89-Pound Cobia Shatters Delaware Record

A Delaware angler who had never caught a cobia before this summer made his first one count in a big way, hooking an 89-pounder that shattered the existing state record by 10 pounds.

- Steven Hill

Scott Brooks, of Hockessin, was headed back to Indian River Inlet Marina after a morning jigging for bluefin tuna 30 miles offshore when he spied school of bunker swimming a couple of miles off the beach.

Brooks and his boatmates, who included his cousin Jesse Coulbourn and brother-in-law Andrew Farach, had cut short their offshore outing because of approaching weather. With the storm past and the baitfish swarming, they decided to stop and cast to the edges of the massive schools to see what they could turn up.

Brooks grabbed a Penn Spinfisher VI rod rigged for bluefin, tied on a bucktail jig, and pitched it out, demonstrating his jigging technique to Farach, a less-experienced angler.