This here is a story a friend sent me concerning cobia fishing.
Rad,
Here's my limited knowledge and experience with cobia fishing. The best
place is the York Spit. Line yourself up with New Point Light House and
the green dayboard channel markers of the York River. You will be as
much as 400 to 500 meters from the channel markers. Make sure you are
in 10 to 11 feet of water. The spit runs anywhere from 4 feet to 16
feet deep. Some places are so shallow you can see the bottom, so be
careful. We caught our own bait, which were croakers anywhere from 6 to
8 inches in length. Take a hook, hell I guess about the length of a
"house key" (you be the judge, just don't use an overly big hook) and
hook the croaker through his back just behind the dorsal fin. Some
people put flotation devices (bobbers or ballons) on the line and give
the croaker about three feet of diving line. Brent and I did this, but
soon took that crap off and let the croaker go to the bottom and swim
around. As soon as we did that, we caught one cobia and lost three more
in a matter of 40 minutes. Brent had two buckets of chum overboard, but
I don't think that matters. Hell, does that mean before people fished
for cobia, the fish never ate because there was no chum in the
water???? The hell with chum. It stinks and it's a pain in the ass.
When you put the croaker in the water, give him about 40 yards of line
and let him swim wherever the hell he wants to go. We caught our cobia
right next to the damn boat. Set your fishing reel so that it
"clicks". When a cobia hits it, the damn thing sings like a cat in the
microwave. Give the cobia about 10 seconds of chomping time. That way
he will swallow the whole fish if the fish and hook are not too big.
Set your reel on stun, jerk back, and rip the cobia's guts out. If he's
swallowed the fish whole, then there is no way he will get loose. Cobia
come too the surface after they strike, just like a blue fish. It's fun
to watch and make sure you have a dip net.
I hope this helps, Rad. I gotta go. Talk to you soon.
Uncle Clot
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