Cobia quickly become the focus of anglers along the northern Gulf when the month of April arrives. They make seasonal migrations along the coasts in search of water in their preferred temperature range and normally start arriving near Pensacola in late March.
One of the best things about cobia is that they aren’t limited to anglers with boats. They are caught at all of the Gulf piers including Pensacola Beach Gulf Fishing Pier and Navarre Beach Fishing Pier along with piers in Gulf Shores, Fort Walton Beach, and Panama City.
The majority of them caught locally are sight fished whether it is off a boat or on one of the piers. On the pier a two to three ounce bucktail jig is the bait of choice because the heavy jigs can be thrown long distances.
Jigs can also be used on a boat, but since you usually don’t have to throw far or compete with other anglers there are some better choices. Live eels more times than not are the best bet, but cobia will also take mullet, pinfish, croakers, catfish, and crabs.
The same rod and reel combos can be used for both baits and jigs. You want a 15-30 pound class rod that is 7 to 9 feet long and a reel that holds 200-300 hundred yards of 20-30 pound line.
A variety of different straight, circle, and treble hooks are used by different people, so you just have to try different ones until you find what fits you. The Hook, Line & Sinker Seminar Series will hold their monthly event this coming Monday April 4 at Flounders on Pensacola Beach.
Captain Myles Colley, who currently captains the boat “Reel Worthless” and travels the gulf coast fishing tournaments, will be there to share some of his wealth of knowledge on cobia fishing.
He has spent his entire life fishing the northern gulf and every April you can find him off the beaches between Destin and Orange Beach searching for cobia.
Some important topics that will be discussed are getting the right rod and reel, rigging, hooking an eel, positioning the boat when you see a fish, how to work a jig, and what to do once you have one hooked up.
At 6:30 p.m. Flounders will put out a free dinner buffet and serve seminar attendees until the food is gone.
For more information on the HLS Seminar Series visit www.pensacolafishingseminars.com.
