Wahootackleandfishing.com Loves COBIA! FISH OF THE DAY!

FISH OF THE DAY: COBIA!

The Cobia a member of the ling family is a very sought after sports fish, The Cobia is a Long, slim fish with a broad depressed head and the lower jaw protrudes past the upper jaw. Cobia have a Dark lateral stripe extends through the eye to the tail with the first dorsal fin has 7 to 9 free spines. When young the Cobia has conspicuous alternating black and white horizontal stripes and large tails that make Cobia fast swimmers and fierce fighters. Cobia can be found from the Texas inshore all the way down the gulf Coast to the keys and up the Atlantic Coast of Florida through North and South Carolina as far north as Virginia.

The Cobia range and can be found  near shore and during the spring months starting in early May on the Gulf coast waters with inlets and bays. Cobias are frequently found around buoys, pilings and wrecks in these areas. It does not take much structure and the channel markers coming out of inlets should always be checked for Cobia and when found can be in pairs and sometimes as many as 40-50 fish running and feeding together. Cobia will spawn in spring and early summer. The Florida State record is 130 lb. 1 oz., and was caught in the gulf coast with the largest of the Cobia ranging from Louisiana through the Florida big bend area due to a lot of close shore structure. Cobia can be caught on Atlantic Coast of Florida spending the winter (December – March) in the harbors and around the wrecks and reefs of the south Florida Keys. In late March and April moving  northward  up the Atlantic Coast reaching Fernandina Inlet in late May, early June.  The Cobia is a stable recreation fish for most top shelf inshore charter captains.

Cobia Tackle Box:

Crabs and small fish like pogy and pinfish are good baits for cobia. The less weight and if possible free line that keeps the  bait near the surface or, if cobia are deeper on markers use just enough weight to allow for bait to fall naturally and still swim and struggle, Medium to heavy tackle is required to land these fish which average 30-80 pounds. If you are fishing from a inshore boat or flats fishing boat with trolling motor stop well short of markers and use the trolling motor just enough to get close so you can see down in the water and around the structure, a good pair of sunglasses polarized. If the tide is moving get up in the tide past the structure and let the tide move you over or near the structure. When you drop the bait you should feel a light thumb followed by second harder thumb set you hook on the second thump.  Our favorite way to catch Cobia is 20 lb. braided line with a number 6 hook and when you set the hook use the motor on the boat to get the Cobia away from the structure, if you do not they will always wrap you around markers or stick up structure. Be ready for the fish to head to the channel and make long runs you will need to keep the boat moving with the fish and pressure on to land these great table fair fish. Line selection can be Spider wire, Pro-line, Suffix, or even strong mono like Ande is good lines to use. If you are fishing an area where the fish are very wary 40 lb. fluorocarbon can be a great tool to get bites from line shy Cobia. Have fun and hang on, be ready to scream Wahoo when you set the hook on a Cobia. Spinning gear is the tackle of choice a rod from the 12-30 lb. line weight works well for flipping bait, whether you choose a Penn Fishing rod, or the Catcher 6’10” Bait Pitch rod which has a Alps aluminum gimbal for the anglers that want to have the ability to use a belt. The Catcher Rod is rated up to 40lb. The favorite rod from Wahoo is the 7’0” Boat Rod that has graphite gimbal with a slick butt cover, plus a lively enough tip to pitch the bait to the structure. Larger rated bass type rods from Shakespeare ugly stick to Cajun Popits and Hella-Bombs will also get the job done on Cobia. Reel Selection is important as well we recommend a Penn Battle 4000-7000, or an Abu Garcia in the same size with strong stainless steel gears and a fast line retrieve of at least 5:2:1. If you like bait caster Round reels from Calcutta, Daiwa, and Abu Garcia in the number 5-7 are great choices. Have enough rod power and a good fishing partner that can help you get the fish away from the structure or close to the cruising Cobia in the Bay. If you want to know more about where the Cobia are biting or additional tackle information please just drop us a email to info@wahootackleandfishing.com and we are happy to help

 RECIPE FOR COBIA!

Ingredients:

•1lb of Cobia (we cut it into 2 filets after cooking--whether you have filets prepared before or after cooking is your choice)

•.25 tablespoon salt

•.25 tablespoon pepper

•2 tablespoons chili powder

•.25 tablespoon cinnamon

•.25 tablespoon nutmeg

•.25 tablespoon garlic powder

•.25 tablespoon ground ginger

•2 tablespoons butter

•.5 cup sweet white wine (we prefer Riesling)

 

Cookware/Utensils:

•paper plate

•paper towel

•medium skillet or sauté pan

•fish turner

•small glass bowl

Combine all dry ingredients in small glass bowl. This will be your rub. Place Cobia on paper plate and pat dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Apply rub generously to fish covering both sides and all edges. The goal is that the entire fish will be covered with the rub and glazed over medium high heat and do place 2 tsp. of butter in the sauté pan. Once the butter melts, add fish to pan. After about one minute, add half of the wine. Cook for 5 more minutes. Flip the fish and cook for one minute. Add the remaining wine. Cook for another 5 minutes. Plate and serve! The cobia can be served over a mix of fresh vegetables sautéed in your choice of base.

                           Recipe provided by Dining for Two!