New State Record Cobia Tops Old Mark by Five Pounds

OCEAN CITY- Almost lost among the other great fish stories in and around the resort area this week was a new state record cobia caught last Saturday that topped the two-year-old record by about five pounds.

Angler Chris Toner, fishing aboard the “Fish Finder” with Captain Mark Sampson, caught the new state record cobia, a 71-pounder taken in about 12 fathoms near the Great Gull Reef on Saturday, July 25. The cobia topped the existing record, a 67-pounder, caught by local angler Mike Horsey on July 18, 2007.

The new state record cobia was the highlight of the day last Saturday for the crew aboard the “Fish Finder,” which also caught 16 sharks including 14 duskies, three of which were over five feet long. The 71-pound cobia was the third new state record fish caught in the waters off the coast of the resort this summer.

On Saturday, June 20, the last day of the annual Ocean City Shark Tournament, local angler Jim Hughes fishing on the “Nontypical” caught a massive 876-pound mako shark to break the old state record that had stood for 25 years. A day earlier, on Friday, June 19, angler Brent Applegit of Boulder, Colorado, fishing aboard the “Toy Boy” caught a 642-pound thresher shark to set a new state record.