# 2015 Cobia Season



## mbutle8805k (Feb 3, 2014)

I sent this to the FWC today. 

FWC,
I have been fishing for migrating cobia in the Pensacola area for the last 25 years; this has been the most disappointing season I can remember. We used to see wads of fish, now we are just luck to see half a dozen in a full day of looking. I believe all the high dollar cobia tournaments are targeting the large row carrying females is the issue. Has the FWC ever considered a slot limit on cobia; this would protect the large females and just maybe see a rebound like we had with redfish?


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## Kenton (Nov 16, 2007)




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## aquatic argobull (Mar 2, 2009)

Kenton, I think your avatar would have been a more suitable comment


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## Kenton (Nov 16, 2007)

lol


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## shtbrd1 (Oct 2, 2007)

is that a female in your picture? just curious


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## atlantacapt (Oct 2, 2007)

Wow - interesting. This has been anything but a week start to a cobia season.... There have been many, many more fish (and fairly big fish at that..70...80..approaching 90-100 spotted...) seen/caught/landed relative to last year. It will take about 10%-15% more aggregate weight to be at the top of any monthlong tourney relative to what it took in 2014. Saying that you used to see "wads" is unreasonable at best. We see a few wads a season and always have since 1990, but the majority of fish are singles, doubles, triples, etc. We have seen a lot more bait, turtles, manta rays, etc. on beach this year, and envision that the next 20-30 days will be great. To be candid and frank, not sure what to tell you here except to keep your eyes peeled on the water and off your keyboard/cell/ipad. thx


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## Downtime2 (Sep 27, 2007)

Doing it 25 years and I assume that's you holding a fish? Hmmmmm, part of the problem???


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## Capt. Alex Pinney (Jan 23, 2008)

You sir , are some kind of special if you think tournaments are killing the cobia stock. When was the last time you let an 80 pounder just swim on by cause you wanted to be conservative. I'll wait ..... The same boats tournament fishing will continue to fish with or without tournaments. If you want to complain about the stocks of cobia , head over west to Venice or so and watch them hang a box full of 25 pounders up. I shouldn't have responded to such a ludicrous statement but couldn't take it.


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## atlantacapt (Oct 2, 2007)

He's so "Salt Life" that he had to send a memo to the FWC...


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## shtbrd1 (Oct 2, 2007)

Im no expert by any means but have lived here a long time and I am friends and hunt with a few experts in the off season. At the risk of name dropping, a couple of those friends are the captains and owners of Twilight, Sure Thing, Full Pull, Big John and Salty Fish Charters all out of Destin, and they have all said since BP things have changed with the cobia for sure and they dont see the turtles like before BP. This is my first year cobia fishing by myself and being on the water and around all the captains I know, they seem pretty fired up about the way this season has started this year. Do you old timers agree?


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## stauty trout (Jul 19, 2012)

This is a troll thread IMO


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## TSpecks (Oct 3, 2007)

Ok so he says Florida needs to do something about it!!!!
Facts:
Florida regs- 1 per person per day 6 per vessel which ever is less 33" (done mostly by sight fishing)
Alabama regs- 2 per person 33"
Mississippi regs- 2 per person 33" 
Louisiana regs- 2 per person 33"

And to say it needs to be a slot because of tournament fishing!!! I am seriously LMFAO right now!!!!! Outcast tournament has to be 45" and most guys I know tag all fish smaller. I have fished with Tommy Holmes several times and have witnessed first hand someone that has released 60lb fish


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## Tim (Oct 24, 2007)

My neighbor's a good cobia fisherman and has made 8 trips, seen a few and finally caught the first one he hooked yesterday. The water's been cold but still most experienced fisherman I've talked to said it's been really slow. I caught my first cobia in 1976 and yes cobia have decreased a lot just like most other fish.


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## recess (Oct 8, 2007)

All the cobia are gone - extinct - you should sell you boat , fishing equipment and give up fishing altogether .


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## Bodupp (Oct 3, 2007)

Hell, it's my fault. Sorry guys.


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

Not seeing the wads you were 25 years ago? I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with 10x the amount of boats fishing and busting those wads up...

5 boats seeing 50 fish, or 50 boats seeing 5 fish...

And as Mr. Pinney mentioned, the maybe MAYBE 300 fish caught, and killed for cobia tournaments along the Florida panhandle doesn't hold a candle to the slaughter that goes on in Mississippi, and Louisiana. I'm talking 36' center consoles with 10 people on it catching a 2 man limit every day.

I think you're on the right track wanting to help the cobia, but your opinion is way off base... reduce the other state limits, and possibly restrict the commercial sales, but to think tournament fishing is the reason for the "decline" is absurd.


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## Don White (Oct 8, 2007)

Just a novice here but I have been Cobia fishing since the mid 90's. A couple of quick obs. From what I've seen in the past the way the season goes the bigger fish come thru first. These are normally singles, doubles, trips, & sometimes quads. The "wads" show up later in the season so I'm not sure about this year yet. These fish winter in the Keys & S FL. They have two primary spawning areas. The Delta area of the Mississippi river & the Chesapeke bay. There are years when more fish may head to one area or the other. imho 2015 is going to be a much better year than last. So far early reports show more fish & a larger grade. I have seen more life this year than any year after the oil spill. Large & small turtles, large Manta Rays, Sunfish, & yesterday we saw 60-70 wads of bait. Has fishing pressure increased since I started? You bet! Did the oil spill affect things? I'm sure! The one fact is there is a lot that we don't know about the species but to bring up the tourneys in your post & make it sound like they are the cause of overfishing doesn't hold weight with a lot of us. This might not have been your intention (internet). I'm all for "resonable fisheries management"........something that is severely lacking in the GOM! As has been posted in the tread, if the species is overfished it's certianlly not due to the tourneys around this area.


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## dsaito (Feb 3, 2014)

How about no one builds fads for one year and see how many more cobia we start finding on the beach. Every year there's more fads and less fish on the beach


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## billin (Oct 14, 2007)

*dsaito*

you are on to something


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## daylate (Feb 22, 2012)

Don White said:


> These fish winter in the Keys & S FL.


They do not catch cobia down there of the size (80 lbs +) that we do here during the spring migration. That indicates to me that the large females we see in the spring are not wintering in the Keys and S. FL. If that were true, why don't they ever catch the really big ones like we do?


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