A note from Nils Schweizer:
“So I’m pretty novice to fly fishing, my brother Noah got me into it about a year ago, and after a very frustrating beginning, I’m now hooked! I love the challenge, and anything you catch is much more rewarding on the fly.
The most adrenaline I’ve felt from fishing was when I caught a cobia in the ocean from a stand-up paddle board a few years back. Since then, I have always wanted to do it again, and now with the fly, I felt that would be the ultimate! So this year, when I heard from a friend that they were off the beach behind my parent’s house, I had Noah tie me up a fly for cobia, and I went out to try my luck.
After paddling around for about 2 hours and a few close calls with rays, I was about to give up when I spotted what I thought was a shark in the distance. For some excitement, I figured I’d make a cast at the shark, and as he got closer to the fly, my heart dropped; it was a cobia! I gave it one twitch, and it was on! After about a 15-minute battle, I got it close to the board and thought it was ready to land; it was not! I got him on the board, and he went nuts! I tried holding him down, but he was too powerful; he broke my rod, knocked my paddle off the board, and got back into the water, but he was still hooked. With my rod broken and my paddle floating away, I wasn’t sure what to do.
I tried hand-lining him in, but it was impossible to grab him without a net. I got back to my paddle, and as I attempted to paddle while fighting the fish, I saw a boat flying toward me. I waved my paddle to let them know I needed help, and it happened to be my good friend Tupat with his buddy Rob! I couldn’t believe my eyes, perfect timing! I got into their boat and slowly hand-lined him up. After a few attempts with the net, we got him in the boat, and I was elated!
It’s incredible how much emotion fishing can bring out of you when it all comes together. Big thanks to Tupat and Rob for showing up when they did and my brother for tying the magic fly! It was a crazy experience that I will never forget!”
Angler Story of the Week from Nils Schweizer, be sure to check Nils out on Instagram @nilsers.Â
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