Cobia in the Pittwater?

[reubs]

hey fellow fishermen/women, I was out the other week in the pittwater north of scottland island soaking a WA pillie and chucking around some baits probably only in 4 metres of water when all of a sudden it was on like donkey kong with this badboy....the day i didnt bring the net along of course i got the final bit of the fight on video and will have to upload it to youtube and link it on here for you all to see my disappointment and how exhausted i was after the fight...anyway I suspect it was a cobia but am willing to accept that it may have been something else...can anyone give me a positive ID on this? that would be great it was a big fish and I'm still gutted that it got away! but not a bad effort for a 12ft tinny with a 6ish hp '79 evinrude motor on the back

[rjc123]

Looks like a cobe! When the warmer currents are around they are often caught in broken bay/pittwater. Only thing is that they are mostly small models (under 60cm) and yours looks like it would have been 90ish. Shame you lost it though!

[boattart]

Looks like a Cobia to me and while rare it is far from the first. Maybe 10 years ago we got 2 in a day in Botany Bay while bream fishing. They were maybe 40cm long but definately cobia so trust your judgement.

[reubs]

I'll load up the vid on youtube tonight and post it on here...it was a beaut! I think where I came unstuck was with my tackle..I had a 3gang hook setup with the hooks snelled to the line (one of the cheapie neptune tackle rigs) when I got the fish to the boat I grabbed the line which i think was 40-50 lb off the top of my head and when I went to lift it up and out of the water the 2nd and 3rd hooks snapped clean off the line and old cobie got away...I'm still hurting on the inside because it was a great fish!

[reubs]

Looks like a cobe! When the warmer currents are around they are often caught in broken bay/pittwater. Only thing is that they are mostly small models (under 60cm) and yours looks like it would have been 90ish. Shame you lost it though!

If I had landed it and measured it up it might've been a contender for your cobia record! There will be a gaf on board tomorrow thats for sure!

thanks for the clarifications too guys, my mate that I got the boat off wasn't convinced and thought that it mightve been a catfish! but I wasnt gonna buy that!

[rjc123]

If I had landed it and measured it up it might've been a contender for your cobia record! There will be a gaf on board tomorrow thats for sure!

thanks for the clarifications too guys, my mate that I got the boat off wasn't convinced and thought that it mightve been a catfish! but I wasnt gonna buy that!

Mate, i have the cobia on lure record. It seems that you were using bait and the cobia on bait record is some 150cm or around that. Still a ripper fish though!

[Krispy !]

Definately a Cobe alright, we got one 2 years ago similar size landbased in Sydney so its not all that uncommon.

[Yowie]

They occur in Port Hacking as well, but not that common though.

[On Strike]

Cobes are around at the moment. Saw a small one caught in McCarrs Creek in Pittwater ( very close to Scotland Island ) It was caught along with a number of small kingfish and a mate caught a 90cm Cobe on a live poddy mullet in Botany bay off Towra last week whilst fishing for flatties. Still good to see them swim away though. Boat side, on the leader its as good as tagged. Well done.

On Strike

Edited April 14, 2012 by On Strike