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Tackle for cobia

18K views 35 replies 12 participants last post by  NC KingFisher 
#1 ·
Friend of mine brought his boat down to his beach house in frisco and one of the things he would like to do is cast for cobia
whats a good rod and reel and what line




9
 
#2 ·
Penn 750, 850 950ss(made in america) ssm's will work but made in china, larger penn battle and feirce spinning reels, any decent reel with atleast 250 yards of 15 for off the boat. Anywhere from 8 to as heavy as you want to go within reasonable limits. At the pier ui use a 750ss with 300 yards+ of braid. Also sometimes use a penn 209.
 
#5 ·
I live here in Frisco,and have caught cobia off piers and out of a boat for the last 35plus years.. Yes you can catch them on 15,but my question would be,why? As surfrat said,you could have a fish that wieghts 90lbs keep you there all day pulling.. I fish with 250 yards of 30lb fireline,length of 80 lb mono to jig,an 8' rod,plenty of heat on em,they still take half hr 45min on a biggun.. If you have ever had one in a current,or sulling on the bottom kinda like a ray,or accidentally foulhooked one in the peck,you'd understand 15 just ain't cuttin it... jmho Nothing personal here,as I said,have caught them on as low as 8 back in the "bouyhopping days" when I lived in Va.. That was when I was young,and didn't mind being attached to a big fish for an hr and a half....

Friend of mine brought his boat down to his beach house in frisco and one of the things he would like to do is cast for cobia
whats a good rod and reel and what line




9
Jmo,braid is the ONLY way to go,as far as hooksetting ability it is key.. I use 30lb fireline,even 20lb fireline,both are as strong as 30plus mono,so you CAN lean back and put some heat on em... 7' rod will work,but as far as sightcasting at any distance,get an 8' with plenty of backbone,that you can throw accurate.. Far as reels Kingfisher has some good ones up there that won't break the bank,I'll add the penn slammer to that as well.. Have at least 200 yards of line on the reel,with a good mono attached to the jig 50-80lb..
As surfrat said,you're in a boat and you can chase.. ALTHOUGH on that note,I have had as many as 3 on at a time,and they were all nice fish.. You may have to make a dicission.. :D

Don't know what size Cobia you been catching on 8 to 15 lb line but we use 50 to 65 lb braid and a 50 lb Floro shock....Sometimes I will drop down to 20 lb mono in open water but not often....I use an 8000 saragosa on a 7ft 2 Terez rated for 100 lb braid....Big Cobia are no joke. They will tail wrap or just cut with their back fin lite line or braid in about 1 second. I use 150 yds of braid on top of mono from the boat...You just follow them and stay close. You will still fight some of them for half an hour on 50 lb braid putting as much heat as you can on them. I fought one for almost an hour with the rod doubled over the whole time. When they get their head down in a current you have to put some real heat on them or you are going to be one tired dude by the time that Cobia gives up. 6000 with 30 would work on a lot of cobia but if you run across that 90 lbder you are going to be wishing you had her hooked on 50 lb line. The 6000 Stradic will be just fine... I like a 7 or even an 8 ft med heavy or heavy rod. Just my opinion but I Target them hard all summer.
I remember you posting that baiting was a great way to do it,and you had better success doing it that way....I'm with ya,glad to see you're into the sightcasting thing as well.. :)
 
#4 · (Edited)
Cobia

Don't know what size Cobia you been catching on 8 to 15 lb line but we use 50 to 65 lb braid and a 50 lb Floro shock....Sometimes I will drop down to 20 lb mono in open water but not often....I use an 8000 saragosa on a 7ft 2 Terez rated for 100 lb braid....Big Cobia are no joke. They will tail wrap or just cut with their back fin lite line or braid in about 1 second. I use 150 yds of braid on top of mono from the boat...You just follow them and stay close. You will still fight some of them for half an hour on 50 lb braid putting as much heat as you can on them. I fought one for almost an hour with the rod doubled over the whole time. When they get their head down in a current you have to put some real heat on them or you are going to be one tired dude by the time that Cobia gives up. 6000 with 30 would work on a lot of cobia but if you run across that 90 lbder you are going to be wishing you had her hooked on 50 lb line. The 6000 Stradic will be just fine... I like a 7 or even an 8 ft med heavy or heavy rod. Just my opinion but I Target them hard all summer.
 
#8 ·
I use a Daiwa Saltist 6500 with 65# powerpro on a med heavy rod with a stiff tip. If you are looking for an all around set up for boat and pier, The stiff tip allows you to throw heavier bucktails if you want or if you choose to cobia fish off piers, allows you to muscle the fish out of the pilings if needed. The heavier test line can save you from the barnacles on pilings or boatrash when the fish decides to go under your boat. If you are looking for more of a challenge from a boat, use a lighter rod with lighter line and let your drag get a workout!
 
#14 ·
going to give cobia fishing a try next week when were at nags head, i have never caught our fish for them before. was going to launch yak from surf and see what happens here's my plan feel free to chime in. have cut or live bait on heavier combo( avet lx on a 7'6" st croix musky rod) and toss metel and jigs on lighter set up( you don't want to know..lol) for bait. live bait better then cut? bottom fishing or live lining? what bait?( was thinking small blues or croker), water depth? any other tips would very appreicated. thanks and tight lines justin
 
#16 ·
thanks kingfish was thinking off use a sliding sinker setup with 8/0 octopuss hook on a 80lb floro leader and let them run a little. i don't know of any bait store's that sell live eels out that way do you?? the small setup is a pink pflueger lady trion :D lol. i bought it about three years ago for the wife but she never's use's it, and i freaking love it. the setup 6'6 mh one piece with 30lb braid i forgot what size reel. atleast i dodn't have worry about anyone stealing my pink rod and reel..lmao!! tight lines moose:beer:
 
#19 ·
I fished live eels a few times mostly for Rock and a few times for Cobes off the planks

I found that if one hooked them in the tail they did not get tangled up as much as when one lip hooked them, as they were more apt to swim away from the rig rather than into it.

I also all ways want my leader longer than the fish I am after so I do not get broke off on a tail wrap
 
#21 ·
thanks for the tips guys, i'v only used live ells once up in cape cod for stripers. and rember them tangling up and being a pain to handle think i used a brilo pad to grab them while hooking.

DD.. other than the barb on there dorsal what else should i watch out for on them? teeth? :D
 
#22 ·
No problem with the sandpaper in their mouth,but that barb can be nasty... I've never had my line cut off by one,but while gaffing a freinds cobe and throwing it in the boat,got cut across the shin with it... Always be careful of a green cobe,tappem with the gaff and gett'm to run a little more if you think he's green.. Those rascals can flat out tear up a boat...
 
#30 ·
The term Green "Fish" is derived from the "Green" King Mackerel

A King that is not yet tired will have a distinct green colored tint to it, some of the other pelagics exhibit the same coloration ie Dolphin

When it is spent it a King is more of a steel grey in color, when you see a King that is still green in color especially off the planks it is best to try and get that fish to swim away from the pier and tire out before attempting to gaff
 
#31 ·
Actually got a story for ya on that Mike... Frisco back in the day.. I had a king (about 20lbs) eat my livebait,and just sat there.. I lifted my rod and urged him to run,he'd run about 10' and stop.. This happened 3 times... Thought about it for a minute and knew I had him on 60 shock,and he may take a run around the pilings if something wasn't done.. I took that black 9000c and cranked her down as tight as possible and started reeling.. We netted the fish while it was on the move,h*ll it even jumped.. When it hit the deck it was still swimming across the boards.... :D
 
#32 ·
I was fishing a jerk jigger with a my popping rod and my 6500 back in the day. The jerk jigger got hit and that 6500 was spooled, right when it got to two or three wraps of the 14 pound Trilene, the fish suddenly stopped pulling. It acted like an Albert that had run himself to death, so I gently worked the fish back to the pier taking care not to break the line. Fish was not doing much of anything and I was certain I had a dead tail wrapped Albert. After a bit I finally got the Fish back to the Pier and Rick Belton who was standing next to me laughed and ran off to get a gaff.

It was a 20 pound King Mackerel still very green in color and I kinda froze, waiting for Rick to get a gaff ready. King was just kind of hovering there in the water, not doing anything, just kinda resting, When I started pulling him closer to the pier that treble hook from the jerk jigger fell out of the kings jaw and he just drifted off....

A guy I King fished with every evening right at Dark would take on of those five inch extra large size jerk jiggers white with a red head and work that bait off the end of the tee. I never saw him deck a king that way, but I did see him hook up twice to Kings that broke off and have multiple bath tub size boils hit at that big jerk jigger.....He only fished that big jerk jigger in the last fifteen minutes of light......
 
#33 ·
Mike,I've caught more kings with a gotcha than livebait,only caught 1 off the planks,but have loaded boats with kings on gotchas.. Never used the big gotcha,didn't like the action as much,but went through a whole card (12) of the gold with red head ones.. Had kings skying at my outboard several times. One day in a 20' wellcraft with had so many on deck you couldn't walk without stepping on one,and had all coolers and compartments full... Guess they should have had some regs on em back then.... :rolleyes: :(

Hate when I take a post offtopic.. Gotchas also work for cobes,caught 3 last year on them,only one legal,all small fish.. Kinda wish they made a gotcha a bit bigger with good action and some mean arse hooks,might be the ticket when they get finicky.... :D
 
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