Page 98 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2018

SPORTS & OUTDOORS hooked
COAST
story by Frank Wilem and photos courtesy of Austin Powell and James Cochran
C obia, also called lemon fish or ling, head west this time of year in their annual
migration along the Coast of the northern gulf. You may have noticed boats cruising the beaches of Alabama and the Florida panhandle looking for the large brownish
backs of cobia migrating along the surface. For this type of sight fishing, it’s best to have a bright sunshiny day, to wait until the sun is high enough to penetrate the water, and to be as high as possible above the water’s surface.
When it’s warm and the seas are calm, this type of fishing is about as easy as it gets. Nothing is quite as relaxing as cruising along the beach enjoying the sun, calm water, and glowing white sand while searching for cobia. Of course, when the temperature is in the 40s and the wind is blowing 20 knots out of the south, it’s a far different story.
As the fish migrate west of Mobile Bay, the successful fishing tactics change. Cobia anglers fishing off the Mississippi Gulf Coast often anchor in an area such as the Horn Island bar and chum. This approach uses a chum slick to lure cobia to the boat rather than chasing them along the beach, and requires lots of three things: chum, patience, and beer — plenty of beer. It also has its own set of issues, including keeping the crew awake and sober while fighting off hordes of sharks attracted to the chum.
Sight fishing for cobia west of Mobile Bay is generally most successful around structures such as channel markers or oil rigs. When a cobia is spotted, one approach is for
an angler to pitch a jig to keep the fish interested, while
a second angler casts a live bait, either an eel or bait fish, to the cobia. If the fish is “well-behaved,” it will roll on
the bait and you have a hook up. If it is “ill-behaved,” the cobia will turn up their noses at the gourmet eel dinner feast, especially if they have already survived previous
Anglers prepare for the thrilling catch of Cobia
encounters with other anglers.
Those fish with a sick sense of humor seem to delight
in swimming right up to the bait then veering off at the last minute or even taking it into their mouth only to spit it out after swimming a few feet — a maddening experience for the frustrated angler.
However, when things work as intended, it’s thrilling to watch the fish’s big white belly flashing below the surface as it rolls on the bait. Sometimes other cobia
will follow a fish that’s been hooked up and it’s possible to hook one or two more. This livens things up as the anglers dance around the cockpit trying to keep multiple fish clear of the props and each other.
If cobia are not spotted at the surface around a rig or buoy, jigging for them often proves successful. On one trip, we were bottom fishing with dead bait and could not limit out on snapper for the cobia. After catching 13 that day, I found it hard to get too upset about not getting our limit of snapper. On another occasion, we were using sabiki rigs to catch bait alongside a rig when a wad of
six cobia surfaced. Pandemonium quickly ensued as we proceeded to boat all but one or two and found ourselves knee deep in angry cobia.
Cobia are a very mild tasting fish and are great cooked most anyway. My favorite is grilled or smoked.
It won’t be long before Coast anglers will be gearing up to fish Gorenflo’s 32nd Annual Cobia Shootout. The one- day shootout is scheduled for April 28 with the Cobia Tournament following on May 5-7. Contact Danny Pitalo at 228.432.7387.
Frank Wilem, with The Wilem Group, produces television shows including Gulf South Outdoors. Find air time and channel info on their website at www.gulfsouthoutdoors.com.
98 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • April 2018
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