http://www.MS-Sportsman.com April 2015 | Mississippi Sportsman 47
next. About two to three weeks after they start catching them in
Destin, they’ll start showing up here.
“It’s tied in to the vernal equinox — the first day of spring, when
the moon starts pulling currents north, bringing waters up from
the Florida Keys. Usually, the equinox is when we start hearing
about them reaching Destin, and about two weeks later we start
seeing them here. Right after we start seeing the hardheads
(catfish) show up, the cobias come in. You see pecan trees start
blooming, cobia are coming.”
A native of Grenada, about 250 miles north of the Gulf Coast,
McDaniel puts it in a perspective many Mississippi fishermen
already know.
“When you see the dogwoods bloom and the crappie spawn-
ing up in the North Mississippi reservoirs, the cobia will be here
pretty soon,” he said.
This annual migration of cobia, one of two in the Gulf (the other
is from Mexico past Texas to the west side of the Mississippi
River), brings the big fish here to procreate. McDaniel said the
fish like water temperatures of 68 or 69 degrees before they get
in the mood for love.
“They come here to spawn on our sandbars off the barrier
islands,” said McDaniel, who has noticed a slight change in theThe New 1700 Bay by
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