Visit from Theo, cobia, and a goliath defeat

We had a lot of visitors in the last two months of the year, and to kick off December our friend Theo Modder joined us from the Netherlands. His timing worked out that he could go out on Skip's boat with us. Skip sent us a photo from the previous weekend with amberjack, mahi, and blue runner, so I was quite excited. It turned out being the day of the cobia instead!

Photo credit Ally Toth.

We fished a mix of live and dead baits, and the cobia were going for both of them. I was using a metal jig, which is one of my favorite lures to fish when the fish are active. Before you hook up you feel silly jerking a piece of metal through water when everyone else is using actual fish for bait, but when you hook up with your target all the silliness goes away.

Cobia (Rachycentron canadum) - new hook & line species #802


Theo hooked into the biggest cobia of the day, and we were all excited when he got it to the side of the boat so Skip could gaff it.

I think the Florida hat was a good choice. Congrats Theo!

I continued jigging, and a while later I caught a fairly big sharksucker.

Live Sharksucker (Echeneis naucrates)


When you catch a sharksucker, be sure to take a good photo of the laminae on it's head. It will help differentiate between live and whitefin sharksucker.

Last up on the jig was a king mackerel.

King Mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla)


We bottom fished the rest of the day.

Yellowtail Snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus)


Vermilion Snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens)






Bank Sea Bass (Centropristis ocyurus) - new hook & line species #803


Sheepshead Porgy (Calamus penna) - new hook & line species #804