This cobia surely validated the old saying, “They don't get big by being dumb.” The fish refused all of our offerings, jigs, plugs, live pinfish and even hand sized live shrimp. This fish was significantly bigger than our first catch. After tussling with the first few fish, we positioned ourselves on another ray with a fish on it. It was easy to hop from ray to ray without powering up the outboard. Come to find out, we happened to be in a food-rich area, and the rays were feeding on zooplankton found on the surface. There were 20 to 30 rays in a mile or so vicinity circling on the surface. That day off Sebastian, I saw the rays doing something I'd never seen. Big streamer patterns with enough weight to sink below a cruising ray will do the trick. A 12-weight setup will suffice for the fly guys. Chances are, if you give the fish an opportunity for an easy meal, they will take it. Jigs, big soft-plastic baits, lipped plugs, even topwaters will work. As for lures, the majority of the time the fish aren't too picky. Fifty-pound braid and a 50-pound fluorocarbon leader will cover your line needs. Typical tackle used for the cobia consist of an 8000 sized reel paired on an 8-foot, heavy-action rod. There's no rhyme or reason behind this, just genetic mutation. Some have a black and white pattern, some are almost totally black and some are almost totally white. You will notice some coloration differences between individual animals of all species. The Caribbean manta is slightly smaller than the giant manta, but the only true way to tell is by the markings on the bottom of the animal. The giant manta and the Caribbean manta are the two species spotted off the coast of Florida, although distinguishing between them can be tough. In 2009 Andrea Marshall, a conservation biologist, concluded that there are actually two more species, the reef manta and the Caribbean manta.
In previous years it was believed that there was only one species of ocean going manta ray, the giant manta (Manta birostris). Early research concluded a life-span of 20 years for the manta ray, but ongoing studies suggest it could be longer. Mullican stated that these gentle giants can typically be found around the pogy schools along northeast Florida from March to May as well, not feeding on the little silver fish, but on the same tiny food sources the pogies are eating. Although a huge animal, they are filter feeders that feed on larval shrimp, zooplankton and phytoplankton. These giant, slow-moving creatures can grow to have a wingspan of 18 feet wide and to weigh over 1,000 pounds. Most of their sightings were within a half-mile of the beach and in depths of 5 to 50 feet of water. With an open cockpit in front of the wings, the Air Cam is perfect for documenting and photographing rays cruising the surface. Researchers fly a small plane known as the Air Cam, which can maintain flight at speeds as slow as 55 mph. For a number of years, he and his team have been documenting these animals along a stretch of the east coast of Florida from St. Tim Mullican of the Georgia Aquarium is the head of the manta ray project at the aquarium. Stephen Ferrell hoists a nice cobia caught on a "skiff weather" day off Sebastian Inlet.ĭr. Sometimes you'll find free-swimming cobia, but often the fish are following large rays. Sight-fishing is an exciting way to target them. Most of us already know about cobia: great fighters, willing to eat most offerings and awesome tablefare.
I got the net and we boated the fish in quick fashion. With a well-placed cast, Stephen convinced this fish to come out from under the ray and eat his jig.
We dropped the trolling motor on Ferrell's 24-foot bay boat, grabbed our pitch rods rigged with jigs and positioned the boat. At this moment, our plans of tripletail fishing went out the window.
Onto the second ray, and as luck would have it, we spotted a cobia. Stephen said in prior weeks he had seen the rays, just no fish on them, so assuming the same, we motored by the first ray at a quick pace. As most fishermen would do, we pointed the boat in their direction to look for cobia, which often accompany the big rays. Ten or so miles into the run, Stephen Ferrell and I started spotting giant manta rays on the surface. Heading north out of Sebastian inlet, we were running and gunning with our eyes peeled, looking for weedlines and debris we hoped would hold tripletail. Cobia are basically a reef fish, and a giant manta ray with an entourage of jacks.is basically a reef that moves.
0 kommentar(er)
