July is here and it is cobia time. This is the time of year that we should see cold water up-wellings, which will push cold water from the deeper depths closer to shore. With these up-wellings, the cobia will move into shallower waters and all the way onto the beaches. Cobia are a great fighting fish and are great to east as well.
One of the ways to find these fish is look for structure or reefs in the areas of the cooler water temperatures. Have someone at the highest safe spot on the boat looking for these fish to be swimming on the surface. Also watch for sharks or rays, as cobia will more than likely be following them. If any of these are sighted, cast a bigger jig or a weighted grub in their direction to try to entice any cobia that might be around to eat. If there is a cobia that looks at your jig but won’t eat, have a frisky live bait or a piece of squid to pitch to him and it should be game on. If you haven’t been able to sight fish any cobia around structure, it is always a good idea to try slow trolling or drifting live baits around structure. You can also sight fish cobia the same way off the beaches in as close as 10-to-15 feet depths. It is best to use a longer fishing rod when sight fishing cobia for making longer casts.
Cobia will eat most live baits such as sardines, pilchards, greenies and even mullet. When using a jig, cobia most likely will go after a bucktail type jig with a grub tail attached or an eel like jig such as a Hogy jig, being eels are their favorite food.
Please be familiar with the size limit of cobia at 33-inches to the fork of the tail. Always net a smaller fish when legal size is questionable. Be safe and watch the sky for afternoon storms while on the water.
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