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Cobia makes for a great fight
and an even better meal
Hello folks and welcome to paradise! There is a lot happening in the world of fishing in the month of April. First, chronologically speaking is that in the middle of March the first Cobia was caught at the Pensacola Beach Gulf Pier which we predicted here for you last month! Second, Snapper season opens April 15th for State Waters (inside 9 miles) and April 22nd for Federal Waters.
Cobia or Ling are caught seasonably off the cost of Northwest Florida. These large fish migrate from South Florida North in the early spring. For the fisherman on the pier, they generally monitor piers like Panama City, Okaloosa Piers and in earlier days the Navarre pier to gage when they will be arriving here off Pensacola. Since the hurricanes, the early warning network has been somewhat disabled meaning catching the first cobia comes at a surprise.
There are two means by which you can catch Cobia off Pensacola Beach. One is to buy a pass at the Pensacola Beach Gulf Pier and sight fish for them. Most anglers at the pier will fish at the end of the pier with an array of cobia jigs. Once a fish is spotted, the more seasoned fisherman will quietly cast beyond the fish jigging back. This technique requires excellent casting skills and practice. My friend Kenny Wade and his son crab cast on objects in the water or on the beach. For a demonstration of his skill Kenny casted out beyond an object in the water that was several yards away, jigged and returned to the pier a piece if insulation smaller than a paper plate in one cast.
The second way is by boat like what my wife and I did recently as guests of John Pfleger and his girlfriend Heather Dupuis aboard John's beautiful 46ft Hatteras "My Boy Blue" for a little Cobia fishing. In the early spring if you are on the beach any nice day you will see running up and down the beach just outside the sandbars several boats searching for these tasty fish. Some days, the traffic is so busy it looks like a highway out there. These anglers will get in towers providing them with a sight advantage and look for the schools of cobia swimming on the bottom looking for food.
Now, aboard the boats cobia fisherman and women will use cobia jigs, however, some will use eels or live bait as well. My preference is live eels which do a great job of getting the fish's attention most of the time. Again, the technique is the same casting beyond the fish and gently bringing your bait back toward the fish. Now, if you do not have a boat for Cobia fishing, do not worry Pensacola Beach offers charter boats that specialize in cobia fishing.
 | | Zack Strickland shows off his catch on the Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier. |
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Last weekend, while just west of Navarre John spotted a really nice 50lb plus, well let's say that this fish was "way plus!!". Captain Mike pulled back the engine throttle as John casts out beyond the fish and no take. He reels back in, casts beyond the cobia and the cobia notices. He follows the bait down slowly as it descends but no bite and the fish disappears. Anyone who has fished for cobia can tell you this story … but, it is worth every miss when you hook up. You can bet John will be back.
The biggest fishing event for most people is the opening of Red Snapper Season. The red snapper fishery started about 20 years before the Civil War, approximately 1850. It got its start near Pensacola when New England sailors caught snapper while anchored in Pensacola Bay. Pensacola is also known as the birthplace for the Snapper Industry dating back to 1870 when New Englanders setup to provide the tasty fish to the Northeast. Still today you can find famous seafood markets such as Joe Patties on the Pensacola Bay waterfront on Main Street.
Red Snapper are generally caught in Gulf and Atlantic Waters about 30 to 200 feet using 2 hook rigs and snapper rigs. They eat live bait like pinfish, squid, and many cut baits too. The technique for fishing red snapper is to allow your line to reach the bottom and reel up about 8 laps or so. When you feel the bite, jerk your rod upwards to set the hook. Once you have set the hook start reeling because they fight hard and can tear off your line leaving you with a bare hook. If you are using a circle hook, the technique is a little different since you do not set the hook with a jerking motion, you allow the fish to take some line then start reeling.
Captain Buddy Rogers of the Reel Eazy on Pensacola Beach prefers a light tackle approach which he has specialized. Captain Buddy will use a Calcutta 700 along with 20lb or less line and rig it with a long shank hook and a 1.5oz slip led. Using a cigar minnow or ½ cigar minnow he will send it to the bottom using his thumb to stop the line fishing for short periods of time at different depths. When he gets close to the bottom, he says if you do not have a bite in a few moments most likely you have already lost your bait. When the strike comes, he jerks the rod back hard and rather than cranking the rod he will lift the rod tip, and then reel the tip back down keeping the pressure on the line and fish at a minimum. This prevents the fish from tearing off or break
ing the smaller line. I have fished with Captain Buddy using this method and I agree it is very effective.
Another fish being caught a lot in our area which gets little attention and is very tasty is Sheepshead. Right now anglers are catching plenty of Sheepshead on the pier and Bob Sykes Bridge. If you have a boat, the most popular spot is at Ft Pickens at the pier there. To catch these fish you will need a smaller hook and frozen shrimp or fiddler crabs. The technique for sheepshead is to fish along the pilings of the pier or the bridge, when you get a bite, set the hook and reel fast getting them away from the pilings. The barnacles on the pilings can cut your line fast.
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