caught this Cobias 56# & 23#, Red Snappers range 10-18 lbs and Mangrove Snapper 4 lbs 2 Cobias, 4 Red Snappers and a Mangrove Snapper in Orange Beach Alabama near oil rigs.
Both of us worked together for Boynton Beach Fire Department. I retired 10 years ago and a few years ago I moved to Tennessee. Bob Rehr retired last year and moved to Orange Beach, Al.. I very much miss the saltwater fishing and I was suppose to head down to Biloxi, Ms to go fishing with my son who is stationed in the Air Force there. That trip got canceled at the last minute due to the weather there. I posted on FB that I was sad that the trip got canceled. Bob contacted me right after my comment posted and invited me down to go fishing with him the next day.
I got in my truck and headed south for the 7 hr ride feeling excited. I arrived later that evening and Thanked him for the invite. We got all the gear readied for the next morning trip. We headed out at 5:15 am and were at the first spot by 6:30 and had our limit of Red Snapper by 8 am. We caught other fish but sent them back into the water. We decided to head over to another spot and I decided 1 more drop. I hooked up with a 23 lb Cobia which got us riled up.
We headed over to the other spot which was about a 20-30 ride. Bob hooked up with a large Amberjack on his first drop and after he got it to the boat and released it I dropped my line and within a minute I was hooked up with something big. We joked saying that I probably hooked up with the just released Amberjack, that was until we saw what broke the top of the water. I fought the big guy for about 20 minutes as he didn’t want to get close to the boat. Bob finally gaffed it but it took both of us to get it into the boat. We high five’d each other after getting him into the fish box.
We fished a little while longer looking for other Cobia’s but the fish bite died. We decided to head on in and on the way in we popped a few cold ones then got back to the dock to weigh and clean the fish. We ended up with 40 lbs of fillets and a real great memory.