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no limits, the commercial guys started focusing on the rig fish and really way- laid the stocks. They just slaughtered them. The numbers dropped way down, but bounced back after the bag limit was established. Then cobia became a popular recreational fish and everyone chased them from Mexico Beach to Orange Beach, Alabama.
Today the numbers are down again. That’s because there’s a bounty on the head of every legal fish. Cobia sells for $5 a pound to the local
restaurants, and those big breeding females are getting caught and stuck in the freezer.
“Today the numbers are down again. That’s because there’s a bounty on the head of every legal fish. Cobia
TIDE
sells for $5 a pound to the local restau- rants, and those big breeding females are getting caught and stuck in the freezer. I really wish Florida would make them a gamefish.”
Mississippi is the only Gulf state
that prohibits commercial sale. Robson’s personal best was 26 fish caught in a single day. Now he says five, averaging 40 pounds, is a good outing. Still, when the run is on, cobia fever spreads all along the coast. Robson’s favorite rig is a 8.5- to 9-foot medium-heavy spinning rod and reel loaded with 30-pound test line. He uses either a 2-ounce chartreuse Dinga- ling nylon jig or live eel hooked with a 5/0 circle hook for bait. Aboat tower is essential for spotting the fish cruising just off the beach. “They really are a great sportfish,” Robson says without hesitation. “And if we’d just give them a chance and relieve some of this pressure, the num- bers will go up again.”
Capt. Dave Lear is a CCA life member and award-winning freelance writer. When he’s not working on an assignment, he loves sight-casting jigs and flies to big cobia off Florida’s Forgotten Coast. Go to captain-
davelear.com for more information.
www.joincca.org 39
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