron mate, and avid saltwater angler Curt Toomer. Curt has been out on the Cobia outing before, so he knew the deal. In the mid to late-summer, Cobia spend much of their time near the surface. Hot and humid is key, as well as clear skies and low winds. Get those conditions and you have a great chance of spotting and hooking into big fish. The other key is the guide, which is why we've been fishing with Kenny for 10 years.
Prior to our Monday outing, we spent a few days DIYing it on Plantation Creeks. We were able to put the boat in the water Sunday afternoon. But for the most part we fished "Secret Beach," a spot off of of the Bay Creek Preserve trail, which provides access to a deep channel of Plantation Creek. We fished a variety of soft plastics, but white Berkley Gulp twister tails seemed to pick up the most fish. I wouldn't call the fishing great, but we managed a few Flounder and Croaker, and Curt landed a small Striper on a Salt Strong white Flea Flicker, which was kind of surprising.
Sunday afternoon the winds calmed so we put the boat in the water. Fished the cement ships down at Kiptopeake State Park, and around Plantation Creek. Much like the prior few days, we caught some Croakers, but that was about it. Did manage two catch a small Trout and Croaker on the same lure, which was kind of cool
All of our fishing, however, was a tune up for Monday's event. We hopped on Kenny's boat at 0800, and headed west to the main shipping channel. Kenny noted that the Cobia fishing has been pretty tough, and for the first couple of hours it seemed like that might be the case. But then, we were out with Fish Freaks. And periods of boredom can quickly turn into moments of sheer fishing madness.
Which is exactly what happened. Not seeing any fish, Kenny decided to fish around the channel buoys. That's when the magic happened, for about 45 minutes we experienced the fun of Cobia fishing.
As a reminder, the guide (or his mate) cast from the boat tower. They're either tossing live eels, or bucktails with a soft plastic. Once a fish is hooked, the rod is handed down to the angler. Might not seem like all that much, but the fun is in the fight. I think Kenny and his mate Nick hooked into at least 5 fish, a couple of them monsters. Two got off before he could get the rods to us, but we managed to land 3; two between 42-43", and one keeper that went 46".
When the action slowed, Kenny moved to a flats area on the eastern side of the bay, where we spotted and landed two more small fish, and lost another monster that wrapped the line around the trim tab and broke off.
It was by far one of our best trips. And you won't find a more experienced, determined, and persistent Captain than Kenny Louderback. We were fortunate to have found him for our first outing, and look forward to many more.
Oh, and I should mention that Cobia is exquisite dinner fare.
Of course, while catching is great, it's more about being on the water with close friends. Well, and catching....
Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing
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