More Billfish and cobia!
More billfish and more cobia! A few different boats were able to find the cobia again at Winter Quarter Shoal, Jeff and Alex got out on the Skiff and got their 2 man limit of 2 cobia and caught and released another 8-10, they were picky eaters at times, but multiple boats were able to catch them yesterday. I imagine the cobia should hang out in the general area until the next big blow moves the water significantly. As far as the canyons go we’ve actually got quite a bit of blue water in and around the 100 line in almost every canyon. The bluest water at the moment is in the Norfolk canyon there is a nice piece right in the mouth of the canyon stretching up to the south side of the Washington, with some of the blue water in the Norfolk inshore of the 100 line. As it stretches north up into the Washington the bluer water is deeper to the east out towards 500-1000 fathoms, this is where there is high billfish activity and would be a great place to go for marlin. Then to the north the blue water that was in the Wilmington as pushed west inside the 100 line and is now right over the tip of the Baltimore, stretching south east as far south as Poormans and as far east as a 1000 fathoms. There is also more blue water to the north in the Spencer and Lindenkohl that should also have Marlin in 500-1000 fathoms. As I’m sure most of you all have seen the bill fish bite has been red hot! The real question right now is where is the best odds of catching some yellowfin or big eye, especially when it looks good almost everywhere? Well based off Altimetry we can see a nice eddy east of the Norfolk moving water through the Norfolk and Washington, then another eddy to the north east moving water through the Spencer and Lindenkohl. The Norfolk looks the best, deep in the Washington looks good, the tip of Baltimore is an option too, if you can make the run north to Spencer or Lindenkohl it could pay off big, but for most the Washington or Baltimore will probably make the most sense, or if you can make the run to the Norfolk that currently has the bluest water, an eddy nearby moving water through the canyon, a nice hard salinity edge, and even some nice 2 degree temperature breaks on the SST shots, so that’s our recommendation. For inshore you have the cobia which can be found anywhere from Winter Quarter Shoal to Fish Haven or Atlantic Mist, any of the near shore wrecks or lumps. Then this week I would try spots in the 20-30 fathom range Parking Lot, 29 Fathom Lump, Rock Pile, would all be good areas to work, also to the north Hambone, Hot Dog, Tea Cup and that area. We are gonna try and head out tomorrow morning and might do some more inshore exploring ourselves on the skiff and maybe get on more cobia, or look for some schools of red drum! Lots of options this time of year! Good luck and tight lines!
