Louisiana fisherman get ready, because an invasion is on the way. And they are coming by sea. Traveling in squadrons of six, 10 sometimes 20 or more, the invaders are making their way across the northern Gulf eating a path of destruction and frustration in their wake. And they're preparing to hunker down around the oil rigs of Mississippi and Louisiana. Lemon fish, ling, crabeaters - regardless of the name by which you know them - the cobia are coming.
These powerful fish have already stormed the beaches of Floridia and Alabama as they make their annual migration north and westward from their wintering grounds. Just as they have done the past two years, the big brown brawlers have shown up in unbelievable numbers this spring, but with an unexpected twist for 1995. This year the fish are big. Really big.
Cobia fever began to spread through the ranks of Orange Beach, Ala. in early March as reports of the fish began trickling in from the Big Bend region of Floridia. Sometime around the 15th, anglers in the Panhandle made the first confirmed cobia catches, and by April 1, the migration was in full swing. Truly exceptional cobia - fish over 80 pounds - began hitting docks on a daily basis.