Elie Tackchi with Reel Deal Sports Fishing caught the biggest cobia on hook and line — ever. It weighed a mind-blowing 141-pounds and took almost an hour to land off the Hallaniyat Islands, Oman. It won’t show up in the record books because it wasn’t weighed on an official scale, but that doesn’t change the equally enormous size of Elie’s smile.
Elie is no stranger to cobia, and they “usually catch bluefin tuna, amberjack, yellowfin tuna, and giant trevally on poppers.” Tackchi said, “conditions were good that day, and we started with a 68-pound cobia.” When he hooked the record cobia, he wasn’t even expecting it to be a cobia. “We thought we had a big amberjack or a yellowfin tuna.”
Half the fight was the battle wrestling the beast to the surface; the other half was trying to gaff it – which cobia are often more challenging boat side than they are throughout the battle. “We had no idea what the world record for a cobia on a rod and reel was, but from what I saw on that deck, and the enormous size, I said to the captain on the boat that this might be the fish of a lifetime.”
Turns out he was right.
https://instagram.com/p/zDJFRPGJQH/?taken-by=outdoors360
But, unfortunately, he had in his words “no idea what the procedure was.” After they weighed the fish and found an Internet connection, they checked the IGFA world record site…what they found was a world record listed at 135-pounds. Their fish easily beat that record by 6-pounds.
The good news is that they videoed the fight, took plenty of photos, and the fish was consumed on the island by the lodge staff and visitors.
Reels: Shimano Stella 20 k Daiwa saltiga 4500 h
Rods: Smith offshore stick 270-320 grs
Lines: 60lb ygk ; 80lb varivas
Jigs: fcl labo, shimano flatside
Glasses : Solano (stingray)