Vortex Charters Fishing Report
11-17-2004
Captain Chuck MacIntyre
Vortex Charters of Tampa Bay
www.vortexcharters.com
With unseasonable high winds in the area last week, we stayed inshore to fish.
Bob Hartz from Des Moines teamed up with brother-in-law Dave for some inshore fun. Fishing a deep cut next to a shallow grass flat, both anglers were neck-in-neck in the catch-and release trout competition when I handed Bob an unusually large shrimp.
“No trout in his right mind would dare to hit this monster”, I chortled.
Within a minute, Bob was battling a large fish that made some pretty impressive runs on 10-pound test. I became somewhat worried when the fish made a mad dash for the anchor line, but Bob managed to keep him free of it. Within minutes, we saw him—a huge Cobia! As I readied the Gaff, I could see that he was at least 40 inches long. As I was about to stick him, I realized there were 2 of them. Not wanted to gaff a ‘green’ Cobia, I opted for the one hooked to Bobs’ line. Good thing as this guy thrashed about for about 5 minutes before I could get him in the cooler.
After the excitement died down, we decided to head to the beach for some KingFish/Mackerel action. We lost 2 Kings that bit through the wire leader, yet angler Dave managed 4 5-pound Mackerel for the smoker. The kings were feeding on Shad; the Mackerel on Threadfins.
Good Fishin’ to ya!
Capt. Chuck MacIntyre
www.vortexcharters.com
