[piano intro] - That is what we came for, let me get all the baits in.

- Oh, my goodness.

Yeah, get all the stuff outta here.

We gotta be ready for this, if he makes a run for the Inlet.

- Okay, I'll release the... - We should be good right now though, 'cause he's headin' out that way.

- Anchor, - If we need to.

- This is a nice one here, Walker.

Ooh!

- [Walker] That is a pretty cobia right there.

- Yeah, it is.

We shoulda brought a pitch bait but I was so fired-up and I had the bait in my hand, I just dropped it right behind the motor and he sucked it right up!

It's like throwin' a Pringle at him.

(laughing) - [male announcer]: The production of Carolina Outdoor Journal is made possible in part by: - [female announcer]: The North Carolina Wildlife Rescources Commission.

A fishing license goes a long way towards wildlife conservation in North Carolina.

Over 38,000 miles of managed streams and rivers, and 250,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs.

- [male announcer]: And by EZ Bait and Tackle, family owned and operated.

We fish from fresh to saltwater.

We provide fishing supplies and ad vice to every type of angler.

For all your fishing needs, EZ Bait and Tackle.

And by contributions from PBS NC vi ewers like you.

[light instrumental music] ♪ - Hello, and welcome to the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

Well, today's program we're gonna be fishin' with our good friend, Captain Stu Caulder, and Joe, we're gonna be looking for some spring cobia today.

- That's right, we're gonna go down to Masonboro Inlet, Wrightsville Beach, and set up anchor right outside the Inlet and we'll be lookin for cobia.

Cobia are moving up the coast, which they do every spring, it's a spring migration that we see up our coast, and the guys down in Wilmington get 'em first 'cause they're moving up the coast.

So, we're gonna be using fresh bait, as fresh as you can get it, and we caught the bait that morning, and ended up catching some pretty cobia.

- Now Captain Stu, he's gonna give us a lot of good information in Geartime today.

- Right, he'll break down the tackle, how they rigged up for 'em.

Again, we're fishing live bait, fresh bait today, and that's what it takes, and he knows where to set up for 'em, and so he'll go over the equipment today.

- And our recipe today, scallops.

- Good tasty scallops.

If you like scallops, tune in today, Donna's got a new scallop recipe.

- All right, let's head on down to Wrightsville Beach here today on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

- [Voiceover] Stu, we just dropped the boat in at Wrightsville Beach and we're tryin' to find some bait for a day of cobia fishin'.

- [Stu] Yeah, we're gonna start out here, it's late May.

We're gonna start out here, you're gonna find some nice fresh menhaden.

We're just gonna kinda cruise the waterways a little bit, I found some bait up here in front of us where we're going right now, yesterday.

And we're just gonna look for some good fresh bait, throw 'em in the live well and head out there and hopefully pick a bit of cobia off.

- Well, it's late spring like this and the cobia are really startin' to show up good, you've had a couple of great days with fish this week, and we're hopin' for a great day today.

- There's some big ones out there, we caught some in the 60s, you know most of the fish are gonna probably be in the 30s, hopefully.

A lot easier to get in.

But there's some 60s out there and I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a bigger one swimmin' around this place, too.

- Well, I hope so.

- I know, that'll be nice.

- It's a beautiful day for it.

- Yeah, I wanna see you grab one with Boga Grip.

- I'm gonna try, I'm gonna try.

Now, let's find some bait.

- [Stu] It should be right up here.

All right Walker, what I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna ease over there with the trolling motor, try to be nice and quiet.

- [Walker] Okay.

- That way I can get right up on 'em, hopefully we can make just one cast, get plenty of bait, and be ready to roll for the day.

- [Walker] Be ready to go.

- [Stu] You don't want to have to throw these nets too many time.

- [Walker] No, that's the truth.

- [Stu] They're not very fun.

All right, look at 'em out there.

(net splashing) - [Walker] Oh, yeah.

- [Stu] Go get 'em big boy.

- [Walker] Yes, yes I see 'em.

- See 'em flashin'?

- [Walker] Flashin' in the net - [Stu] Oh yeah, here we go.

Good Lord, we're gonna be dumpin' these.

Oh my God!

- [Walker] Oh look at that net - [Walker] Full of bait!

(laughs) - [Stu] Well, we got plenty of bait.

- [Walker] Yes, I'll say.

(Stu grunting) I'll say.

- [Stu] That's how we wanna do it.

Now, I'm not gonna dump all these out, Walker.

- [Walker] Yeah, 'cause that's-- - [Stu] 'Cause we're not gonna need 'em all.

- [Walker] That's way more than we need.

- [Stu] Try to get some of 'em back in there.

- [Walker] That's enough, that's enough.

- [Stu] Now I'll work on gettin' these guys, yes it is.

All right, swim little pogies.

All right, buddy.

- [Walker] Let's get the first bait in the water.

- [Stu] Let's drop 'em out.

- [Walker] Let's do it.

- [Stu] Let's see here, which one do we want here?

Oh, here's a nice big one.

- [Walker] There ya go.

- [Stu] All right, let's get this one out there.

And all we do is just go right in one nostril, right out the other.

- [Walker] Excellent, there ya go.

- And just let it ride!

Let's get him on the bottom.

Get him straight and organized.

Got get 'em, big boy.

One right over there.

And Walker, we're fishin' circle hooks today, okay?

- That's the best thing, we're gonna release all these fish, the circle hooks enable us to release a fish without harmin' 'em at all.

- [Stu] And I'm gonna have the drags set fairly firm so that when he picks 'em up, it's ready to roll.

The rod's just gonna bend, all ya gotta do is pick it up, and he's gonna be hooked, and the drag's gonna be set.

- Great, and we're gonna fish one or two on the bottom, a couple that we have on float rigs so that they can get out away from the boat.

And then we're gonna have a couple of pitch baits ready in case we get a cobia come up around the boat.

Occasionally, you'll just look down and they'll be hanging right in the shadow of the boat.

And havin' a pitch bait ready to go to those fish will usually get you a hook up.

- [Stu] Let's get a little spread out here.

See what we can get.

What ya got on there, a blue?

- [Walker] Little bluefish, little bluefish.

- That's all right, they'll get outta here and what'll happen is is you'll get blue, blue, blue'd and all of a sudden they'll kinda ease up on the bite, and then a couple a cobias just swung up in here.

You need a pair of pliers to get that off?

- [Walker] I need some luck!

- To grab a hold of it.

- [Walker] Circle hooks, it's a little springtime bluefish.

- Well, right on.

Let me get, oop, there he goes.

That mighta been a fish right there.

- [Walker] The bluefish are here.

- [Stu] Yeah they are.

- [Walker] In force.

- [Walker] But that's the important thing about havin' lots of good fresh bait, we can change these things out when the bluefish'll eat 'em, and then the cobia will show.

- [Stu] That's right.

There ya go, get you a bait.

And you'll know when a cobia's on, 'cause it'll just bend on over, a whole stop bend and-- - [Walker] You'll know.

Hot dog, hot dog!

- [Stu] There he goes.

- [Walker] All right, I'm gonna get these other lines in.

- Come on, big fella.

He doesn't feel like he's a giant one.

Ooh!

Come on up here.

Okay, he's kinda goin' towards the anchor run.

Let's see what we got here, I think he came off of it.

Yeah, he's off of it.

I don't think he's a big 'ol giant one.

It wouldn't be bad for a first fish of the day.

He isn't big, but he is a cobia.

Now we just need about a 50-pounder.

- [Walker] Now, look and see if there's anybody swimmin' with him.

- [Stu] I don't see anybody with him, but I'm gonna kinda let him sit there for a second.

- [Walker] Pitch bait ready to go if we need to.

- [Stu] It's a little one.

But, where there's little ones, there's probably some big ones, God!

For a small one, he's still pullin' good.

(fish splashing) He is definitely not a giant.

- [Walker] Just tell me when you're ready.

- [Stu] Let's give him just a second, you know how rowdy they are.

- [Walker] Green cobia will run around the boat.

- [Stu] You could probably Boga Grip him and get him out pretty fairly easy, he seems to be... Now that's 80 pounds, so that shouldn't cut your fingers down there on the bottom.

- [Walker] Well, that's not a bad little cobia.

- [Stu] He's a start.

- [Walker] He's a start.

- [Walker] How 'bout reachin' down and releasin' that circle hook?

- [Stu] Where there's - [Stu] Little ones, hopefully there's a 50 or 80-pounder down there somewhere now.

I'll take him for a first start, at least he's a cobia.

- [Walker] That's the truth.

That's what we came for.

- [Stu] Let's see if we can get us a big one now.

- [Walker] I think he's ready to go.

There he goes, right under the boat!

- [Stu] Right on!

- [Walker] Good job, Captain Stu!

- We got a little one.

- [Walker] Good way to start, good way to start.

- Now we need a giant.

- [Walker] That's right, that's right.

- I keep hearin' about gettin' big ones up on the Outer Banks and you know, I wanna get one of them big 80-pounders.

- [Walker] We know they're here.

- They're here somewhere.

- [Walker] Let's get the baits back in the water.

(whimsical orchestral music) - [Walker] Right behind the boat and ate that pogie.

That is a big cobia right there.

- This is what we were lookin' for.

- [Walker] That is what we came for, let me get all the baits in.

- Oh my goodness, yeah, get all that stuff outta here.

We gotta be ready for this if he makes a run for the Inlet.

- [Walker] Okay, I'll release the... - [Stu] We should be good right now though, 'cause he's headin' out that way.

- [Walker] Anchor - [Walker] If we need to.

(fishing rod spinning) - This is a nice one here, Walker.

Ooh!

- [Walker] That is a pretty cobia right there.

- We shoulda brought a pitch bait but I was so fired-up and I had the bait in my hand, I just dropped it right behind the motor and he sucked it right up!

It's like throwin' a Pringle at him.

(laughing) - [Walker] And so many times they will come in right under the boat like that, and all of a sudden they appear right in behind the boat, just like this time.

- This is a nice one too, Walker.

- Well, I'm gonna get comfortable because you're gonna be here a while, with a big fish like that.

- I got a feelin'.

- [Walker] Okay Stu, I think I've got all the gear stowed, and you're free and clear.

- [Stu] All right.

I'm jut gonna, he seems to be doin' real well, the only thing we're gonna have to be careful of is if he runs for the Inlet, just throw that anchor rope over him, and we'll go chase him.

He's doin' real good right now, he's wantin' to stay out here in all this sand.

- Just let me get this net out from under your feet.

- [Stu] Oh yeah.

- [Walker] If he takes off for the Inlet, I'll release that anchor.

- [Stu] Look at him down here - [Stu] Walker, you can see him, he's right here behind the boat.

- [Walker] That is a big cobia right there, look at that fish!

That is a pretty cobia!

- [Stu] I don't think we need to bring him in the boat right yet though, Walker.

- [Walker] I think he's a little green.

- I think he is, the hook's right in the corner though.

Walker, if we bring him in, throw him in the front and get to the back!

(laughing) Okay?

I wish he'd kinda run out and get some of that feistiness outta him.

Hey, I've got a net up there in the front if you wanna stick his head in that net, Walker.

- I think we might ought to 'cause the Boga has popped out twice.

- Let's get the net, it's up in the front underneath your bags up there, Walker.

- [Walker] Okay, and I'll slip his head in that net.

- [Stu] And we can slip - [Stu] His head in and lift him right in.

Now what I'll do, Walker, is I'll do a loop and stuff his head as far back in that thing as we can, okay?

- [Walker] And then I'm just gonna lift him up.

- [Stu] And then just lift him right in.

- [Walker] And hang on!

- [Stu] Yeah.

- [Walker] All right.

- All right, here we go.

All right, I'm gonna get some speed up and just put his head right in there.

- [Walker] All right.

- [Stu] There ya go, we got him.

- [Walker] We got him, we got him.

All right Stu, ya ready?

- [Stu] Yeah, man.

- [Walker] Let's pull this guy, ugh!

- [Stu] There he is.

- [Walker] That is a pretty cobia.

- [Stu] How big you think he is, Walker?

- [Walker] Probably what, 40?

- [Stu] 40, 45 somewhere in there?

- [Walker] Yeah, somethin' like that.

- [Stu] Look at the size of this tail!

- [Walker] Now, if he all of a sudden doesn't like bein' takin' outta the water, we're gonna right out the back with him.

- [Stu] And ya gotta watch those.

- [Walker] Yeah, he has got spines and they will beat ya up!

- [Stu] He's got a set - [Stu] Of spines on his back right there.

All right Walker, you be careful now buddy.

- [Walker] Okay, just like that.

Okay, bye-bye.

- [Stu] See ya, Mr. Cobia!

Quick release, thank you!

All right!

(laughs) - [Walker] Good job, partner!

- [Stu] Right on!

- [Walker] Fantastic!

- [Stu] That's perfect, that was a perfect release, he didn't break nothin' in the boat and he's back in the water.

- No, quick and easy.

And that's what we came for.

- [Stu] Yeah, stoked!

- [Walker] Good job, good job.

- All right, I'm gonna kinda keep control of the boat, you tell me what we need to do here.

If we need to move, you move.

- I think, I think, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

- We saw that fish swimmin'.

- And pitched a bait right to him and he ate.

- Ya gotta love it when you sight fish 'em.

- [Walker] We had to come right inside the Inlet here to keep up with him, like you were sayin' the other day.

'Cause a lot of times those fish'll hit and go right around that wall and you've got to pick up your anchor, or drop your anchor, and go get him.

- Had to drop it and come get him, and here we are!

I got everything tucked away over here on the right hand side, so it's as compact as it's gonna get.

- There he is, we got color, we got color.

We got color, he comes to the surface right here.

- [Stu] Nice cobia.

- Get down and dirty with him.

- He's not a giant but he is, he is the target species.

- He's just what we're lookin' for.

- Just what we want.

Especially on that little spinnin' rod, that's a lot of fun on that thing.

Just let me know what you need me to do now.

- [Walker] Down and dirty.

(fishing reel spinning) Okay.

He just took back all the gains.

- [Stu] All right.

Walker, what a great day we're havin', I can't believe it.

- What a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day.

- Beautiful water, nice and warm and sunny.

- Short little pumps.

- And cobias!

- Short little pumps will get him up off the bottom.

Except when he's goin' towards the bottom.

- He doesn't wanna come off the bottom.

(laughs) All right!

- Now I'm just puttin' a tiny little bit of added pressure with my hand, but not too much.

Okay, I'm gonna spin him around to ya, nice job, Stu!

- [Stu] Yeah!

- [Walker] Nice job!

- [Walker] Yes sir!

- [Stu] All right!

- [Walker] Yes sir.

Got him loosened up.

- [Stu] Okay, you ready?

- [Walker] Yeah, here's my pliers.

- [Stu] All right, let me hold it, I think we can get the hook out of him.

All right now you be careful, if he goes nuts-- - [Walker] I'm just gonna let him go over.

- [Stu] Right over the side.

- [Walker] All right, all right.

- [Stu] There we go.

- [Walker] And that - [Walker] Is a nice little cobia.

That is a good, fun, fun fish.

We had a perfect day, what a perfect day, Stu.

- [Stu] Look at that big 'ol broad tail on him.

- I know, what a pretty fish.

Let's set him back in the water.

Okay, buddy.

And I think he'll be fine, obviously he'll be just fine.

- [Stu] All right!

- Thank you, thank you Captain Stu.

- [Stu] Thank you, man I love it!

- You never cease to amaze me findin' fish.

- [Stu] Cobias, too!

- That's perfect, that's perfect.

- Good job man!

- Joe, that was a good day, some class fish.

- Yeah, we had a really nice one and then a couple smaller fish.

And they did not plan to keep 'em that day, so it was all a catch and release morning for us, but that cobia is quite a fighter.

One of, I think, one of our sportier fish on the coast, and again, we get 'em every spring.

They're coming up from Florida, moving up the coast, and so it's probably a two or three week window of opportunity, and the guys down south around Wilmington get 'em first as they move up.

Really good on the table, and good on the rod.

- The right equipment and the right fresh bait, let's find out more, let's go to Geartime.

(mellow orchestral music) - Stu, we're just inside the Inlet here at Wrightsville Beach, Masonboro Inlet, and we've had a great day of cobia fishin'.

And one of the things that's nice about cobia fishin' in late May, it's the last day of May, you never know what you're gonna catch.

We caught sharks, we caught a ray, we had a king mackerel, but we caught some cobia.

- [Stu] That's right, you never know what's gonna swim up, the water temps have just jumped up, the baits are movin' down the beach and the cobias are followin' 'em right down the beach.

- We were anchored up right off of the jetty, and one of the things about cobia fishin' is that you really need to cover the entire water column, from the surface all the way to the bottom, and that's what we did with these rigs we were usin'.

- [Stu] That's right, and most of our bottom baits that we used today, I used a Quantum Cabo 20, CLW20, paired it with a nice Quantum Cabo rod.

And we used the baitcasters on the bottom just because they give you a little more leverage.

If you get a real big one, you gotta be able to put the heat on 'em a little bit.

And you were usin' the same, but you were usin' a spinnin' reel, a Quantum Cabo reel, and it frees you up for your pitch baits and our Float rods.

- And it's important to have a pitch bait ready 'cause a lot of times these fish will come right up behind the boat and we had, the largest fish we caught today came right up off the stern of the boat, and we had a bait ready to pitch to him, and he ate it and he was on.

- He was two feet behind the back of the prop, and you gotta watch out for that 'cause these fish will, they'll come right up to the shade of your boat if you're anchored up.

A lot of times you'll be lookin' over the fish and they'll be right tucked up under the edge of your boat.

- We're releasin' all these fish today.

We're usin' circle hooks, that's the best thing to use, it catches 'em right in the corner of the mouth, it makes it easy to take the hook out and release the fish unharmed, you certainly don't wanna hook these down deep.

And to land the fish we kinda thought briefly about usin' a Boga Grip on that bigger fish, but abandoned that idea pretty quick and went to a landing net, and that proved to be the best way to quickly get him in, unhook him and release him.

- [Stu] Well you can get him in the net, you can control the fish when you get him on the boat, that's a big thing with a cobia.

If you bring a cobia in the boat green, and put him in the front of your boat, he's gonna go nuts and he's probably going to end up breakin' your rods and all kinds of stuff.

Don't bring a green cobia in the boat, at least with a net you can kinda pin him into an area when he's wrapped up in the net.

- Well, it was a terrific day, you can't ask for a prettier day, you can't ask for a prettier way to spend your afternoon.

- Yeah man, pretty blue water.

Nice pretty blue sky and get to hang out with a good friend and catch some fish!

- I appreciate you puttin' me on the fish again.

- Man anytime, anytime.

- [Walker] Thanks, thanks.

- Thanks fellas for that valuable information.

Now, Captain Stu's number's there on your television, if you'd like to give him a call, I promise you, you'll have a great day on the water.

Now, let's catch up with Donna, she's in the kitchen, she's got a recipe today usin' scallops.

(whimsical orchestral music) - Hi, today in the kitchen we're making a scallop gratins, and this is a wonderful recipe.

It goes together quick and easy, and it smells amazing!

It's one of those that you can make most of it ahead of time, and so then you can put it together right at the last minute if you're having guests, or if you have some time during the day and you wanna partially prep it, and then put it together right before you eat, this is what you can do.

So, we're going to take our food processor, and you can use a food processor or you can use a blender, or you can use a hand mixer, depending on what you have.

And I have some garlic already minced in my bowl.

And then we're gonna take three tablespoons of butter that's softened.

And then some either bacon, or you can use ham, you can use country ham, you can use prosciutto, whatever you might have, somethin' a little salty.

We're going to add in parsley.

Some shallots.

And a little bit of freshly-squeezed lemon juice.

A little salt and pepper.

Then we're gonna turn this on, and we're gonna process it.

(food processor whirring) Until it's nice and smooth.

And then as it's processing we're going to add our olive oil through here, kind of like if you're making homemade mayonnaise, you're just gonna keep it processing and a slow drip to go through.

So, we're gonna do that for just a minute.

(food processor whirring) And you're gonna continue that until it's nice and moistened, I'm not gonna continue that, I think you get it.

Then we're gonna pull it out, we're gonna add in about a fourth a cup of Panko breadcrumbs, which is something you can buy in the international section of the grocery store, or in your baking section where all the other cornmeal and that kinda thing is, and it's gonna add some nice crunch to the topping of this.

So to put this together, this is what it looks like when it's all ready to go.

So, we have our Panko in here and all of our mixture is all mixed together and ready to go on top of our scallops.

So we're gonna add some wine, some white wine to the bottom of our little dishes here.

And then we're going to place our scallops in here.

In each of 'em, and then we're gonna top it with our mixture, and you just kinda dollop it on top.

And then we're gonna bake this at 425 for about 12 minutes, depending on what size scallops you have.

If you use a bay scallop, it's gonna be about 12 minutes, if you use a bigger sea scallop, it's probably gonna be more like 15 minutes, you just kinda have to judge based on the size of your scallops.

So, we're gonna top this.

And then we're going to, like I said, bake it for about 12 to 15 minutes at 425 degrees, until it's nice and brown and golden.

And if you want to make it a little bit crispier or crunchier, you can put it underneath the broiler for two to three minutes, just to brown up the top if you like.

Squeeze a little bit of fresh lemon on top of it, and you're ready to go.

So, I hope you like the scallops gratin, and I look forward to seein' you next time here on Simple Cooking.

- Thanks Donna for that recipe, that recipe and a whole lot more you'll find 'em in our cookbook, look for it online.

Let's go back down to Wrightsville Beach.

Joe, the cobia, sporty fish.

- Very sporty and one of the tastiest we have in our coastal waters.

But goin' back to the sportiness, you really need to have the good tackle that Stu was talkin' about, Stout Tackle.

They're strong fish, even the smaller fish, as could see, they had their hands full.

You get into that bigger class, that 50-plus pound fish, you really have your hands full.

But very tasty on the table.

A lot of people will steak 'em up and put 'em on the grill, but it's a fish that you can count on every spring.

And the fish'll move in, depending on water temperature, during the month of May and into June, early June, and then we'll have cobia throughout the summer, they love to hang out around buoys.

You go to a buoy and look down and you'll see sometimes three, four, five hangin' around a buoy.

But again, tasty, sporty and one of our better fish on the coast.

- Another good day in North Carolina.

- Absolutely.

- For Joe Albea, I'm John Moore, we thank you for joining us today on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

- [male announcer]: And make sure to visit our website for more information.

- [male announcer]: The production of Carolina Outdoor Journal is made possible in part by: - [female announcer]: The North Carolina Wildlife Rescources Commission.

A fishing license goes a long way towards wildlife conservation in North Carolina.

Over 38,000 miles of managed streams and rivers, and 250,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs.

- [male announcer]: And by EZ Bait and Tackle, family owned and operated.

We fish from fresh to saltwater.

We provide fishing supplies and ad vice to every type of angler.

For all your fishing needs, EZ Bait and Tackle.

And by contributions from PBS NC vi ewers like you.

[light instrumental music] ♪