On Sunday June 11, Billy Ray Lucas, of Wilson, Capt. Troy Crane and a group of close friends fought their way through a nasty Outer Banks thunderstorm to land a 116.5 pound cobia and earn a N.C. State Record for Lucas. That catch has now been accepted by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) as a World Record in the 80 pound or 37 kilogram line class.
The group was fishing out of Oregon Inlet on Crane’s charter boat Marauder. They were south of the inlet, near Salvo, when the big fish hit and Lucas picked up the rod. It was a location where Lucas and Crane had found several large cobia the previous two days.
Also on boat on the fateful trip were Randy Glenn, Joes Smith, Capt. Vernon Barrington and the Marauder mate, Jeff Floyd. Crane and Lucas had caught several citation-size cobia (45 pounds is the minimum for a cobia citation in N.C.) in the previous days, while Lucas and Glenn had seen a really big fish on Saturday and couldn’t get it to bite.
It took Lucas about 45 minutes to tire the big cobia and lead it to the boat. Floyd gaffed it and then called for help. Barrington grabbed a second gaff, stuck the big fish and helped Floyd drag it into the cockpit. Someone asked how big it might be and Crane guesstimated around 90 pounds.
Barrington, who had recently retired from Operating a charter boat, said he had caught one in the 90’s several years prior and this fish was definitely larger than it. He predicted it as easily surpassing 100 pounds.
Several hours later the cobia tugged the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center scales to 116.5 and the paperwork for the records began. A few days later it was certified as the new NC record and sent to the IGFA seeking a 50 Pound Class record.
The line tested a few pounds above the maximum allowed for the 50 Pound Class but easily fit in the 80 Pound Class. The World Record certificate from the IGFA arrived in October.
Lucas was using a Barefoot Tackle rod, Daiwa spinning reel, 50-pound test Tuff Line by Western Filament, Seaguar fluorocarbon leader and a Fairwaters buck tail jig for the historic catch.
A full story, with all the details of the catch was in the August issue of North Carolina Sportsman Magazine.
