Cobia

[grasscarp]

Does anybody remember when the Cobia start heading up our way? We caught a couple last year at the end of May.(remember that Roadtrip?) Do they move earlier than that?

[Tom Keels]

Mid to late April with the water temps we had with the cold winter.

[grasscarp]

Thanks Tom

[BayGator]

First cobe of the year for the Pensacola area was caught this morning off the pier. 37 lbs.

http://www.pensacolafishingforum.com/fi ... -24-1.aspx


I am counting the days until I can chunk a jig or eel at one!!!!!

[culrich]

One was caught yesterday out of Destin, weighed in at 42#.

[big bend gyrene]

As Littoral proved last year, there's likely been a few swimming around even since late February... but Tom's right, they'll start getting caught more regularly in April and once the really warm weather starts rolling in around May they'll get thicker than fleas One of the key species I target though I usually limit myself to keeping one or two in the freezer per year, filling rest of the space up with grouper and redfish I keep from time to time. Really excited this year as I got a cobia tagging kit and will be tagging as many as possible.

[Seminolefish]

This might sounds stupid...but what is a common method for catching Cobia? I have flats fished for over 10 years, but never caught a Cobia.Its on my to do list this Summer...I often fish out of Aucilla, and occasionally St. Marks.

I plan on getting an early start this fishing season with my new 15 foot Key West, but are there any helpful tips other than the obvious (Pinfish, eels, bucktails, look for rays & sharks, water breaks etc.) when going for Cobia? Thanks for any help!

[big bend gyrene]

Seminolefish... if only could share one word it would be... structure. They like it. Bouy markers, birdracks, offshore reefs all prime spots.

You can occasionally catch them pretty darn close to the grassline inshore but I've had better luck getting the bigger ones with a little deeper water (say maybe five to six feet on out) ... now this said, whether inshore, midshore, or offshore, keeping one pinfish floating at all times behind you is a darn good strategy for catching any cruising by. But if you want almost guaranteed results, structure will be your friend. They may not be on the structure when you first arrive but hang around with a pinfish near the structure and it's just a matter of time.
BBG