cobia terminal tackle

[catfish55]

hi there all,
i'm about to try for some cobia while fishing the northen end of the bay and outside the other side of south passage.
this is a new venture so i'd appreciate some direction from some, more experience !
i'v been told that you need to use wire ?? can you help with rigs please .usining a spinner with 20 lb braid and 20 or 30 lb leader to start with.
was thinking of thowing a drifter out while fishing for other fish and burling
...pat

[tunaticer]

No need at all for wire on cobia, Just a good leader is all you need. Depending on your mainline you are using would determine the size of leader required. Most hard flurocarbon leaders are perfect for the job.
For 20lb braid i would probably opt for 40-60lb leader around 6 feet to 8 feet long with hooks suited to your bait.
Circle hooks are my choice for both live and dead bait presentation.

Why don't you specifically target the cobia?? they are quite easy to target as they are very predictable as to where you will find them and what they are feeding on usually.

Jack.

[catfish55]

thanks jack, tell me more and i will target them. i am based at manly well thats were i leave from( the harbour ) i have a 20 ft boat that cruises on 16 knots. where would yu suggest i try first mate......pat

[tunaticer]

I would be working my way up the inside of moreton island beacon hopping. Jig up a livie or two from each beacon and send it back down. If the cobes are there they will not take long to devour an active livie.
North of the Curtin Artificial about 700m there is a decent dent in the dropoff ledge. Cobes are generally just outisde of the dent. The dent cant be missed if you are following the dropoff as it is easily seen.

Hutchies at the moment has a lot of cobes hanging around if you venture that far.

Old surefire method of getting a cobias attention is to superglue a 9/0 hook on the back of a sand crab and swim him down near a beacon. Cobes love them with a passion.

Jack.

[catfish55]

ok a 9/0 hook on a sand crab so still just the 40-60 lb leader jack??
also with the livies just the one hook or 2x sneled ?? do you use a circle on the crab as well ,if not what type. thanks jack i really appreciate this........pat
oh what size hooks do you use on the livies mate...

[Custaro]

if you have never caught them before, give yourself a better chance of landing one. bump up your line class, go at least 30lb, and braid gives you no advantage in the bay for cobes. so no need to use it. use at least 80lb leader. use circle style hooks.

[catfish55]

yeah thanks and no i hav'nt caught one as yet so thanks for the tips...getting excited now i've goto wait for the bloody wind to eas up

[catfish55]

thanks all tell me do you have to bleed these fish?????

[mattooty]

Bleeding any fish will make it taste alot better. I dont think its imperative that you bleed them but cut its throat upon capture just to be sure.

[Tassie JR]

Try west rocks on the north side off moreton island, there is heaps of cobia there at the moment, on friday we had 5 cobia hits and 1 probally 35-40 kg one on that we lost next to the boat after a 1 hour 20 min fight, 9/0 hook just popped out off the side of his mouth, and they were only hittting livies not deadbaits.

hope this helps

cheers tassie JR

[catfish55]

thanks tassie