Big cobia in Virginia Beach (8/4/17 and 8/6/17)

[JDTuna]

Headed down to Virginia Beach with my girlfriend for two days of cobia fishing and some beach time. I had never been, and I must say it was a great place with very nice beaches. Now, on to the fishing! We fished with a phenominal NS guide that was incredibly knowledgable about the fishery...a certified cobia whisperer.

Friday Aug 4:

We weren't exactly sure what to expect with the sun and clouds forecast. Given that we were going to be sight fishing, mostly sunny conditions are the best. Regardless, we gave it a shot.

After a quick run, we slowed to begin the hunt for cobia. After literally 2 minutes of looking, the guide spotted a fish down deep. As we flung a bait towards the fish, he said "probably won't eat." However, 30 seconds later I was hooked up and fighting the fish. Not long after, the net was slipped under my first fish of the trip...a big 60lb cobia, my new personal best. Actually, double my prior largest cobia. After a few pics, the fish was released.




We bounced around for the next couple of hours, having to wait out the clouds for a while before we had enough sunshine to spot fish. I ended up catching and releasing two more cobia, one at 45lbs and another at 50lbs. Also had a few other bites that didn't hook up.
Day one was definitely a success with three big fish, all of which were larger than my previous personal best.





Sun Aug 6:

Chrisper and his friend came down to join us for day 2. We were greeted with bright, sunny skies and were anticipating a great day. However, fishing proved to be difficult. We didn't see that many fish, and those that we did see largely ignored the lures and baits. However, one fish decides to eat a bait and I landed a 50lb cobia that we kept for the table.