[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he end of summertime is closing in on us and we will experience some of the warmest temperatures of the year. The heat of the day will be heating the surface temperatures of the ocean and this is the time of year that we should see cooler water temperatures on the bottom depths of the ocean. This is when cobia will show up often on the offshore reefs. Cobia are a curious fish so while bottom fishing or drifting, keep an open eye out for cobia to be checking out your boat or following up a hooked fish that is being reeled in. If you see one around the boat, toss him a nice chunk bait or a live greenie or sardine and it should be game on. When trolling live baits around structure or hard bottom you may also catch a cobia. This is an awesome fighting fish and excellent for dinner.
I would recommend using a stout rod with a good backbone. Don’t go cheap on your line. Use a 20-to-40-pound line that can withstand a long battle with cobia, especially if you hook-up a large one, upwards of 50-to-60-pounds, as that battle will be long and hard. Cobia have very hard mouths so make sure you have sharp hooks that can penetrate the mouth or use circle hooks that will allow the hook-up to happen on the side of the mouth. After catching a cobia, make sure to check over your hooks before reusing.
We have seen a good sailfish bite, which started in late June through July and I expect it to continue into August. These fish have been being caught in depths anywhere from 70 to 150 feet. These are resident sailfish that cruise the Treasure Coast waters instead of heading north up the coast. When trolling for sailfish, I like to use a big blue runner. They will eat a greenie or sardine but I find that they will more often take a big blue runner first. I recommend pulling a dredge just past the prop wash and putting a blue runner five feet behind the dredge. Sailfish will take any bait in the spread but most hookups will be behind a dredge. These fish are a great fight with a lot of acrobatic jumps. Sails can’t be kept unless you have an HMS permit, but they are not the best eating fish so after the fight, please revive, and release them unharmed.
Please remember August is the start of lobster season so please keep your distance from divers and hopefully they will respect your area as well. There is a lot of ocean out there for all of us.
