NEAR SHORE - 4.11.11 Part 2
by Robin

I left off this morning saying we were approx 7-10 miles north of the Port Canaveral entrance and headed south, looking for manta rays or free-swimming cobia.



I was so excited to see this beauty no long after we turned south.



She wasn't extemely large for a manta but she was just sunbathing herself with no where to go. Unfortunately for us cobia hunters, there were NO cobia on her back.

We no sooner began to head south again and we spotted a free swimmer. Nice size cobia. BUT, this guy was not hungry no matter what we threw at him. Pink jigs, yellow jigs, squid, live shrimp.....





He pretty much tortured us by swimming right next to the boat and moving along without a care in the world. (See him, right by my youngest's right elbow?)



My eldest son suggested we just gaff him, which sounds good in theory but probably would not work on a green fish. Later that night, I suggested that Jack buy a harpoon so we won't miss on great fish like this. "Ahhh. NO." Was his answer.

We came up over a shoal (it jumps from like 20-25 ft to 6 ft). I loved the light color water as I looked for cobes. I think Jack feared more running aground. Anyhow, I could see thousands of fish that appeared & disappeared like ghosts. I thought they were blues but insisted Jack let the kids cast a shrimp to them. We took a turn playing with little blues. (Gotta keep the kids interested.)



From there, we were very close approximity to a set of buoys. We looked over there but nothing was hanging around the top. However, we noticed that to the east of them, there was a fleet of boats. So, before we barely got that way, we came across approx 6 free swimming cobia all by themselves. Woo hoo!

Jack's 1st cast. Not good. Jack's 2nd cast pulled one off from the group. He was hungry but caught a glimpse of the boat and took off. Next thing I know, these gentlemen speed over to us, cast and hook up.



That was so nice of them, wasn't it? Jack yelled at them, which in turn my 11 yr old yelled the same thing. Quality family bonding.



I took this picture and then guy without a shirt turns around to us, yelling, "You overshot the fish." Not exactly true. We drifted away and were going to reposition. It happens all the time.

Well, it was a great Christian challenge to not think murderous thoughts and hate this man as we watched him gaff his cobia and then high-tail it back to shore. I was preaching to the choir when I was telling the kids not to worry and we'd find our own fish.

The next 30 minutes, there are no pics because I had a pole in hand and took several casts at a bait pod. I could see it was holding predators but couldn't make out much of anything. At one point, I'm pretty certain I saw a tarpon roll. I didn't care if I caught a tarpon because it is on my list of species I haven't caught yet.

So, I'm jigging a bit off the bait pod and I saw a 25-30 lb cobia grab my jig and run with it. Yahoo! Game on. Then, 15 seconds later, game over. That's how fishing goes. I was on a light pole and didn't get the hook set in his mouth. Jack said that he saw the silver flash about that same time, so who knows what happened below. I know I saw a cobia take my yellow & red jig at the surface.

Anyhow, we saw a few more cobia (10 all day) but they were very spooked by 5pm and a crowd of boats around them.



So, overall, very good day with keeping the kids interested in fishing and seeing cool stuff. Yet, I pout over the ones that got away. I wish I wasn't that way, but honestly, I am.

Last night, Jack fixed us one very expensive dinner of mahi fish stix. We'll catch a freezer full next time.
Happy Fishing,
Robin

OFFSHORE 4.11.11 - Part 1

We did not get up pre-dawn and trip over ourselves to get out there early. I'm thinking this is about 7:30 when we were getting bait from Fisherman's World. Then, we bought gas (non-ethanol) at Cape Marina before heading offshore.



Very quickly, we came across scum lines forming. I'm not an expert but I'm going to guess that a lot of this is some type of algea bloom or something similar getting stuck between 2 bodies of water, that form what we call, a "rip".



It's smart to look over the rip for signs of life.



As we motored around, we saw something odd in the distance. Upon arrival to see what it was, we realized it was 2 sea turtles.... making eggs. Ah-hem... a little privacy here, please!!!



We saw tons and tons of turtles. This is another one who spooked very quickly.

Jack set out trolling lines about 125 ft. Water cleaned up nice about 115 ft, saw flying fish and some scattered weeds.

134 ft, game on. That didn't take long. I had seen a big mahi underwater earlier and then saw a littler one chasing a remora. Of course, it wasn't the big one that bit.



This is a perfect size one for our eldest to reel in.



On the ice, it goes. Not big, but it makes for dinner.



We continued trolling at saw another turtle - different species. I'm thinking this is a loggerhead but it's hard for me to tell w/ all the barnacles.



We saw a large 6 ft shark. I left this picture uncropped because I want you to note the vast empty sea. No bait on top. Very little to go by for finding fish.



We decided to cut our losses early and head back towards shore for some cobia & manta ray hunting. Approx 78 ft of water, still pretty north of the port, we came across a nice little weedline. Our first patch of weeds has small mahi on it. We call them peanuts.



Look at him jump!





Double-hook-up. Not a keeper in the bunch. All of them were 18-19 inches, but it sure was fun for the kids.





Keeping Dad busy.







I even got to catch a couple. Gotta get some casting practice in.



From here, we ran fast into the northside of the cape. That will have to be in the next post. (Time for breakfast.)

We have cobia & manta ray pictures!
Happy Fishing,
Robin

MANTA RAY VIDEO and PICTURES

Brought to you by Robin

We haven't been out fishing in a couple weeks, as Jack is recovering from being close to having pneumonia. So, we are living vicariously through other folks fishing trips this spring. We have planned to take lots of vacation in May to fish.

This all works well for me since the kids and I are in our final month of schooling and we do our nationalize testing at the end of the month.

Below, is a picture of manta ray breaching the water. Rays love to do sommersaults and flips. The photo was taken by Tim Altman, who is a very successful Captain for Fin Freak Offshore Charters. http://www.finfreak.com/



Next is a cool video off the Port Canaveral waters from a fisherman who came across a large school of manta rays. They were successful in catching several cobia that swam with the rays.



Today, the seas are picture perfect. I expect a lot of good fishing reports over the weekend. We will be busy with a couple things. Our son's AWANA Grand Prix derby car runs Sunday afternoon. Maybe Monday, if the weather holds, we'll get out and grab a cobia for ourselves.

Happy Fishing!!

TIME FLIES BY!!
by Robin

I thought it would be cool to see what we were catching last year at this time. Was it cobia or mahi?

It was cobia!! Do you see the cobia on the right side of the bait pod?



Two years ago, at this time, we were still searching for cobia this day, but got skunked.



Three years ago, at this time, we went offshore on Mike & Helen's boat and I picked up a nice mahi. We were just talking about this fish last week on their boat. This is the one that went into the cooler and then jumped out and released himself into the sea. Funny and not funny! Hope you enjoyed this little review of the years.



Sunday will be a beautiful day on the water, but the seas are blown up on Monday. I'm not sure what we will do.

Happy Fishing,
Robin