Matthew McCabe, of Warwick, caught a 36.2-pound cobia Tuesday. Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle, in Warren, said, the fish was 48.5 inches, with a girth of 23.5 inches. John Wunner of John’s Bait & Tackle, North Kingstown, said the cobia will be a state record once it is certified. Here is McCabe’s story:
“My brother-in-law [Todd Taylor] was up from Port St. Lucie, Fla. We tried to fish on my dad’s boat this weekend, but we had engine trouble and never made it to Block Island. So we thought we would try fluke and black sea bass fishing off Newport.
“It was 11 o’clock and we were bottom fishing with pieces of squid between Brenton Reef and the second red can, off Castle Hill Light. The water was not moving very fast, the drift was not right. So, I put my 17-foot boat in gear to do a little power drifting. We went about 20 feet and, bam: That was it. The rod bent in half. As it came to the boat the first time, I thought it was a shark. Then it jumped out of the water and Todd said, ‘That’s no shark; it’s a cobia!’”
Cobia migrate along the Atlantic Coast on a seasonal basis. In spring, they move from southern Florida to the Carolinas as water temperatures rise. Cobia are a warm-water fish; catching them in Rhode Island is rare.
Last year, I wrote about three cobia caught in Rhode Island waters. The largest was 32 pounds, caught by Mason Sherman, of North Kingstown. Cobia are becoming more popular in the Northeast now that ocean and Bay water is getting warmer, but catching them is still rare.
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