Robin's Reports

1/26/07 Woman manhandles cobia during stroll

First, let me say that we're going to attempt to look for some cobia tomorrow morning. Looking forward to fishing again.

Secondly, you won't believe this story, but it is true - printed in the Florida Today newspaper.

By BILL SARGENT FLORIDA TODAY

Family catch. A jog at Satellite Beach turned into a big catch for Meridith Sykes, who grabbed a 40-pound cobia from shallow water.

Meridith Sykes was pushing her two-month-old son, Jaden, in a jogging stroller along the Satellite Beach surf when something caught her eye.
"It was thrashing around in the water," Sykes said. "It was a big fish of some kind and I thought it was a shark from the way it looked."
Instead, it was a 40-pound cobia that had become stranded in shallow water while feeding on baitfish along the edge of the surf.

Cobia is a valued eating fish usually caught offshore. It resembles a shark.
She called her boyfriend Kris Sanford on her cell phone to ask what she should do. But Sanford didn't answer.

"By then I knew it wasn't a shark so I ran into the water and tried to push him up toward the beach, but he kept thrashing, and he was heavy. Finally, I just grabbed him by the tail and dragged him on the beach," Sykes added.

Several construction workers at a beachside project saw what was happening and they ran down to the surf.

"They told me it was a cobia, a big cobia," Sykes said.
"One guy was trying to pull him farther up on the beach when it twisted and hit him in the head, hurting him. So, I grabbed the tail and pulled him farther up the beach."
Sanford, an avid offshore angler, later estimated its weight at 35 to 40 pounds.

"We hang out with fishermen and I always get mad at them because they hook a fish and then hand me the rod," Sykes said. "I always tell them I want to do it myself.
"So, this time I did it myself. With my own hands," Sykes laughed.