How to Kill A Cobia

[rigdvr]

speaking of crazy bastards Cobia are fun fish to hunt. The big ones will sometimes only give you one shot as they check you out so be ready. The straight below you shot is ideal as their head is broad and flat, but be warned it is extremely dense so you need to be close to fully penetrate(depending on the gun). From the side I like them turning away lat. line shot just behind the pec exiting the opposite cheek. The dog on a leash trick works well but as soon as you put pressure on them they go bonkers

Should you find yourself in hand to fin combat with a big one, watch out for the retractable spines on the dorsal side...they will ruin a perfectly good wetsuit. Once you grab him stick your hands in his gills and start ripping them out...dont waste time trying to knife them, the skull is to thick. If he has no gills he will calm down quickly.

Sounds like you might want to make a "riding rig" for this type of hunting....I'll see if I can find some pics.

[gxdoyle]

Originally posted by rigdvr

Once you grab him stick your hands in his gills and start ripping them out...dont waste time trying to knife them, the skull is to thick. If he has no gills he will calm down quickly.

Great tip - thanks. I tried this trick on a grouper a while back but found that inside his gills were thousands of little 'teeth' that just snagged and shredded my gloves - I'm not so keen to go sticking my hands in the gills of big fish - am I missing something?

Originally posted by rigdvr
Sounds like you might want to make a "riding rig" for this type of hunting....I'll see if I can find some pics.

Would be great to see the pics - thanks

[Iyadiver]

Yes...indeed....Kapiten Rig is the bad Dude for this sort of metallic hunting area....

Dang !! Eric is now a 50+ meter....how times fly Pak Eric .... he smoked too.... at least he did....that's not fair....

[rigdvr]

a groupers gills are definately not the place to stick your hands Cobia arent as bad but SERIOUSLY look out for those dorsal spines!

[Jay Styron]

Hey gxdoyle,
I'll second that on cobia. I hunt deep for grouper, snapper, ect. w/ an MT3 and reel. If possible get a reel if you're going to keep hunting big fish deep. The last cobia I shot swam directly under me and I stoned it. That usually doesn't happen so be prepared for a fight. If possible maybe put an extra wrap of line on your gun to give them a little extra fighting room.
After the shot I would dump all the air out of my BC, less chance of getting positive and rocketing up during the fight. Hope this helps.
Jay

[Erik]

Originally posted by Jay Styron
After the shot I would dump all the air out of my BC, less chance of getting positive and rocketing up during the fight. Hope this helps.
Jay

Enter Crazy Bastard #2!
LOL!
I actually haven't scubadived for 4 years I think....scares me too much.
Yes I've done 50 metres, but you wouldn't catch me with a gun and a 2 metre fish on the end of it down there. Too much of a
Good luck and stay safe,
you don't want to end up

Erik Y.

[mishu1984]

Cobia:
Good fun,
good meat,
good god lets eat.

when i worked in the scientific centre, a big aquarium hee in kuwait were oddly enough they have cobia, all under 10 kilos, we had a rouge one that had to be taken out. i volunteered.
it came at 8.5 kilos and was one tough cookie. crazy little bastard was harasing the sand tiger sharks.

[anton]

When on scuba, the techique I use on small ones is a combo of what jay and rig diver said... go for the gills (quick) and then I hold on to the spear, dump the vest and ride the them to the bottom (watching out for those spines!!!). You are then in a position to place a knife if they are still kicking...
The trick I think, if you don't stone them is to bring them in QUICK... no slack, just bring em straight in before they can think. At least this is what works for me although the ones around here are not 5 foot (more like 2.5-3 ) and the depth for them is normally about 20-25 meters which I think is about 70-80 feet I think.

[miker]

NESIM is right.Scuba diving and fishing doesn't go together.
Know one thing, the fish you can catch while holding your breath you can't even see it on scuba.At least this is what happens on Greece and during day-time.If can't get the fish in free diving change hobby.You can play chess or video games!!!

[Jay Styron]

Miker- first, welcome to the forum. But you should qualify your statements w/, "it's my opinion...".
I shoot fish freediving and on scuba. Mostly I use scuba in places where due to current, depth or low viz it would be impossible to fish other wise. You may say this should be a natural refuge but I say selective spearfishing is already a conservation tool. Contrary to somewhat popular belief a lot of game fish don't stick around and look at you when you're on scuba.
I prefer to hunt freediving but it's not always an option for me. Every location is different as is the attitude of the area for spearfishing. I know a lot of rod and reel fishermen that would love to have spearfishing banned, freediving or scuba. Are they right in their attitude? No more than I believe you are but I respect your opinion. I would like to see discussions like this backed up w/ facts not knee jerk reactions to a topic.
Jay

[gxdoyle]

Originally posted by Erik

Inshallah kamu bisa ketemu dan cari berdua di depan.
Selamat cari ikan Doyle.
Erik Y.

Aku harap begitu

[gxdoyle]

Originally posted by Jay Styron
Miker- first, welcome to the forum. But you should qualify your statements w/, "it's my opinion...".

<edited for length>

I would like to see discussions like this backed up w/ facts not knee jerk reactions to a topic.
Jay

Exactly, it's my opinion that deep trimix spearfishing (below about 40 meters) is actually a new sport different to free diving and normal scuba spearfishing.

If you read the exchange between me and Iyadiver it's clear that it has a whole bunch of specific and unique techniques. It's not like 'strap on our tank, go sit on the reef and slaughter all the fish til your air runs out'.

I actually enjoy the dive planning and logistics as much as actually nailing the fish. The greatly increased risk in this kind of hunting is also exciting for me. Because the dives are serious decompression dives it is possible the hunter would be crippld or worse if he were ascend immediately to te surface in the case of a problem.

[Iyadiver]

MIKER,

Yes, me a scuba spearo is not as macho as you are a freediver.
Yes, me use air bottles to assist myself , not as cool as apnea....yes....yes...yes.

I know this very traditional spearfisherman. He uses no fins, no mask and just a pole spear. He freedives, he gets fishes (reef fishes ). This guys is as natural as anyone can get with the sea. He is the coolest spearo I know. Perhaps if he sees other freedivers with fancy mask and fins, he will think that is not macho ?

Come on, give us a break will ya. This area of the forum have no mention of "STRICTLY FREEDIVE HUNTING". We are here to share information not critisize each other. Doesn't mean I use a tank and I get to be an unethical spearo. It is up to the individual to be self discipline. Do you think chumming is a good thing, killing small fishes to just help you kill another bigger fish ? It is an accepted method, so is scuba spearing in some parts of the world.

Now, if my fishes hang at 48 meters/160 feet, how am I ever going to shoot one on apnea ? So I can't shoot fish to eat just because my fishes hang too deep ? Man creates tools to help himself. Is your mask, fins and speargun not a modern tool ? If you need to take a boat out to hunt, is not a boat a modern tool ?
Is your float not a tool to help land a big fish ?

Learn to scuba, come to my Doggie Territory, maybe after that you will realize that you and a scuba spearo is just another spearo after the same goal.....FISH.



DOYLE,

So where's the fish Datok Doyle ? Any luck yet ?

Deep diving on scuba and shooting fish....HELL DIVERS, that's their speciality. 200 feet to them is normal....damn, I will faint at that depth.

Doyle, I hunt up to 48 meters/160 feet on air and single tank. However, lately I stick at 140 feet/ 42 meters, if possible I stay shallower. I try to avoid decompression if possible. If I do decompress, I will stay at 3-5 minutes maximum and that is also on the last two dives. I do 5 dives in a day with the average of 140 feet. Since I get decompression first instead of low on air, a single tank is enough.

My favourite hunting area is one shot per dive, that's it. This is Dog Tooth Tuna territory. I can dive 5 times a day and not pulling a single trigger. You can't use a twin tank here because we perform wait & chase, twin tank too bulky for fast acceleration.

We wait at 120-140 feet. The doggie will come and swim at the bottom of 175 feet, they come from the corner which is 250 feet. This is only possible if the current is at the "correct" direction. At the opposite current direction, the Doggie will hang deep and will sound deep when we make a chase. Once we spotted the doggie hovering at 175 feet, we sprint as fast as possible while keeping ourself on top of the Doggie. At 155-160 feet while chasing, we fire downwards. If you are lucky, the Doggie will maintain its course and does not speed up. You need a 20-23 feet range speargun here if you want the 15kg/33lbs upwards size, this is the closest distance you can get to it, speartip to fish. This is why I am using the Metal Tech 3 with 6 x 9/16 bands shooting 3/8 shaft, 4 double wraps shooting cable.

The smaller under 10kg/22 lbs Doggies are approachable sometimes but we don't target them, they also hang with the bait fishes at 120 feet. This size is for my newbie friends. My core group of hunters only shoot the bigger ones, the bigger the better they taste, more oil in the meat and the meat is more red than white...YUM YUM....

Over the years my core group have matured well and we are very specific on the size and species we shoot. Different area offers different specific target. This Doggie territory has tons of jacks and snappers sometime but when we hunt this place, we only go for the Doggies. Later when you hunt more often, you will be more chossy on the size and species you shoot. It is better not to shoot the fish that doesn't fit your specification, than just to shoot because there is a fish to shoot.

We ( my core group ) can harvest this doggie area easily if we want to but we want to be able to hunt for as long as our health and age allows, thus we are very choosy. The drill is simple, if there is no big Dogie that fits the spec, we don't shoot at all. On the last dive or when we run out of bottom time while there are still fishes, we make one shot on a small available doggie, we must bring home something to eat too. So one guy brings home one small doggie. Population controls works and we don't take more than we need.

This place of mine is 3 out 5 chance. In 5 dives, usually only 3 dives will show Doggies, sometime only 2 dives. Funny place.
Our harvest ratio is very poor. Only 1 out of 4 trips will be decent, only 1 out of ten trips will be excellent. Only 1 out of 20 trips will be superb. This place is 2nd location I got within 5 hours drive by car from my home and another 1 hour by boat which still hides Doggies. I have another location in the Indian Ocean which is far by boat from Jakarta, 125 nmiles one way. Logistic nightmare and make me broke. We have our own boat ( not mine ), but burning 3,000 liter/780 US gallons of fuel each trip is heavy on the pocket for 4 divers. Yes. many times we bring zero fish too from this place. Java island is totally screwed, over harvested, over bombed and over cynide-ded, not many good area to go.

There is this friend of mine who never been to this Doggie territory. He just bought a used Riffe Standard #4, 4 x 16mm bands and 3/8 shaft. No reel, no float. On the first dive of the day, he shot a 30kg+ doggie at 160 feet. This guy is very fit and strong. He got dragged to 230 feet, pull up the fish again to 160 feet and got dragged again to 230 feet....that's when he decided to give the gun away to the fish. Lucky he did not pass out from the over exertion or 02 poisoning. His Alladin computer went ERROR immedately.... ha ha ha. So he did a 30 minutes emergency decompression.

There is another funny story, when my friends who have hunted often with me, goes to eastern Indonesia's remote area where there are still tons of fish....and fishes will actually swim to check you out....they don't like it. They won't shooot the fishes, they said it is not sporting... They are so used to shy and must-chase-a-fish area, they get frustrated when fishes come to check them out and 2 meters to their spear tips.

This is what happens to me in a few of Dubai oil rigs. There I was with my MT3 with 6 bands, I thought I will see giants Spanish Mackerel. It was not the season. I ended up shooting only one jack which Indonesia does not have the species type and shoot video for the rest of the dive. I can even get fish there on freedive....easy. For such a lousy apnea guy I am, there is simply too much fish and of no fear to divers. I should have brought my MT Zero and 9/32" Hawaiian shaft, it is more than adequate. It was an eye opener trip to see the rich and beautiful Dubai but not a spearfishing experience I would ever want to repeat.

Next time come to Jakarta. Leave your Riffe at home, travelling with speargun in Asia is shitty, very shitty. I have a few spearguns. You can use my 4 banded Standard #2. A bit shorter than your C3 but decent power. You can try my Doggie territory and I am sure you will like it, provided there is fish... ..it is no guarantee however....

IYA

[Nesim]

i give up

[gxdoyle]

Originally posted by Nesim


i give up

Don't give up yet Nesi - we haven't even begun on the proper use of the .44 calibre powerhead in the warm-water coral-reef environment .