My First Cobia Catch

Well, let抯 see that is me (Little Captain Judy) basically with the same exact hair cut that I have today. Uncle Arthur Lee (Captain Deidra Helmey Jeffcoat抯 father) is cleaning the cobia, which was held up by a galvanized pipe that we hung in our dock house. As well as I can remember these were the four fish that daddy and I had caught. He caught the three smaller ones and I landed the much larger cobia. The larger cobia was the one that I caught that pulled me across daddy抯 boat deck, which after a drag or two torn the seat right out of my pants. Since I look pretty cleaned up I can only assume that I have changed my clothes and they these short actually had a seat in them!



Fish on my line and Splinters in my bottom!

Out of all the fishing my father and I would do, I think he loved cobia fishing the most. We would head out to Tybee Roads and fish all of the buoys. As I write this I remember that daddy never called the buoys we fished buoys he called than 揷ans!? My father抯 favorite bait was eels and large prawn shrimp. Both of these offerings would definitely bring the cobia out from under the can. I can see daddy now pulling his big 40?wooden boat up next to the can! Daddy would situate the boat where he wanted it to lay, run to the stern, and throw his beefed up trout rig right up next to the buoy.

I was the watcher. While he was fishing I would look for the fish. Cobias are known for being very curious and will swim straight to the boat. When this happened I would scream and Daddy would go into his other mode. He would grab his other rod, which was already rigged with the famous wooden Cisco Kid, and cast it to the cobia. He would cast away from the approaching fish, crank fast, and once the lure got within 4 inches of the rod tip another tack was taken. He would then 揻ast slap the lure on the water!?

This made the cobia very mad and ready to attack. My other job during while this was going on was to hollow if the boat was going to float into the can and also to watch the float rig. (As a child I was busy and I had lots of important jobs. As well as I remember I only let daddy抯 boat hit the can a few times!) On more than one occasion, the fish decided to hit the float bait instead of his lure. I distinctly remember this one time in particular. After I screamed while grabbing the rod and setting the hook, I knew that this was a big fish. It pulled super hard while it was making its deep dive.

After what seems to be hours to an eight-year-old, I begged daddy to help me with the fish. He replied, 揑t抯 your fish, stay with it. I will help you land it.? My arm felt like it was going to fall off. I was tired of trying to stand up. So I made a decision, I just sat down on the deck. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I ripped my pants from all the dragging across the floor, which by the way needed much sanding. Daddy kept saying, 揓ust a little more and I will be able to gaff your fish.? Finally, after another long fifteen minutes Daddy finally brought my 80-pound cobia aboard. Heck, it weighted more than me. We ended up catching four cobia on this particular fish day. My father caught three fish, which were all less than forty pounds. I guess I needed to mention once again, 搕he fish I landed was around eighty pounds!?

With the seat torn out of my shorts and splinters in my bottom, it was certainly time to go home! I just wanted to mention that this fishing story is about 49 years old. I still remember this fish day as well as hundreds of others as if it was only yesterday! My father and I always loved 搄ust fishing!? I never really understood what Daddy meant when he would say, 揻ishing for memories! Got to go now big tears trying to escape!

With all this being said, 揚lease take time out to take a kid fishing, because they will remember!