The Cobia Fishing Around Marathon Heats Up

It’s winter time and that means the Cobia have migrated south much like the snow birds.  These awesome hard fighting species can be found on many of the inshore Gulf Wrecks we like to fish during this time of year.  The sizes we’ve been catching are anywhere from little guys all the way to over a whopping 40 lbs.  The usual live bait has done the job with the occasional soft plastic worm if they are on the surface.  But the good thing has been if you see one most of the time you end up catching him as well as a couple of his friends.

The Rachycentron Canadum or as we call it the Cobia can be found in the Florida Keys all year long but is usually the best from October – April.  The Florida State record for Cobia is 130 lbs. but usually the ones we find here are 5-70 lbs.  They primarily feed on squid, crabs, and bait fish.  The Cobia is also known to follow larger fish such as Sting Rays, Sharks, and Turtles to scavenge off of things they will eat.  When we see them next to the boat they are actually curious fish and will eat a bait within a few feet of the boat.  They really are cool fish to catch.

We usually use 10-30 lb test light tackle spinning rods to catch Cobia here in the Florida Keys.  Their fight always begins with a long drag screaming run that excites any angler lucky enough to hold the rod.  Once near the boat the tricky part is gaffing the fish and getting it into the fish box as quickly as possible because they are known to really beat the heck out of anything nearby.  They are considered one of the best table fares you can find anywhere so if it’s of legal size (33″ to the fork) you’ll bet the captain is putting it in the fish box.