Three anglers came to catch fish off the shore of Hilton Head. So did the bull shark

Last week while fishing with Kentuckian George Norton and his son, we had one of those rare events in nature that had I blinked, I surely might have missed it.

It was hot as blazes, the ocean was a sheet of glass and it was the inaugural trip offshore aboard George’s new boat. Not quite sure of the range on this new ride, we played it safe by heading to the Hilton Head Tire Reef located about 12 miles off the island.

When we got there, we used live menhaden and king mackerel rigs as we slowly bump trolled around various structures. But other than some big Spanish mackerel, the bite was pretty slow.

Sweating to beat the band, I suggested we pick up and run to the Betsy Ross Artificial Reef some ten miles north for two reasons. Maybe the bite was better there and, just as important, we could revel in the breeze as I pegged the throttle.

But it was a dead zone.

Gone were the usual schools of bait flickering on the surface and quite frankly, any sign of life at all. Then I noticed huge schools of Spanish mackerel slashing through bait balls just inshore of us and with nothing to lose, decided to head toward them and slow troll around the frantic mackerel. Maybe we could catch a king mackerel or two. No sooner had I put out three lines when all three rods bent double.

I thought they were kings or big Spanish, but all three were cobia, an oddity this late in the season.

As George and his son brought the cobia alongside I saw two huge shapes emerge under them. They were bull sharks that had to be in the 200-300 lb. range.

Cobia often follow large sharks, sting rays and manta rays but out there where we were, they are generally massive tiger sharks or great hammerheads, some around 14’ in length and Lord knows how many pounds.

After releasing the cobia, out went more baited lines and once again all three rods were hooked up to cobia.

Since I rarely reel in fish, George and his son worked on two of the fish while the third fish peeled off line and stayed on the surface.

In the blink of an eye, I saw that cobia fly out of the water with one of the bull sharks right on his tail. Talk about wild kingdom - it was slashing teeth and white water flying in all directions as the cobia did its best zig-zagging left, then right, to avoid being eaten.

In all the times I have caught cobia around large sharks, this was the first time I have seen the shark go after one.

Known for a notorious bad temper and aggressiveness, bull sharks have been implicated in the majority of all shark attacks on humans. As I watched this drama between one of the bull sharks and that poor cobia go on, I can now attest to their bad temperament. After the other cobia were brought in and released, George grabbed the rod with the unlucky cobia attached and reeled it in.

I thought it would probably be only half a cobia, but the only damage done was that half of one of its pectoral fins was gone. Ther cobia did have a wild look in its eyes.

We stopped catching cobia after eight or nine were brought in and released.

On the way in, I couldn’t get over the fact that all those cobia were here this late in the year. Just as odd was that they were hanging out with schools of Spanish mackerel. I wish I had gotten pictures of this awesome battle but it happened too fast and we all were so enthralled watching it that a camera was the last thing on our minds.

I can’t tell you how many dramas of live and death I have witnessed. I am a watcher.

I witnessed another battle two months ago involving an osprey and a redfish. The fish was much too big for the osprey and the bird’s talons got stuck in the redfish’s back. The osprey was unable to let go. I watched that redfish drag that osprey around for a good five minutes, almost drowning it, before it was able to get lose and fly away.

Look right, look left, look up, look down because sooner or later, one of these amazing struggles in nature will come your way.

Whether you are able to capture it on film or not, I promise it will stay with you for the rest of your life.

This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 12:39 PM.