FishRook
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has confirmed that Emma Zajdel, 9, of Ocean City, has set a new state fishing record with a 94.6-pound cobia.
Emma and her father, Ed, were fishing with Robert Clark and Emma’s best fishing friend, Ashton Clark, near Little Gull Shoals about a mile and a half east of Assateague Island on June 30, hoping to catch some bluefish.
They were trolling two lines off their boat near what appeared to be breaking blues when a line went tight. Robert took the rod from the rail and handed it to Emma, who had a fighting belt on, just in case. No sooner had she set the rod in place than the fish took off, and Emma set the hook.
“At first, we thought it was a shark, and the line was going out.” Emma said. “I could hear the reel and the drag and I thought I could go over the side.”
The battle lasted about 20 minutes.
Ed said, “I kept the boat in gear and followed the fish at a 45-degree angle to keep the line tight and Emma settled. When she got…
