JUPITER COBIA - PLUS - SUNDAY 2012-03-25
Ocean Motion
Posts: 583 Officer
I hopped a boat ride :driver:this morning with my friend from Michigan who is down here for a few weeks. He belongs to one of the boat clubs out of Jupiter. We loaded the boat and started towards the Jupiter Inlet just before legal dawn. The inlet was calm. The seas were a bit sporty but very fish-able. With the wind blowing from the S/W and we were headed S/E, rain gear was a must for the trip out. We have all seen the "Washing Machine" syndrome in action.
We headed S/E past the Jupiter Pier and stopped in about 90 feet. Four ounces of lead on the line was barely holding bottom with a full sardine on a circle hook which was on a 15 foot leader. The wind was blowing from the S/W which just made our drift that much faster...someone forget to bring the drift sock! OK, we will go with what we have and try to make it work. :shrug
I get tight with the first Brown Bomber of the day. After it walked me around the boat a few times, Dennis gaffs it and in the box it goes. Without a scale, we estimate it to be in the low to mid 40's. High fives all around and then we get the lines wet again. :fishing
As the day goes on, we are plagued :willynilly with File Fish by the dozens. My friend, Dennis, comes up with a very nice Mutton Snapper followed by good sized Margate. I retaliate with a good sized keeper "Yellow-tail Snapper". He comes back with a large Rainbow Runner. The cooler is getting full fast.
A half hour later, Dennis gets tight on the second Cobe of the day only to lose it at the side of the boat...after checking the gear in question, it looked like a failed knot on the hook ???? :huh
We throttle up and head back to our start point. I drop down and on the first lift of the rod, I "Hook The Bottom" but this bottom starts tugging back...after a short fight, Brown Bomber #2 is in the box and we limit out! Again, with out a scale, we estimate it to be in the low 30's...still not shabby. Plenty of good eats for both of us.
The wind is still blowing hard from the S/W and rain clouds are headed our way out of the West but never make it to the coast. We continue to fish hoping to get some more YT or Muttons. The wind starts to shift to the N/W and things really begin to get dicey.
At 2, we decide to call it a day and head back to the dock.
One last thought, for a Sunday, it was extremely quiet on the water. We counted just about a dozen boats out there with us. Some came and some went but we never saw the "normal weekend floatilla" of boats for that area.
We headed S/E past the Jupiter Pier and stopped in about 90 feet. Four ounces of lead on the line was barely holding bottom with a full sardine on a circle hook which was on a 15 foot leader. The wind was blowing from the S/W which just made our drift that much faster...someone forget to bring the drift sock! OK, we will go with what we have and try to make it work. :shrug
I get tight with the first Brown Bomber of the day. After it walked me around the boat a few times, Dennis gaffs it and in the box it goes. Without a scale, we estimate it to be in the low to mid 40's. High fives all around and then we get the lines wet again. :fishing
As the day goes on, we are plagued :willynilly with File Fish by the dozens. My friend, Dennis, comes up with a very nice Mutton Snapper followed by good sized Margate. I retaliate with a good sized keeper "Yellow-tail Snapper". He comes back with a large Rainbow Runner. The cooler is getting full fast.
A half hour later, Dennis gets tight on the second Cobe of the day only to lose it at the side of the boat...after checking the gear in question, it looked like a failed knot on the hook ???? :huh
We throttle up and head back to our start point. I drop down and on the first lift of the rod, I "Hook The Bottom" but this bottom starts tugging back...after a short fight, Brown Bomber #2 is in the box and we limit out! Again, with out a scale, we estimate it to be in the low 30's...still not shabby. Plenty of good eats for both of us.
The wind is still blowing hard from the S/W and rain clouds are headed our way out of the West but never make it to the coast. We continue to fish hoping to get some more YT or Muttons. The wind starts to shift to the N/W and things really begin to get dicey.
At 2, we decide to call it a day and head back to the dock.
One last thought, for a Sunday, it was extremely quiet on the water. We counted just about a dozen boats out there with us. Some came and some went but we never saw the "normal weekend floatilla" of boats for that area.
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"No matter the size of the fish, you can only put a bite size peice in your mouth."
Nick,
It must have been the OM mojo. :thumbsup There is no other way to explain :shrug why I caught the two keeper Cobes and my friend lost the only one he hooked up with yesterday, all else being equal. At the end of the day, we both took home a nice Brown Bomber to enjoy for many dinners to come! :hail
Thank you. Just FYI, we did a repeat trip on Monday and the results were disastrous. Nothing but shark bite offs every time we hooked into a good fish and File Fish (Moon Fish) were eating our baits before they hit the bottom.
When the wind shifted to the N/W N, the seas jumped up to solid threes about 5 seconds. It started to get very dicey. To make along story short, nothing in the box but two Triggers and a Margate and we pulled the plug at 1 pm.
This is another example of you just have to be at the right place at the right time.
It appears that the regulations define possession in state waters but does not mention any bag limits outside their limits. However, it does state that Commercial bag limits are two in possession. Is that what you were possibly thinking about. Now, lets just say that if you are correct, according to the regulations printed below, how would you get your two fish , on a recreational license, back through state waters to the dock or ramp without breaking the law? :huh
Below are the bag limits as printed in the FFG Regulations.
68B-19.004 Designation as Restricted Species; Bag and Possession Limits.
(1) Cobia are hereby designated as a restricted species pursuant to Section 379.101(32), F.S.
(2) Bag Limits:
(a) Recreational Daily Bag Limit – Except as provided in paragraph (b), no person shall harvest more than 1 cobia per day from waters of the state. No such person shall possess more than 1 cobia while fishing in, on, or above the waters of the state or on any dock, pier, bridge, beach, or other fishing site adjacent to such waters.
(b) Commercial Daily Bag Limit – No person who fishes pursuant to a valid saltwater products license with a restricted species endorsement shall harvest more than 2 cobia per day from waters of the state. No such person shall possess more than 2 cobia while fishing in, on, or above the waters of the state or on any dock, pier, bridge, beach, or other fishing site adjacent to such waters.
(c) Vessel Possession Limit – Whether fishing pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b), the possession of more than the applicable daily bag limit of cobia multiplied by the number of persons fishing aboard any vessel, or 6 cobia, whichever is less, is prohibited. On any single trip aboard a vessel, harvest of cobia shall either be recreational pursuant to paragraph (a) or commercial pursuant to paragraph (b), and the possession of recreational and commercial bag limits simultaneously aboard a vessel is prohibited.
(3) The possession limits of this rule shall not apply to any licensed seafood dealer or customer thereof possessing a receipt evidencing purchase of cobia.
Specific Authority Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. Law Implemented Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. History–New 1-1-90, Formerly 46-19.004, Amended 3-22-01.