Bradenton fishing captain recalls day he’ll never forget with huge cobia catch

Captain Jonathan Soultatos couldn’t stop smiling after one of the best days of fishing he’s ever experienced.

“I was over the top. I’ve been fishing my whole life, and that was one of those days I’ll never forget,” said Soultatos, who guides out of Bradenton.

It started early on Monday, Oct. 13, when he met two of his longtime clients Avah Grace Meadows and Dr. George Meadows for a full day of fishing. Soultatos made quick work of bait, loading up his live well with little effort.

“The bait population is insane right now, that gets any captain excited,” he explained.

The beautiful weather set the stage when they pulled up to their first spot. Soultatos began fishing docks and just as easy as bait came in the boat with a cast net, the rods started pulling fish boat side as well.

“First bait got off to a good start with a snook, really it could not get any better. We started catching snook and mangrove snapper on every cast. When that finally slowed we went to Sarasota Bay and fished an area I wouldn’t normally go ... to get out of the wind a little bit,” Soultatos said. “That’s when it got really good.”

Soultatos said every other cast brought in a redfish, snook or trout. Between his two anglers he suspected they caught probably 20 inshore slams, which is a combination of redfish, snook and trout. The anglers were joking about how good it was and what else could possibly make it better.

“Avah then got a nice flounder. She was saying this is so awesome,” Soultatos recalled. “We kept continuing to catch more redfish and trout and then a cobia showed up behind the boat inshore!”

A bucket list fish for angler Avah, the cobia turned its nose to each of their offerings before slipping off away from the boat. For a change of scenery, Soultatos decided to venture to the Gulf, planning to stay near the beach with the hard northeast wind.

“When we got out, I thought we could ride with the waves at our back and go target some grouper. We stopped in about 40 feet of water and, from the very first bait, started hammering mangrove snapper, one after another,” he said.

“We hit the limit almost instantly. I put a pink Hogball on a third rod while they were catching mangrove snapper and said let’s head to some other ledges and maybe we’ll get some grouper,” added the Fishing with Salty captain, who looked like a fortune teller with his prediction at the next spot.

“Every bait was then a gag grouper or a red grouper. I knew we were on a ledge, so I said let’s drop down a shrimp on the Hogball. On the third drop, I got a tiny hogfish but told them they aren’t usually there alone so switched them over as well.”

The switch up quickly paid dividends and filled the cooler even more. Both anglers doubled up on the next drop with a pair or keeper hogfish, one male and one female. The crew released the female to reproduce another day.

“We didn’t catch another grouper, but did catch about 12 hogfish. We kept four of the males to go with the limit of mangrove snapper!”

With time still left in the afternoon, Soultatos wondered what else could possibly make the day better. He stopped on a shallow wreck to empty out the live well and see if any kingfish or other pelagics were nearby.

“They dropped bottom rods while flat lines were off the back. Dr. Meadows hooked a fish and it was pulling hard, so I’m thinking it’s a big grouper. But then it runs away from the boat. When it comes close Avah sees it and says, ‘It’s a cobia, you’ve got to be kidding me!’ She dropped a bait down and then doubled up on cobia!”

With the pair of cobia hooked around the boat, a bull shark came to see what the commotion was all about. With it, three more cobia showed up as well and with all the chumming a school of bait had congregated around the boat. That, in turn, fired up the free-swimming cobia and caused them to begin chasing their next meal frequently. That’s when the day came to a bizarre ending.

“People say the fish were chewing the transom out all the time when the bite is good. But that’s what these cobia were doing. They were eating the bait right off the transom and around the boat,” Soultatos said. “But that fired up the bull shark and the bull shark attacked my trolling motor, sending it up into the air! I had to turn off the spot lock and that’s how the day finally ended.”

Despite the ending, Soultatos and his anglers were thrilled with the day they had experienced. It’s a testimony for how great the fishery can be, and Soultatos says this time of year can be as good as it gets. There has been less boats fishing, easy bait and hungry fish, all the things captains like.

To book a trip with Captain Soultatos, visit www.FishingWithSalty.com.