Florida’s Panhandle – where Lemonfish reign supreme!

Florida’s Panhandle – where Lemonfish reign supreme!

It’s springtime; you’re perched high atop a cobia tower scanning the emerald green water searching for signs of life. Out of the corner of your eye you spot what you’ve been looking for – a formation of three brown silhouettes cruising just below the surface. Your head turns and your heart starts racing as you notice the size of the center fish; it’s a monster well over 70-pounds! You maneuver to within casting range and toss out a lively eel. You watch as the mammoth ling turns on your squirming offering. The fish eats and you feed him line. Seconds seem like hours as the anticipation builds. Finally, you lock up and slam on the breaks. As you set the hook you hold on in anticipation of the muscular cobe which is about to test your tackle, your skill and your endurance to their very limits.

It’s late March, and every angler along the Panhandle has one thing on their mind, the annual cobia run that’s about to shift into high gear. For the past few months, anglers along Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast have been hibernating in the comfort of their living rooms, dreaming about springtime fishing. Now that warmer temperatures and relatively moderate seas are upon us, the fishing bug is about to bite with a severe sting!

Migration
Northwest Florida’s annual cobia migration has to be one of the best sight-fishing opportunities in the state. Enhancing the experience of this already exciting fishery is the size and the brute strength of these impressive game fish. Each year numerous fish in the 50 to 80-pound range are brought to the scales, with triple-digit logs not unheard of. Along with their shear size, cobes are at the top of many anglers’ best eating fish lists, but it’s not just about the fantastic fillets, springtime ling fishing is also about the thrill of the hunt!  

As you can see, cobia go by many different monikers including brown-clowns, cobes, ling, lemonfish and bronze-bombers just to name a few. Many anglers across the Gulf Coast look forward to the spring season, and visitors from all over the world head to our region to experience the fantastic cobia run firsthand. Starting out near Panama City and cruising their way across Destin and Pensacola, cobia make their way to the spawning grounds off the Texas coast. While some pods consist of as few as two fish, some may hold as many as ten or more trophy-size individuals!

More than one way to skin a cobia…
Up here in the Panhandle, the most popular way to locate monster cobia is from way up high in a tuna tower. Anglers spend hours on end perched in their towers scanning the surface for any glimpse of the telltale dark shadows as they cruise near-shore waters. While on the lookout for dark silhouettes, down deep or just under the surface, the sentries also keep a sharp-eye out for turtles and rays as many ling hang out underneath these surface cruisers in hopes of scavenging an easy meal.

I have been told that many anglers along the Gulf Coast prefer an east wind over a west wind. With a west wind, cobes seem to swim deeper and are much harder to locate. When the wind is out of the east, they tend to ride the waves and are therefore much easier to pinpoint. Most of the larger boats that have towers are in the 30 to 60-foot range, however, many small–midsize boats are now equipped with towers as well. While some have a second control-station in the tower, some are just spotting towers. If the angler spots a fish from the spotting tower and doesn’t have the ability to maneuver the boat, they may give the captain a signal by stomping their foot on the hardtop. Although this somewhat primitive method of communication is still commonly used, many anglers have gone hi-tech, wearing head-sets similar to those you see at your local drive-thru joint. They communicate with the captain below, telling him where to maneuver the boat. Once within casting range of the sighted quarry, it’s up to the angler to accurately present the bait or lure with the proper technique.

For boatless anglers, opportunities still exist as local piers are another hot-spot to find and hook these tackle-busters. During the last two weeks of March and throughout the entire month of April, a few piers along the Gulf Coast from Panama City to Pensacola Beach actually hold cobia tournaments. If you have never been on a pier during cobia season, you’re in for a real treat. A word of warning though; pier rats in search of cobia mean business! Lined up elbow-to-elbow along the rail and equipped with eight to nine-foot conventional outfits finished off with ling jigs, diehard cobia hunters will spend hours on end waiting for the chance to cast at a single brown bomber. During cobia season, most piers have what is called a ‘first shot rule.’ When a fisherman spots a fish he yells, “FIRST SHOT!” This tells the other anglers that he has spotted a fish headed toward the pier and plans on casting to it when it’s within range. Make no mistake; these guys can launch a jig distances like you’ve never seen. The whole reason for the first shot rule is so the fish isn’t bombarded with a deluge of jigs. After the angler casts, it’s either fish on, or fair game!

If you don’t have a tower on your boat and you aren’t comfortable with crowded piers, don’t despair, there is still another way to get hooked up.

I fish for cobia out of my 24 ft. Sea Pro, and although I don’t have a spotting tower on my t-top, I have still landed some quality fish using the following technique. The first tool you need is 100-foot anchor rope and an orange buoy ball. Set your anchor near the second sandbar in 15 to 25-feet of water just off the beach, and tie the anchor ball to your anchor rope. Set out a few baits, like lively free-swimming pinfish and crabs on the bottom. You also want to have a few rods rigged with artificials, which I will go into more in a moment. Now, here’s the secret to fishing without a tower – chumming! Get a chum block or some menhaden oil and start to deploy your offerings. It might take a while to produce a strike, but it if you put in your time, you will be justifiably rewarded. Once you hook a big fish, if you have to, come off the anchor ball and go chase the fish. After you land your trophy, head back to your anchor ball, reconnect, and start the process all over again. Strangely enough, sometimes cobia will be chilling right under your boat, using it as a place of refuge. While reeling in your baits, don’t be surprised if a fish shoots out from under the boat and strikes your offering.

Rigging it Right
Having the correct tackle and rigging your rods properly will make or break you when it comes to fighting and landing trophy bombers. These big fish fight and they fight hard until the bitter end. On a typical cobia expedition I recommend a minimum of four rods rigged and ready with various offerings. While every cobia killer has his favorite setup. Dave Justice, the Pure Fishing field service manager for the South Region, says he uses a Fenwick Inshore Series eight-and-a-half foot fast-taper rod in the 30 lb. class. He suggests a Cardinal Abu Garcia 807 spinning reel spooled with Stren Stamina Line or Stren Super Braid. Justice says this set up will handle big fish with no problem while still being able to throw a jig a country-mile.

Live Bait –vs- Artificial
There are few specific ways to rig for monster cobia. When fishing live baits, a 50 lb. fluorocarbon leader and Gamakatsu SC17 tarpon hook are the way to go. Some anglers tie their line with a uni-to-uni knot while others prefer a SPRO barrel-swivel which are extremely strong for their small size and hold up well in the harsh saltwater environment. The last thing you want is tackle failure when you’re hooked up with the fish of a lifetime. While there are a variety of productive live baits used for cobia fishing, up here along the Gulf Coast the top choice is, without a doubt, a live eel. These slimy sacrificials work best when fished on a single hook and free-lined with no weight. On occasion ling won’t take your offering, so you need to be ready with Plan B, C and D. When you come across a fish that’s stubborn and simply refuses to eat, and you will, having a variety of baits to offer will exponentially increase your hook-up ratio.

While the live bait –vs- artificial lure debate will go on for ages, make sure you have both as I’ve seen cobia turn up their noses at a perfectly presented live offering only to inhale a bright-colored hairy jig. My personal favorites include SPRO’s 3 oz. bucktail in chartreuse/white or blue/silver, Berkley’s eight or ten-inch PowerBait Eel and Exudes eight-inch sandworm in black.

As you may have assessed, Panhandle cobia fishing is like no other cobia fishing in the state. With fish reaching astronomical weights exceeding 100-pounds, what angler wouldn’t want to stop over in Pensacola and try their luck at hooking one of these monsters. Just remember to be prepared for an intense battle and keep your favorite sports drink nearby, because this battle may be more draining than you think.

See you on the water!

As they make their annual trek to their usual spawning grounds, cobia have a few obstacles to overcome, and not just the anglers that come from all over to hunt them. Sharks, usually in the form of menacing makos, come from the depths of the big blue looking for a tasty meal to snack on. These hungry predators not only enjoy feeding on cobia, but they also relish dining on the tarpon that cruise along our beaches from time to time. Last year, a few mako sharks were hooked while anglers were scanning the waters looking for cobes swimming along the beach. Although hooking into a shark can be an exhilarating experience, caution should be taken when handling these ferocious feeders.

Panhandle Cobia Tournaments

Harbor Docks - Cobia World Championship
March 13 - May 4, Destin
www.harbordocks.com

Outcast Cobia Classic
March 22 - April 30, Pensacola
www.outcastbaitandtackle.com

Hogs Breath Cobia Shootout
April 4 - 6, Destin
www.hogsbreath.com

Half Hitch Tackle Cobia Classic 
April 12, Port St. Joe & Panama City
www.halfhitch.com

Howell Tackle Cobia Classic 
April 19, Panama City
www.howelltackle.com

Harbor Docks Invitational 
April 24 - 27, Destin
www.harbordocks.com

Wild Weekender Cobia Tournament 
April 26 - 27, Destin
www.cobiatournament.com