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

3.27.11 - OFFSHORE with MIKE & HELEN by Robin

This will be fairly quick, but wanted to make sure that it made it onto the blog.

We were very excited that the weather was going to finally cooperate with Jack's planned 3 day weekend. He's been very busy with working his past 2 weekends and we needed some R & R. Our friends invited us onto their boat. It originally was suppose to be 3 couples, no kids, a little cobia hunting right off the beach. But, life never quite happens as we dream it up.

The other couple never did receive the invitation to fish until our drive back home from the port. Mike received some tips from folks the night before on where some fish were on Saturday. So, instead of keeping with our plans, we ran over fish to go find fish. That pretty much sums it up.

The seas were close to 5 ft rollers offshore. We put lines in at 160 ft and trolled out to 600 ft depth with only 1 knockdown and 1 phin for our efforts. Helen and I stayed green (seasick) all morning. We tried to troll back in but caught so many scattered weeds that we pulled lines and ran back in to another area around 1:30 pm . Mike wanted to try a couple weedlines that were building and we got nothing. Ran back in further to green water to try for Kings. Saw some bait pods getting picked on and put in lines there. Got nothing except for when we went past a buoy and I think that was a short strike from a barracuda. Never pierced the skin for a hook-up. (They have a lot of bone!)

Picked up those lines and headed back over the Hetzel shoals area around 3:30 pm. By this time, I could pick my head back up and was in the tower. I did spot one small manta ray holding cobia. Winds were picking up again and so the boat was hard to hold in position. Jack made a perfect cast in front of the ray, but the boat drifted behind the ray. The lure ended up hooking the ray instead. The ray sounded down and line was broke off with the lure still in the ray. What a shame. That ray had some big cobes on it. I saw the shadow of what I believe was probably a 70-100 lb cobia stalled out behind the manta ray. I kid you not. Looked vaguely like a large nurse shark to make a comparison. I'm glad Mike was in the tower with me at this point (driving the boat) and he saw it too.

Unfortunately, all my pictures from the day were lost. I don't know why or how. I'm heart-broken since I had a nice one of the mahi in the water. I had one of the monster cobia. Shoot. The only thing left on the camera was a terible video (took 4 originally) I took of the bait pod at the one stop and a shrimp boat tied to a dock inside the port.

We stopped by the Wally*Beach*Mart on the ride home and found some crab nets. They don't stock them by our house. We planned on having a big family day in the river catching blue crabs for a low-country boil tonight. As it turned out, the much-needed rain showed up and gave us an all-day soaking. So, here I sit. No pictures. Only a story. A much different start to our Spring Break week than expected. I'll post up the video of the bait fish but don't get your hopes up. Half of the video is of the sky! (I'm a pitiful videographer.)

Offshore bait crash 3.27.11 from Robins Reports on Vimeo.

HANG TIGHT!!!!
by Robin

We have a 3-day weekend coming up AND we have cooperative seas!!! Cobia and Mahi are both around our area. So, it looks like we may have a great opportunity to fish & fill the cooler. I'll take lots of pictures with my *new* batteries.

I told Jack not to come home from work until he had 2 new spinners from Bass Pro Shop with him. ha ha. I have no idea why in the world we only have 2 spinners at this point in our lives.

God bless and pray safety for us!
Robin

GREAT WHITE SHARKS at PORT CANAVERAL, FL



Go to the Spanish Fly website (below)

http://www.spanishflytv.com/raw-cuts/cobia-fishing-great-white-shark-port-canaveral-florida//

You will see the above picture of the cobia on the front page. Then, from there, go through the slide show until close to the end. You will see the Great White Sharks that have been in our Tropical waters. Who said they only like cold water was wrong.

(Be forewarned, there are a couple of bikini babes in the slide before it.)

YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID, EVEN WITH a BIG BOAT & TRIPLE 300 hp ENGINES
- a venting of fishing etiquette when cobia hunting

by Robin

We went out Monday (14th) for just a couple of hours of sunlight to see if we could find some cobia for the freezer. Jack is working the next couple Sat & Sun, so Monday was our only opportunity for fishing fun.

We were greeted by beautiful, nearly flat seas. (1 pm?)





We saw plenty of bait fish and dolphin feeding on them.




Once we got to the south end of Patrick Air Force base, in approx 40 ft of water, we started searching around. Of course, it was obvious we were in the right area because we found the motherload of boats. We did our best to stay away from the crowds once we saw a ray do a backflip and the guys who rushed to it were a bit too intense & aggressive for us. So, we moved a bit closer to the beach in search of our own manta ray. We found one!! It had 3 cobia on it. 1 that appeared short and 2 with meaty shoulders. I know it is very hard to see the ray in the next 2 pictures but you have to trust me on it.



Not that I'm making excuses but I will say that losing these cobe were definitely our mistake. Jack forgot to purchase a new pair of sunglasses and he couldn't see the ray & cobes, so he was blind casting. I did my best to guide him. Anyhow, we he shut off power on the boat, we had too much forward momentum and drifted a bit too far past the fish & ray. Jack cast twice, but it was just too far of a distance before they sounded and dove down. We never did see her resurface.



Next, we came across several sea turtles all clumped together. I'm not sure if they were competing for breeding or what.





We headed north, slowly while looking for fish or rays. We never spotted any free-swimmers. I guess a ray had surfaced temporarily and the guy on the left was there first and the guy on the right came up on him. We watched it unfold and I took pics as we cruised past them.



You can clearly see the guy on the left tower is casting. The boat on the right is coming over to get in on the other boat's action. THIS IS RUDE! If somebody is already on a ray & casting for cobia, BACK OFF.





Well, we enjoyed the good weather, tried not to get worked up about dudes who think they're entitled to every fish and watched this C-130 do touch & go's at the Air Force Base.



Now, before I set up the next picture, let me set the scene. We're slow cruising while looking. The guys from that boat on the right were "running & gunning", which is basically run to the next spot, cast, run again, stop & cast, run again.... So, for the next couple miles, this boat runs past us, casts to something we never ever saw, then we'd motor past them and he'd run up past us again. It was like he was just doing everything he could to beat us to the next bit of fresh ocean. It was idiotic & rude, at best and I won't say the worst.

Jack decided to run a bit faster to the north to get away from him. I spotted a beautiful manta ray holding 2 monster cobes on her back. The bigger one, guessing 50+ was slightly trailing her and broke the water surface a couple times. The smaller one was near 40-50 lbs and slightly ahead. Jack made his first cast and it landed next to the bigger one in the back. No deal. Not interested. He cast again and I think the wind took that one wide. I had no idea that I would end up photographing the sequence on this boat & "the jerks" actions. At first, I was merely doing my best to get a pic of a cobia on the back of a ray.





Here, Jack is on his 3rd cast. I don't recall much on it because I noticed a jig coming from another direction from the other boat. Sigh. Thankfully, he overshot everything.



Jack's fourth cast, he put it right in front of the cobe in the front of the ray. It slightly spooked but then took a glance at the jig. He wasn't aggressive or hungry. The guy from the other boat made another cast and they ray "sounded" and headed for the bottom. That was it for us finding any fish for the cooler.



I had put my camera down but left it on to continue snapping a couple more shots as he rolled by us. I was so proud of Jack keeping cool inspite of this boater's rudeness. The boat's name is "The Other Office". I'd hate to do business with a guy like this even if he's behind a desk. He seems a bit self-serving to me. We've been approached by other boats before but almost every one of them has been kind enough to observe and not encroach on our find. Infact, we've hooked up before and you can hear other boats holler happily on our behalf. We gave celebratory hollers twice yesterday when we saw boats land their cobia.



I must tell you, I was slightly sad to be going home w/ no fish in the cooler but I put myself in time-out on the cuddy because of my frustration with people like this. I didn't want to talk or smile. I kept replaying it over and over again on how in the world could somebody be so boldly rude.

God did give me a little something to cheer me up. Some dolphin came over and swam our bow for a brief second. Here they are on the approach. I always like when that happens. Jack had a positive attitude. He reminded me how well the new engine repair job worked. I am thankful for that. We watched the birds work bait balls, too, as the sun lowered in the sky.



It was a good day inspite of its challenges. The cobes are still south of our port, so we'll have more opportunities to bring one home. Plus, any day you come home from the sea is a good day.

Happy Fishing!
Robin