This video is a lot of fun. Every winter and early spring, cobia crowd the nearshore waters of Florida and Texas before making their annual run toward the mouth of the Mississippi River. Fishing them is extremely popular among anglers with everything from flat boats up to cabin cruisers because the fish are a blast to catch and even better to eat.



Some towns even host cobia tournaments that seek to maximize participation during the heart of the run. In hopes of winning, many anglers climb tuna towers and order casting directions to anglers on the decks below.



Maybe they should all just anchor up and bring in the bull sharks.



That's how Joshua Jorgensen does it in this video. The host of BlacktipH tags along with fitness celebrity Layne Norton in hopes of drawing in some cobia, and they succeed in spades.



The anglers chum with some cut bonito to draw in the sharks, and then use the carcass as a tease bait. About a dozen sharks show up, and as each attempts to eat the carcass, the anglers pull it away to keep the fish in a frenzy. The technique is designed to make the cobia hanging below believe they're missing out on the buffet and come to the surface to share in the feast.



About four minutes into the video, the strategy works, and the anglers eventually are covered up with what Louisiana locals call lemonfish or ling.



After some near misses, the anglers begin to connect on the fish, which allows Norton to demonstrate he's much better with dumbbells than a gaff.



If this doesn't get you excited for summertime fishing just off the Louisiana coast, you're obviously a golfer.

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Todd Masson can be reached at tmasson@nola.com or 504.232.3054.

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