quote: Just because you are not catching them at the bridge or anywhere else does not mean they are not here. Cobia eat crabs, no one will question that. Because they are not being caught by fisherman could they be gorging on mating and molting crabs? There are no hard numbers and there is a lot of speculation.
Come on, my Daddy was a commercial fisherman and so was I, as well as a charter captain and guide. I’ve never in my whole life even heard of a cobia being caught in the winter inside of Port Royal.
And most anybody who fishes for cobia knows that they eat crabs. That ain’t news. It’s one of my preferred baits. They aren’t called crab eaters for nothing. But crabs in the winter at the bridge will catch you big reds and black drum. And crabs leave the river and move offshore in the winter. Never caught a cobia or even heard of it happening in winter. Have you? I ain’t saying it couldn’t happen, but…I doubt it.
Capt. Larry Teuton
912-six55-5674
lteuton at aol dot com
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
No, you are not wrong here. There’s a lot of misinformation floating around. Based on what I know, there is a group of cobia that are genetically distinct to Port Royal and St. Helena. What that means is they move into those areas and spawn together. They may (and probably do) mingle with other groups of cobia further offshore or to the south when they aren’t inshore and spawning. A simplified example would be salmon in the NW. Lots of different groups of salmon that spawn in their particular rivers, but m
I am sure this will not put an end to the discussion, however based on what I have read here and in links to stories on the subject, this is my understanding of the issue as it relates to cobia.
First wildlife SC was almost correct but not quite. There have been two stocks of cobia genetically differentiated by DNR scientist in SC and adjacent federal waters.
One is an offshore coastal migratory group. The second is a group that moves inshore to spawn and feed in estuarine waters of Beaufort and Colleton counties.
The second group is the population segment of concern. This was determined using at least two metrics.
Effective Population Size a genetic term based on the diversity within the sampled population and can indicate whether there are not enough spawners contributing to the population. This is a purely mathematical model that states that if the number calculated is below X, then the population is below a sustainable level. In this case the number calculated is apparently below X.
The second metric was based on an on the ground sampling of legal size fish caught in the inshore fishery for a number of years. In addition to looking at the genetic makeup of the entire population it was also being used to look for the genetic (family) fingerprint of fish that were produced and stocked by the staff of the Waddell center. The group in question was a relatively small number of perhaps 50,000 fingerlings from one year class that were released into the Sound. During subsequent years of sampling it was found that this stocked group made up a very large portion of the legal size fish that were sampled each year from the inshore fishery from that one year class only. In addition, the stocked cohort’s contribution to the fish captured and sampled remained equally high for a number of years afterward. Thus, indicating the wild portion of that year class was very small. This is important because the fishery in a typical year is made of perhaps 5 year classes. While this data indicated that st
I’ll ask again, has anyone reading this ever caught a cobia in the winter in the Broad River?
Capt. Larry Teuton
912-six55-5674
lteuton at aol dot com
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
I’m not sure if you read the last few posts. The Port Royal migratory group moves in when water temps, and just as importantly, the nearshore waters warm to 68-70 degrees. They move in to spawn and move out.
Folks…I have always respected you for your experience, your myriad abilities and your logic. Larry and I have met, shaken hands and I hope we will again. Nevertheless I seriously…seriously question the logic in claiming to know there does not exist a class of fish that resides in our PRS system year-round. Please do not take this personally, but IMHO it’s wrong try to dissuade others on this board without any data other than life experiences and opinions.
There are hundreds of years of combined angling experience on this board…years that give you a true wealth of experience in cobia fishing, but very little experience in cobia life history. DNR does its best to back up their statements with the best scientific evidence they have at their disposal. New discoveries are made every day…and documented for science in hopes of better understanding these prized fish.
What truly amazes me that so many continue to let these other issues cloud the simple, underlying truth that this fishery is in trouble. Let’s draw an analogy to land-based game. Bait a big field with corn, mast and whatever else deer are known to eat. Do this at the height of the reproductive cycle when the bigger, sounder, more prolific females are still carrying fawns. Fence this entire area, but leave a funnel for the deer to migrate in and out.
Next…line up 30 to 100 hunters, set them up at this funnel day in and day out…shooting pregnant does at a rate equivalent to how many cobia we are currently allowed to keep in our daily creels. How long before almost every doe carrying fawns is “harvested.”
All I care about is having an opportunity to take a grandchild out to one day have his or her chance to catch a cobia. If that takes keeping the fish off restaurant menus, stringent catch/creel regulations or even a moratorium, I’m all in. I consider it a privilege to fish…not a right. I also consider it your privilege to call me out…so have at and have fun. But just like the other thread, this is my last post
quote:All I care about is having an opportunity to take a grandchild out to one day have his or her chance to catch a cobia. If that takes keeping the fish off restaurant menus, stringent catch/creel regulations or even a moratorium, I'm all in. I consider it a privilege to fish...not a right. I also consider it your privilege to call me out...so have at and have fun. But just like the other thread, this is my last post on this one...
No arguments here, Jim. We both have the same motives and I also agree they are in trouble. To the point that I’m not even going to try to catch one this year, and whatever it takes to preserve the fishery for our grandkids is fine with me.
This is the only thing I doubt…
quote:Jim originally posted a group that never leaves the sound or tributaries
My question is simply, has anyone here with all their combined years of experience ever caught one in January in the Broad River? If they stay in Port Royal year around then somebody must have caught one in the winter? That shouldn’t muddy the water too much:sunglasses:
Capt. Larry Teuton
912-six55-5674
lteuton at aol dot com
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Like I posted earlier, i know something has changed In PRS
with the cobia and have made my last trip down to target them. I still
love the area and there are too many other targets to go for to waste
what time I’ve got left on non productive trips . Reds ,flounder,trout
closer home.
What truly amazes me that so many continue to let these other issues cloud the simple, underlying truth that this fishery is in trouble. Let’s draw an analogy to land-based game. Bait a big field with corn, mast and whatever else deer are known to eat. Do this at the height of the reproductive cycle when the bigger, sounder, more prolific females are still carrying fawns. Fence this entire area, but leave a funnel for the deer to migrate in and out.
Next…line up 30 to 100 hunters, set them up at this funnel day in and day out…shooting pregnant does at a rate equivalent to how many cobia we are currently allowed to keep in our daily creels. How long before almost every doe carrying fawns is “harvested.”
But just like the other thread, this is my last post on this one…
Tight lines…
Wild life I always love learning by things that relate. Your analogy of hunting vs fishing is spot on and makes perfect sense. I don’t fish for cobia in the Broad due to the amount of boats. I don’t like a crowd. I guess the cobia fishing season is like the salmon run but with less fish. You may be right about less cobia. I also remember a few years back when everyone panicked over spot tail. Hope your vigilance with the Cobia will pay off. Just so you don’t think I’m a complete butt, the most Cobia I’ve taken home in a season is 2. A lot of meat on a big one.
You and I are on the same wavelength. I would never begrudge anyone taking a fish. Just stop at a reasonable limit for the fish, not oneself. Heck…I chatted with a guy on here that had been coming down for 14 years without a fish! Man…take one or two! If I could swim under his boat and tie one on his line I would!
There is a lot of meat on a big one…but for those who eat a lot of big cobia…careful…they are laced with mercury.
One or 2 a year have always been plenty for our house too. Lot of meat on those fish. This year we won’t have any though, unless it comes from the GOM. Lots of other fish to fish for in Port Royal besides cobia. I turn almost everything loose anyway except an occasional gut hooked fish, and any legal flounder, black drum, or whiting. I don’t go fishing to eat fish. That’s just an occasional bonus.
Capt. Larry Teuton
912-six55-5674
lteuton at aol dot com
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
When you see “Old Glory” waving in the breeze, know that it is the dying breaths of our fallen hero’s that makes it wave.
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Careful Gail wins, I’ve had some get pretty “pissed” at me for it. Actually had a couple of pm’s saying it was offensive. It’ll come down in a year or so…
I agree Larry. Plus, I think my “catch per dollar invested” is probably hovering close to $1,000/lb. or more
That’s all! Man that’s cheap… [:0] Crazy part is I used to equate the sport with cost and kept everything I could to justify it. That’s just how I was raised. Times were hard, but much more simple. I could tell you a couple of stories of washtubs of Rockfish coming out the Salkehatchie swamp in the early 70’s. Haven’t seen one caught in a long time that far up the river.
Haven’t seen a rockfish in the Salkehatchie since I was a teenager, Fred. It was just above the forks…so it just missed the Combahee! I remember fishing right out from Cuckhold’s Creek in the Combahee catching rockfish, spottails and largemouth all from the same rice trunk and on the same Rebel bait.
It’s simple. Sell a Cobia tag for the Broad. Make them 100 bucks each. Limit them to two a person. It’s a limited resource that needs limited pressure. I myself have never fished, them and won’t. Heck…I can barely get to all the other species I love to catch.
Wildlife there absolutely 100% is not a class of cobia that stay in our local waters year around. This is not speculation or hypothesizing. This is 100 years of angling experience from an elite group of fisherman some of which paddled out in a row boat and caught these fish before science ever played a role. A group of people that ran commercial drum lines for a half of a century and fished year round. The first cobia of the year showed up in mid to late March before anybody was catching them on rod and reel, and disappeared by late summer. Also the DNR biologist are saying that they are genetically different from the offshore group of fish but yet they cannot tell you where these fish go when they leave. I asked that specific question along with many other and the answer was “We do not know.” It is not a coincidence that the best place in the world to catch Cobia inshore is the broad river via the Port Royal sound, and the number one place in the Atlantic to catch Cobia is the Betsy Ross which sits directly out of the Port Royal channel. The shrimpers used to catch them behind the shrimp boats in the trough the Betsy Ross now sits in before it existed. When the Betsy Ross was created it was not put in a random location but strategically positioned by Senator Waddell himself. This trough was fishy long before the structure existed and is the passageway to the Port Royal channel. For DNR to suggest that their is no correlation here is asinine.
