30+ years later...

Not kayak related, but thought you guys might appreciate the story....

When I was little my Dad used to take me fishing on this group of oil rigs. I fell in love with fishing on these rigs, and dreamed of one day being able to dive under the surface and chase the fish around below...

Last week I finally made that 30+ year old dream come true. Got a last minute invite from my buddy John, and we launched  out of the same spot (Empire), and went to the same rigs (West Delta). Visibility was less than ideal (top 25 feet were zero viz murk, and past 40 it got all hazy and dark).

After awhile I found a system that seemed to work ok (wasn’t pushing it cuz was only guy diving) and was able to take a handful of mangrove snapper (including two really nice ones).

At the very end of the day when I was about to call it, I was down waiting for some snappers to get close and I look up and there is a group of Cobia swimming above me...I kick up and nail the biggest one right in the pec fin 

Shaft goes up and through her head and gets lodged in her skull, and I am able to get her to the surface pretty easily and get my hand in her throat but then she starts going nuts. I get my knife in her head, and wrap my legs around her but she still is thrashing and rolling and the spines on her back tear up my inner thigh pretty good, and turns out she bent my shaft as well.

Finally she calms down enough for me to slit a few gills and get her up into the boat. Such a beautiful fish, and a great way to end the day.

Mom and Dad were super excited about the fish, and said it had been over 30 years since they had eaten Cobia, and it was even better than they remembered.

Here’s a bunch of pics.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

PS. Special thanks to Parviz from Red Triangle Spearfishing in Petaluma for loaning me his sweeet Bluetec OceanBorn 125 gun, and shipping it to my parents so it would be there waiting for me when I arrived. 

You're a freakin' beast Big Jim! Thanks for sharing 

So cool. Glad you found a big fish like that to give you a worthy battle. Cobia have such a distinctive look: like a cross between a catfish and a shark.

Damn that was a good read, Great Job BigJim...

Thanks for sharing Jim.  We fished the rigs in Galveston last weekend for Cobia & Kings.  We're in Florida today going for Mahi Mahi & diving for Lobsters 🦞 later.

Thanks guys!

Here’s a few more pics and some of the meals I made with my share of the meat. The other three guys on the boat who were hook and line fishing didn’t catch anything at the rigs so was happy I got enough meat for all of us to take home.

Sashimi, grilled head and collars, fried roe, marinated some ribs and the belly in BBQ sauce then cooked under the broiler, simple lemon/butter/sherry on fillets. 

     Total beast BigJim slays again! That's awesome you got to fulfill that dream and wrestle with a huge fish like that!  Conrats dude!  Love the knife in the head pic 

That looks so awesome! Thanks for sharing BigJim! That sashimi looks really delicious!

I was reading down thinking "when's he gonna see a big ole' Cobia ..." and then there it was!
great read, and it looks like you had fun!

Can you post more pix of your thighs, please?  Maybe a quick shave first?

Bouché

Can you post more pix of your thighs, please?  Maybe a quick shave first?

Bouché

 

Great story, hope I’m still around to hear your kids tell a similar story. Way to go man.

W2G. Fantastique!

Wow 

So when's the next trip?

nice snappers.  How was the vis?  Cobia have a reputation of bending shafts if not stoned.  I remember running into a small school while on a drop with Harold.  He uncharacteristically let me take the first shot.  I shot one right above the gill and stoned it.  At the boat he looked disappointed admitting he was hoping to see the fish bend my shaft. ASS