Pollen, turkey opener and cobia limits have me more confused than usual

Remember that old ’60s song by Donovan called “Mellow Yellow?” Since I got up this morning, it just won’t get out of my head. My wife, Karen, is one of those people who can remember all the words to popular songs. But I’m just too stupid to retain things like that. Heck, half of the songs I try to sing along with are butchered beyond belief.

As for “Mellow Yellow,” the lyrics that have been rolling around in my head over and over again are “They call me Mellow Yellow — that’s right.” Can you guess why my odd little mind has me stuck on these seven words? Take a look outside at your car.

All that pollen in the air is nothing new, because every year it happens, but I seriously cannot remember a year that the phenomenon has occurred this early. Just yesterday, I was standing in front of my house and there was so much in the air I couldn’t see the end of my street. I am talking waves upon waves of pollen. I know most of it comes from pines, but this year it has coincided with the oaks dropping their leaves and curly cues along with just about every other plant out there.

It has thrown me off because I rely on these events to tell me when this fish should show up or that fish should start biting. In a nutshell, I am confused, or — better put — more confused than usual.

Even the water temperature is significantly warmer than it normally is at this point in March. Offshore, the wahoo bite has been hot and, oddly enough, even dolphin (mahi-mahi) are being landed. Usually they don’t show up in numbers until much later, so if you are waiting to organize a Gulf Stream trip, I suggest hopping to it. Inshore, trout are starting to chew, though many are small. But that alone tells me just about every type of fishing is going to be early this year.

Switching over to turkey talk, I guarantee all these warm days have gobblers a-gobbling. I messed up a couple of columns ago stating that turkey season began on March 15; this year, they changed it to March 20. I want to offer my deepest apologies if you listened to a lame brain like me and got popped for hunting out of season. I would offer to pay your fine, but unfortunately all I have is a bag full of pennies that I have picked up in convenience store parking lots.

I know I’m wandering all over the place this week, so I might as well make it a real mess by bringing up the “c” word. Cobia. Got your attention now, don’t I?

I get asked a lot of questions about fishing around here and nearly without exception, cobia end up dominating the conversation. Sure, they are cool fish, but nobody gave a hoot about cobia until about 10 or 12 years ago. Now when I bring up cobia, I feel like I am in the crosshairs of a sniper, especially if I express my opinions on limits.

So that my house doesn’t get firebombed, it wasn’t me that changed the rules on cobia this year; it was DNR and the National Marine Fisheries. I have always thought the limits were too liberal, especially after cobia became what seemed the only fish anyone ever wanted to catch. So here’s the skinny as I have been told.

During May, no cobia may be kept in waters that extend from around Edisto south to the Georgia state line, and that includes state waters out to 3 miles offshore. In months other than May, only one cobia per person and no more than three per boat are allowed. Further offshore in federal waters, cobia season will close on June 20 and no fish may be harvested for the remainder of the year.

I hate to say I saw this coming, so I won’t. The only suggestion I will make is this: Keep one or two fish and release the rest, especially the bigger females. Unless we start practicing catch and release, I am betting that the season will close earlier and earlier each year.

They call me Mellow Yellow … That’s right, they call me ...

This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Pollen, turkey opener and cobia limits have me more confused than usual."