Trying to find ways to catch cobia can be frustrating. I've been there and I know how it feels.
You spend days, weeks or even months trying to figure out how to catch cobia and nothing seems to work.
It's really discouraging when you put in all this time and effort and can't seem to get a bite. Believe me, I understand.
There's no one answer to the question of how to catch cobia because everyone has their own techniques and tips that work for them. However, I think there are some universal ways to get bit by these fish.
I'm not guaranteeing that this will be the "be all end all" of cobia articles, but what I am saying is that these are all tactics that work for me and would probably work for you too.
Keep in mind that the information I'm giving doesn't come from a scientific study or lab. It comes from real world experience fishing cobia.
I hope you find this article to be helpful and if you have any tips that I may have left out, please leave them in the comment section at the bottom of this article.
How To Catch Cobia
As previously mentioned, there's no one definitive way to catch cobia. It just doesn't exist. Given that fact, here are some techniques you can use in your quest to find what works for you.
1. Jigging
I know what you're thinking. "Of course you're going to tell me to jig for cobia." Well, it's true that jigging is one of the best tactics to use when trying to catch cobia, but there are some finer points you need to be aware of. For starters, using a jig is best done during the day. The reason for this is that cobia are active predators and they tend to feed more actively during the day, as opposed to what we see at night with them moving into shallow water and hanging out around structure.
The second thing you need to know about jigging for cobia is the actual jig you should be using. For me, I like to fish with a Carolina-rigged lizard or some type of 6" plastic swimbait on an 8/0 circle hook. It's important to note that whatever kind of jig you're using, it has to be heavy enough for cobia.
I've seen people use jigs as light as 1/8 oz and I've seen other people use jigs as heavy as 3 oz. The weight of the jig you're using has everything to do with how deep you can fish it along with what kind of bottom you'll be fishing over. As a general rule, if your jig weighs between 1/8 oz and 1/2 oz, that's a good place to start. If you're fishing in deep water (200 ft +) then you can get away with using a lighter jig weight because the bottom rig will be pulling the jig down deeper. Whereas if you're fishing in 20 ft of water or less, it might be a good idea to use a jig with some more weight because it's not going to go down as deep.
As far as what kind of action your jig should have, you're going to want it to be very seductive with lots of swaying and rolling motion in the water. I've seen people rig up umbrella rigs that are extremely slow and that's not ideal. If your jig is too slow then cobia won't hit it as often as they would if the jig was swimming away from them.
2. Topwater Lures
Working topwater lures for cobia can be a lot of fun and extremely effective during certain times of the year. As a general rule, when you're topwater fishing for cobia, it's best to use something that floats. Good choices are poppers, stickbaits or prop baits.
A good tactic is to cast your lure out and start reeling it in very slowly (almost like you're trying to fight a big fish on light gear) while you're paying close attention to your rod tip. If you feel a lot of movement at the end of your line, chances are that's a cobia that just grabbed your lure.
One thing I do want to mention is that if you don't get any bites while using topwater lures, it might be time to change up what you're using. A good example would be if you're fishing with a topwater popper that's working well for snapper or grouper, but the cobia are ignoring it. It might be beneficial to switch up your lure to something like crankbait or even a jig/soft plastic combination if you really want to get bit.
