New sport fish? - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

Kayak_Bernie · 02-19-2016, 02:02 PM

I've caught a bunch of cobia in my day, only one off the kayak, but they are fighters, and very tasty on the table. They are in the same family as remoras and still have the habit of following large animals, in Florida you can catch them by finding large manta rays ; sometimes a big ray will have 4-10 30+lb fish escorting them. They love live bait, we mostly used menhaden, or cigar minnows, but I am sure some macks, or dines will do the trick! In the winter they love to hang around reefs and oil rigs and you can get them on big bucktail jigs. While I would hate to see them invade our waters and push out native fish, I don't think that they would ever become too invasive, they don't really school, and they have a pretty varied diet. It would be great to catch them in while helping to fix a ecological problem!

FullFlavorPike · 02-19-2016, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kayak_Bernie

They are in the same family as remoras and still have the habit of following large animals

I've watched some video of spearfishermen in Florida shooting cobia basically right off the back of 12' bullsharks, which definitely takes some stones.

Don't they stay pretty far off shore in the Atlantic? If that's the case, getting to them without a boat might be a chore...in the event that they ever end up swimming our waters, of course.

FullFlavorPike · 02-19-2016, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FullFlavorPike

Don't they stay pretty far off shore in the Atlantic? If that's the case, getting to them without a boat might be a chore...in the event that they ever end up swimming our waters, of course.

Or apparently they swim around in 3' of water, according to that second link. I stand corrected.

taggermike · 02-19-2016, 07:13 PM

It would be a thrill to catch a local cobia. Who knows if they can reproduce in the eastern pacific. Our water might be a bit cold fot them some years. Cobia are an in shore fish. I lived on the outer banks of North Carolina for a year. Cobia were occasionally caught in the surf and many ate caught from piers. Mike

stoned-trout · 02-21-2016, 11:52 AM

heck ya ...haven't caught any since my florida days...fun to catch ,great to eat ,easy to target IMHO...

Mr. NiceGuy · 02-21-2016, 02:22 PM

Seasonal migration all the way from Gulf of Mexico to Massachusetts during summer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobia

Miami to Massachusetts is about 1,500 miles.
Panama to San Diego is about 3,000 miles.
.... just thinking

How to catch, plus nice set of 57 photos to flip through at the bottom:
http://www.floridasportsman.com/sportfish/cobia/

Quote:

Originally Posted by blitzburgh

Wow. This is really interesting. The speed they traveled so far by my crude math would mean we could see them possibly summer of 2017? Plenty of time to research cobia fishing techniques

Yep.

Ceteris paribus, 15 months.

Get the grill ready.

Looks tasty:

.... paired with an ice cold beer in a beautiful location

monstahfish · 02-22-2016, 12:38 PM

[QUOTE=Mr. NiceGuy;254144]Seasonal migration all the way from Gulf of Mexico to Massachusetts during summer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobia

Miami to Massachusetts is about 1,500 miles.
Panama to San Diego is about 3,000 miles.
.... just thinking
They are very very rarely caught north of new jersey. I did hear about one caught off cape cod last year though. It said tens of thousands so I would think if there is suitable spawning habitat, we could see them in a couple years regularly. It will be very interesting to see if they have any impact on our fisheries.

02-19-2016, 02:02 PM	#1
Kayak_Bernie Live Watersports ProStaff Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Rolando Village Posts: 224	I've caught a bunch of cobia in my day, only one off the kayak, but they are fighters, and very tasty on the table. They are in the same family as remoras and still have the habit of following large animals, in Florida you can catch them by finding large manta rays ; sometimes a big ray will have 4-10 30+lb fish escorting them. They love live bait, we mostly used menhaden, or cigar minnows, but I am sure some macks, or dines will do the trick! In the winter they love to hang around reefs and oil rigs and you can get them on big bucktail jigs. While I would hate to see them invade our waters and push out native fish, I don't think that they would ever become too invasive, they don't really school, and they have a pretty varied diet. It would be great to catch them in while helping to fix a ecological problem! __________________ Heroes on the Water SoCal Chapter Safety Director

02-21-2016, 11:52 AM	#5
stoned-trout Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: sandiego Posts: 52	heck ya ...haven't caught any since my florida days...fun to catch ,great to eat ,easy to target IMHO... __________________

02-19-2016, 07:13 PM	#4
taggermike Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Chula Vista Posts: 1,589	It would be a thrill to catch a local cobia. Who knows if they can reproduce in the eastern pacific. Our water might be a bit cold fot them some years. Cobia are an in shore fish. I lived on the outer banks of North Carolina for a year. Cobia were occasionally caught in the surf and many ate caught from piers. Mike

02-22-2016, 12:38 PM	#7
monstahfish Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 429	[QUOTE=Mr. NiceGuy;254144]Seasonal migration all the way from Gulf of Mexico to Massachusetts during summer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobia Miami to Massachusetts is about 1,500 miles. Panama to San Diego is about 3,000 miles. .... just thinking They are very very rarely caught north of new jersey. I did hear about one caught off cape cod last year though. It said tens of thousands so I would think if there is suitable spawning habitat, we could see them in a couple years regularly. It will be very interesting to see if they have any impact on our fisheries.