Z-Man® lure crushes world record cobia by 40 pounds off Western Australian coast
Ladson, SC (March 5, 2025) – Imagine the reactions if an angler today caught a legit 28-pound largemouth bass.
Now extrapolate the algebra and apply it to an equally impressive, real-life gamefish—a titanic cobia that recently really did shatter a 40-year-old world record, outweighing the current all-tackle cobia by a mind-boggling 40 pounds.
Perhaps equally impressive, the jighead that did the job wrenched the giant from the depths and up to the boat all without giving an inch.
On February 8, working a 1½-ounce (8/0) TT Lures® HeadlockZ HD™ jighead dressed with a 7-inch (Redbone pattern) Z-Man Jerk ShadZ™ in 100 feet of water, Koby Duncan hooked a colossal 175.48-pound cobia twelve nautical miles from Perth, Western Australia on the south side of Rottnest Island. Pending IGFA certification, Duncan’s astonishing catch stands to shatter the current 135-pound all-tackle world record cobia by a sizable margin.
Celebrating a buddy’s birthday, 18-year-old-Duncan and friends boarded Captain Drew Clowes’ Jazz IV, fishing for some of the more common local species, such as pink snapper, yellowtail kingfish and tuna. While jigging the crest of a deepwater reef, Duncan set the hook on something exceedingly heavy. Believing the fish was a big stingray, Captain Clowes urged Duncan, a commercial fisherman by trade, to break the line.
Soon, however, the anglers realized the fish had become entangled in “cabbage weed,” which fooled them into thinking ‘stingray’ rather than a giant gamefish. Equipped with relatively light tackle, including 15 kg (33-pound test) braid, a size 6000 spinning reel and HeadlockZ HD jighead, Duncan “more than maxed out the gear,” according to Clowes.
After leaning hard on his tackle for 10 to 15 minutes, Duncan heaved the mystery fish out of the vegetation, where it ran and screamed drag for another quarter hour. “It was such a heavy fish,” recalled Clowes during an interview with 6PR, Perth Radio “Like four bags of concrete with a tail.
“We had no idea how we’d get it up and into the boat. But Koby kept wrenching on the gear, and I was like, ‘Oh, man, I don’t know what you’re doing.’ But eventually it popped up maybe 30 meters from the boat, and when its head breached, I was a bit baffled, thinking it was the biggest Port Jackson shark head I’d ever seen.”
Near the end of the half-hour battle, the massive cobia made a run parallel to Clowes’ 53-foot Westcoaster, and the anglers made the shocking, positive ID.
“The young fella was going pretty hard on that gear,” notes Clowes. “We were worried the rod would explode. And the (HeadlockZ) jighead did a lot of heavy lifting as well. Just incredible. That’s a young fella, but also a commercial fisherman who’s strong as an ox. He never gave up but was huffing and puffing when the fish finally came aboard.”
(Pictured L-to-R: Capt. Drew Clowes, Koby Duncan and Harley Jarosz)
Designed by Queensland, Australia based TT Lures®, the HeadlockZ HD jighead has built a bulletproof reputation for beating the biggest fish by consistently taming barramundi, giant trevally and other saltwater powerhouses renowned for destroying tackle. In US waters, the same jighead has consistently defeated everything from bull redfish and silver king tarpon to titanic tuna.
“For the past 13 years, we’ve used and come to trust 5- and 7-inch Jerk ShadZ rigged on HeadlockZ HD jigheads during every one of our charter trips,” added Clowes. “We love the durability of the ElaZtech® baits, as well as the jigheads, which get bit by everything that swims and withstands the abuse of big predators.”
“If I had listened to skip and the boys, I probably would have just busted it off,” added Duncan. “That’s the most astonishing thing. How do you bring something like that up and aboard with such light tackle?”
Now awaiting new world record status, Duncan pondered his lifetime catch. “I’m pretty keen to put it on a big wall and mount it, find out how old it is and whatever research the boys want to do with it. That would be pretty interesting to find out. It’s a crazy big fish.”
About Z-Man Fishing Products: A dynamic Charleston, South Carolina based company, Z-Man Fishing Products has melded leading edge fishing tackle with technology for nearly three decades. Creator of the Original ChatterBait®, Z-Man is also the renowned innovators of 10X Tough ElaZtech® superplastics, among the most coveted baits in fresh- and saltwater. Z-Man is one of the fastest-growing lure brands worldwide.
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