Cobia Fishing Advice

[booyagasha]

Sup salty's,
next month, and thru june i plan on doing some cobia/ling/lemon fishing offshore louisiana and need to some tips and advice.

i've heard these fish are picky as to lures, whether live, or artificial, so what have yall caught cobia's on?they say eel, croaker, would hardtails work? how about bait shrimp? also, where's a goodplace like the coordinates of a platform, or just head 10-15-miles out and pick and choose?live bait or what?

im coming out of houma, so more than likely out of coco....

i have friends from buras/empire that say they go out 20 or so miles and limit them every time they hit up snappers..i've never landed a cobia, and i hear they are some goooood eating, and come as big as 40-45-50 lbs easily, a little help will do lots ....thanks ahead time..

ps.. also do you club it, beat it, bleed it, or just throw it in the box?

[fishinpox]

Go out of Venice hit east bay it's one of my favorite spots to fish because all u gotta do us run down river around 15-17 miles then another 5 miles in open water puts u in 100+ ft of water ..... Easy limits of snapper, red / mangrove ,, a few ling, few grouper, some nice trout .

[booyagasha]

what kind of tackle? jigging? bottom fishing?double hooking?

venice is like 3+ hrs if i remember correctly from houma, where as cocodrie is like 10 minutes from the house. is venice really that much worth it, to trailer the extra lil bit, to be able to be in deep water quicker? even for ling, snapper, grouper, trout, etc.??im hearing that about this time of year the cobias move from florida to texas all along the coast in shallower waters---say 40-50-60 fts. spot structures. i heard this from like 3 different people, and alll 3 confirmed that they pass they same way back to florida in the fall (sept/oct) . I have a small 18.5 ft boat , so i wanted to take advantage of this shallower water offshore fishing.

[fishinpox]

Bottom-snapper, sight fishing ling big pink curly tail grubs, soft plastics forvtrout . Try pullin up a 5-8 lb snapper on a trout rod....... Pretty freakin fun

[jpeff31787]

I've only caught them once while being near shore. We were in 40ft of water along a big grass rip. Spotted 2 there caught one 50lber on my bass rod. We were looking for triple tail. Then caught another two ling later on by the rigs all were caught on mullet about 5-6" long

[Montauk17]

Originally Posted by jpeff31787

I've only caught them once while being near shore. We were in 40ft of water along a big grass rip. Spotted 2 there caught one 50lber on my bass rod. We were looking for triple tail. Then caught another two ling later on by the rigs all were caught on mullet about 5-6" long

That is a good trade for looking for other species! How many miles out were you?

[jpeff31787]

Originally Posted by Montauk17

That is a good trade for looking for other species! How many miles out were you?

Around 5 miles. The week before we went had strong south winds which pushed some gorgeous water to shore. The water was navy colored that close to shore. It was sweet

[fluideng]

Bleed it

[booyagasha]

Originally Posted by fluideng

Bleed it

is that personal preference??? i know some people that swear by it, as in --every fish in...i've heard the meat has a different taste when you bleed fish. somebody school me

cousin told me he just konks it over the head and in the box it goes------feisty sucker once you get em in..

[cabwiz2]

Hardtails work great. Once I see one I will have someone throw out a jig at it and will freeline a live hardtail out the back of the boat. Most of the hook ups have come from the hardtails.

[Ray]

For dead bait, Pogy's, Cigar Minnows or small Mackeral. Best bet is on the way out,
pull up to a shimp boat and ask for some dead or live bait. Chunk them a 5 gallon
bucket and ask them to fill it up. They don't charge as long as you don't want their
money catch, shrimp.
Bucktail jigs work good too, chartruese or white.
Diamond jigs work great, but have terrible hooks, you need to change them out.

Any live bait works best. They will hit anything that is on a hook alive.

[booyagasha]

Originally Posted by Ray

For dead bait, Pogy's, Cigar Minnows or small Mackeral. Best bet is on the way out,
pull up to a shimp boat and ask for some dead or live bait. Chunk them a 5 gallon
bucket and ask them to fill it up. They don't charge as long as you don't want their
money catch, shrimp.
Bucktail jigs work good too, chartruese or white.
Diamond jigs work great, but have terrible hooks, you need to change them out.

Any live bait works best. They will hit anything that is on a hook alive.

ha......that's probably one of my ultimate dreams.........troll and chum for yellow fin behind shrimpers..(but not in this 18.5ft boat)

[Ray]

Talking about the shrimp boats on the beach.
When they are dragging, pull up behind them and get your bait from them. Fresh. Sometimes live.

[fluideng]

Yes it is my personal preference to bleed ling. I don't bleed every fish. I've only eaten ling that was bled so I wouldn't know the difference of taste sorry.

[LaAngler]

i use a calcutta 700 on a 7' extra heavy falcon with a 2 oz leadhead and white curltail grub

30 pound big game

[Ray]

I bleed all big fish. Especially Amberjack and Ling.
They taste good, but bleeding makes them taste less fishy.
Either cut the tail thru the bone, but leave it on, or cut the gills.
Be sure to do it while still alive, you get more blood out.

[skeeter77346]

We have done well on 'em at the near rigs off of Port Fourchon say 50 to 65 ft. One technique is to 'run and gun' rig to rig. They are curious. Pull up to a rig, leave motor running in neutral, do not tie off - drop some chum - cut pogies, hardtail, whatever you have. Freeline a piece of cut bait (65lb braid, to 30 or 40 lb flouro & circle hook) in the chum ball and just drift with it for a few minutes sliding by & away from the rig. You will catch Mangroves that way too - the ling will slam a whole pogie or cigar minnow drifted this way. You can also tie up and fish them tied to the rig - we like the drift method though. Good luck.

[Ray]

If I am tied off to a rig or platform and hook a ling, I get off quick.
Them things are notorious for running under the legs and breaking off lines with the barnacles.

[JDd]

I find lemonfish rarely pass up an 8" chartreuse curly tail grub on a 2 or 3 oz lead head..

I have also caught them on dead bait while snapper fishing.

Some people swear by small blue crabs and hardheads.

I use a Penn 750 spinning reel on a Penn slammer rod spooled with 25 lb mono.

We also do the run and gun. When you approach a smaller rig, make a lap around it then start jigging the grub.

My son and I caught 11 last year out of Grand Isle in two weekends.

[LaAngler]

Originally Posted by JDd

When you approach a smaller rig, make a lap around it then start jigging the grub.

oo yea

don't give up all the secrets

academy stopped carrying those 2 oz h & h jigs too