Koby Conquers Cobia

Z-Man® lure crushes world document cobia by 40 kilos off Western Australian coast

Ladson, SC (March 5, 2025) – Think about the reactions if an angler in the present day caught a legit 28-pound largemouth bass.

Now extrapolate the algebra and apply it to an equally spectacular, real-life gamefish—a titanic cobia that just lately actually did shatter a 40-year-old world document, outweighing the present all-tackle cobia by a mind-boggling 40 kilos.

Maybe equally spectacular, the jighead that did the job wrenched the large from the depths and as much as the boat all with out giving an inch.

On February 8, working a 1½-ounce (8/0) TT Lures® HeadlockZ HD™ jighead dressed with a 7-inch (Redbone sample) Z-Man Jerk ShadZ™ in 100 ft of water, Koby Duncan hooked a colossal 175.48-pound cobia twelve nautical miles from Perth, Western Australia on the south aspect of Rottnest Island. Pending IGFA certification, Duncan’s astonishing catch stands to shatter the present 135-pound all-tackle world document cobia by a large margin.

Celebrating a buddy’s birthday, 18-year-old-Duncan and pals boarded Captain Drew Clowes’ Jazz IV, fishing for a few of the extra frequent native species, akin to pink snapper, yellowtail kingfish and tuna. Whereas jigging the crest of a deepwater reef, Duncan set the hook on one thing exceedingly heavy. Believing the fish was an enormous stingray, Captain Clowes urged Duncan, a industrial fisherman by commerce, to interrupt the road. 

Quickly, nonetheless, the anglers realized the fish had grow to be entangled in “cabbage weed,” which fooled them into considering ‘stingray’ fairly than a large gamefish. Geared up with comparatively mild deal with, together with 15 kg (33-pound check) braid, a measurement 6000 spinning reel and HeadlockZ HD jighead, Duncan “greater than maxed out the gear,” based on Clowes.

After leaning arduous on his deal with for 10 to fifteen minutes, Duncan heaved the thriller fish out of the vegetation, the place it ran and screamed drag for an additional quarter hour. “It was such a heavy fish,” recalled Clowes throughout an interview with 6PR, Perth Radio “Like 4 luggage of concrete with a tail.

“We had no thought how we’d get it up and into the boat. However Koby saved wrenching on the gear, and I used to be like, ‘Oh, man, I don’t know what you’re doing.’ However finally it popped up possibly 30 meters from the boat, and when its head breached, I used to be a bit baffled, considering it was the most important Port Jackson shark head I’d ever seen.”

Close to the tip of the half-hour battle, the large cobia made a run parallel to Clowes’ 53-foot Westcoaster, and the anglers made the surprising, constructive ID.

“The younger fella was going fairly arduous on that gear,” notes Clowes. “We had been fearful the rod would explode. And the (HeadlockZ) jighead did loads of heavy lifting as nicely. Simply unimaginable. That’s a younger fella, but additionally a industrial fisherman who’s sturdy as an ox. He by no means gave up however was huffing and puffing when the fish lastly got here aboard.”

Designed by Queensland, Australia primarily based TT Lures®, the HeadlockZ HD jighead has constructed a bulletproof fame for beating the most important fish by constantly taming barramundi, large trevally and different saltwater powerhouses famend for destroying deal with.  In US waters, the identical jighead has constantly defeated every part from bull redfish and silver king tarpon to titanic tuna.

“For the previous 13 years, we’ve used and are available to belief 5- and 7-inch Jerk ShadZ rigged on HeadlockZ HD jigheads throughout each one in every of our constitution journeys,” added Clowes. “We love the sturdiness of the ElaZtech® baits, in addition to the jigheads, which get bit by every part that swims and withstands the abuse of huge predators.”

“If I had listened to skip and the boys, I in all probability would have simply busted it off,” added Duncan. “That’s probably the most astonishing factor. How do you carry one thing like that up and aboard with such mild deal with?”

Now awaiting new world document standing, Duncan contemplated his lifetime catch. “I’m fairly eager to place it on an enormous wall and mount it, learn how outdated it’s and no matter analysis the boys need to do with it. That may be fairly attention-grabbing to search out out. It’s a loopy massive fish.” 

About Z-Man Fishing Merchandise: A dynamic Charleston, South Carolina primarily based firm, Z-Man Fishing Merchandise has melded forefront fishing deal with with expertise for almost three a long time. Creator of the Authentic ChatterBait®, Z-Man can also be the famend innovators of 10X Powerful ElaZtech® superplastics, among the many most coveted baits in fresh- and saltwater. Z-Man is likely one of the fastest-growing lure manufacturers worldwide.