Cobia Fishing
This was my father's favorite fish to target. According to daddy they offer great sport, were accessible, meaning not far offshore, and not only that, but they tasted "REAL GOOD!"
My father used a lure called "CISCO kid," in which to get this fish's attention. On most occasions, once spotting the surface feeding fish, a minor cast of the world famous "CISCO kid' resulted in a real solid hook up. However as time went on so did the cobia bite! This lure worked well, because you really didn't have to make it swim like a fish to get the cobia's attention. Most of the time the fish would jump on the lure. If the fish act procedure didn't work, which meant "no fast hit" daddy would go in to the Slapping the lure mode!" This boiled down to the fact that he would reel the lure to end of the rod and basically "slam it on the surface!" This act normally worked, making the cobia so mad that it jumped on the lure. However, as time went on I can only assume that in "cobia training school" these fish were taught to "stray away from such lure slapping foolishness!"
During this time live bait was another, if you had it at the time, good bait of choice. However, once presenting the bait, if the fish didn't like it or wasn't hungry for your choice, that's all you had. My father fished live baits such as pinfish, prawn shrimp (real large live shrimp), small blue crabs, eels, and small ocean catfish. All of these baits worked when presented with a beefed up traditional float rig. Yes, I am talking about a spotted sea trout/ red fish float style rig. Beefing it up goes like this. I suggest using at least 20 to 50 pounds as main line. The leader between the trout sinker and hook should be at least 30 to 50 pounds. Fluorocarbon leader material would be a good leader material to use. However, as you know this leader material hasn't been on the market that long, at least not over fifty years. Back in the old days we used straight monofilament line. We hooked and landed lots of fish. The largest landing made by me was in the year of 1972. The total landing, which I am almost sorry to admit, was "28 total cobia." They ranged in weight from 10 to 60 pound. But as you know that's another one of those stories that I need to share with you at a later date!
The best hook to use is going to be a "J" (extra strength) 4/0 to 5/0. The secret to the hook choice is to make sure that the hook doesn't over-power your bait. When using too large of a hook the bait will not be able to swim naturally, which is some cases is good. However, more times not! Wounded or drunken bait swim isn't bad. However, sideway and unnatural means your targeted fish might get nervous and your bait will tire too quickly!
Bait Catching History and Talk!
Back in the old days, there weren't any known gold hook bait rigs. The only fishermen that had figured out this style of fishing were the Chinese/Vietnamese. They weren't sharing much of their fishing accomplishments. I watched as they caught lines of fish from small to large, but didn't have any idea what the heck they were doing. They had this "fish catching thing down pat!" All they used was a flexible cane pole, which had one placed eye on the very end of the so-called rod. They would stick their hand in a tin can, which had both ends removed. This was their manual reel. As I watched them hold the pole with one hand and wind the line on the tin can it become clear how the invention of the actual handle-spinning reel must have came about. Their bait or should I say, "rig" looked at least from a distance, just like our "gold bait hooks." However, the amount and size of fish that they were slinging into the boat meant that probably their hooks were must bigger and stronger. However, it did seem that they were in a long line and placed real close together. I don't know about you, but I can't say that I remember ever dropping my gold hook bait rig when I didn't catch a fish. It might have not been what I was looking for but it was fish. This brings to mind once again a serious fish catching thought. Six hooks in a line definitely gets a sequence of bite going making all with in range jealous causing a feeding frenzy! Think about it!