# Cobia from Piers



## SmoothLures (Feb 13, 2008)

For bottom fishing for cobia on the pier can I just run the basic drum rig, maybe a little longer? 8/0 circle 100 lb mono leader on a fish finder? Is a sliding rig significantly better? How do I rig it? 

Spot, bluefish, and Spanish heads and chunks? 

Could I run 50 or 60 lb mono leader to help break off sharks?


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## lil red jeep (Aug 17, 2007)

That is exactly what I saw a guy fishing with at Sandbridge and he swore more than 50 cobia were caught that way off Sandbridge pier last summer. He said way more caught on the bottom than on pin rigs. Good luck!


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Bring a spinner with a good jig on it as well.... Biggest problem with bottom fishing is rays.. Trust me they suck!


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## RjTheMetalhead (Dec 3, 2011)

Just let em eat a blue on the pin rig
The old 4/0 i lent ya can take a cobe, just be a little slow lol, help ya savor the moment


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## George Gravier (Oct 28, 1999)

RjTheMetalhead said:


> Just let em eat a blue on the pin rig
> The old 4/0 i lent ya can take a cobe, just be a little slow lol, help ya savor the moment


 ha ha good one!


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## sleepyhead (Apr 30, 2004)

Drumdum said:


> Bring a spinner with a good jig on it as well.... Biggest problem with bottom fishing is rays.. Trust me they suck!


Yes they do. I got 2 of them on Tuesday.


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## js1172 (Jun 5, 2012)

Drumdum said:


> Bring a spinner with a good jig on it as well.... Biggest problem with bottom fishing is rays.. Trust me they suck!


Yep, everybody wants to go out to end of the pier and fish for big fish, a 6' butterfly will make at least 4 passes through all the pinrigs before your just gonna break him off when its over. 90% or more of decent casting baits will be taken by a ray. the pinriggers though most are helpful will get frustrated, some will get downright irate.
js


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## Reelturner (Dec 24, 2003)

js1172 said:


> Yep, everybody wants to go out to end of the pier and fish for big fish, a 6' butterfly will make at least 4 passes through all the pinrigs before your just gonna break him off when its over. 90% or more of decent casting baits will be taken by a ray. the pinriggers though most are helpful will get frustrated, some will get downright irate.
> js



Exactly!!!!


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

js1172 said:


> Yep, everybody wants to go out to end of the pier and fish for big fish, a 6' butterfly will make at least 4 passes through all the pinrigs before your just gonna break him off when its over. 90% or more of decent casting baits will be taken by a ray. the pinriggers though most are helpful will get frustrated, some will get downright irate.
> js


All the pin riggers will get irate if you have pretty water on the OBX and they have baits out.

I have caught a few Cobia on drum rigs early in May, lost a few giants. I had to back off the bottom baiting in the summer time most days because of local resistance

When the water is cloudy I would put a bait out most days, but would get a lot of  and 

You have to go through a lot of Flattosauruses and Sharks to get into a Cobia, if the T is really crowded you have to have your public relations skills in order, it helps to be 6'6" and 300 lbs.......The pin riggers will all be up in arms if you bow up, they will tell you where you can cast too.....

There are more Flattos these days because the larger inshore sharks got decimated by long liners in the 1980's, big Duskies and Tigers kept the Rays in check in those days.

Cobia spend most of their time feeding on the bottom, so it is a good method.

You have to be pretty hardcore and use maximum pressure when you get a hit and try and get whatever is on up to surface so you can get a look at the species. If it is a Ray or Shark, if you don't break him off immediately out of courtesy....well then you deserve what is coming to you....


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## js1172 (Jun 5, 2012)

couple days ago we watched a 10-12' greater hammer chasing cownoses within 20 yards of the end of avon, couple paddleboarders saw the fin and headed out to play with the dolphin, we yelled to them that it was a big shark and they had them up on plane headed for the sand!
js


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

Drumdum said:


> Bring a spinner with a good jig on it as well.... Biggest problem with bottom fishing is rays.. Trust me they suck!


Saw some more Mahi Mahi at Club Kinnakeet.

Best news of the Week or the year actually is the top fisherman in all of Maryland, just broke the MD All tackle Cobia record with a fish brought to gaff in under 20 minutes. Top Angler really put the heat on and got the fish aboard in near record time. Results on the MD Section.


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## js1172 (Jun 5, 2012)

Garboman said:


> Saw some more Mahi Mahi at Club Kinnakeet.
> 
> Best news of the Week or the year actually is the top fisherman in all of Maryland, just broke the MD All tackle Cobia record with a fish brought to gaff in under 20 minutes. Top Angler really put the heat on and got the fish aboard in near record time. Results on the MD Section.


you speaking of the 9 year old who caught the 94 pounder?
js


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Garboman said:


> Saw some more Mahi Mahi at Club Kinnakeet.
> 
> Best news of the Week or the year actually is the top fisherman in all of Maryland, just broke the MD All tackle Cobia record with a fish brought to gaff in under 20 minutes. Top Angler really put the heat on and got the fish aboard in near record time. Results on the MD Section.


 Cobia are a weird species... I've seen fish that took an hr,and I've caught and seen fish that took less than 5min,all over 40lbs.. Some fish will not even look at a bait,some will come from 50yds away to maul it! 

Tater said water was gin,with an offshore grass line located just off the pier.. Been stuck at work,but with all this lightening and wind galore,I'm sure all that is history..

Did you see the fb pic of Russel and Clyde standing beside the young man and his first tarpon on Rodanthe?? classic!


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

js1172 said:


> you speaking of the 9 year old who caught the 94 pounder?
> js


Yes, Emma is the Top fisherman in Maryland right now. Last I heard she was going out again with her Dad to try for another. 
Hopefully Shimano-Penn-Fenwick-Buddy Davis-Berkeley-Mustad-Ande are all seeking her out for sponsorships.

Hopefully those fellas down in Islamorada will grant Emma the World Record for ten and under. They are a persnickety bunch though no treble hooks, leader length, issues with someone touching the rod besides the mate when he hands it to you after the Mate and Captain hooked it up. In fact back in the day off the OBX when the big Cobia and Kings were around I specifically switched to a shortened 2-5/0 single hooks live bait rig tied to IGFA specs so I could qualify. My only claim to fame in those days was my identity as a fisherman, so it was important.

Late at night I envision myself landing a 100 pound red drum off of Rodanthe Pier of course, throwing it on ice and heading South down interstate 95. A few Park police sirens behind me as an escort and calling ahead to ask the IGFA to weigh and certify my catch before I am hauled by to NC in the back of a White Tahoe to have a chat with Judge Boyle.

Offshore Grass line right off the pier, is pretty cool indeed.

Long time ago the water was gin at Rodanthe, you could plainly make out Sea Mullet milling around on the bottom twenty feet down off the end of the tee. 

You could also make out a long row of broken pilings heading offshore from the original pier. The old pilings were all pretty uniformly broke off about 3' above the bottom, like a long line of dead soldiers.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Garboman said:


> Yes, Emma is the Top fisherman in Maryland right now. Last I heard she was going out again with her Dad to try for another.
> Hopefully Shimano-Penn-Fenwick-Buddy Davis-Berkeley-Mustad-Ande are all seeking her out for sponsorships.
> 
> Hopefully those fellas down in Islamorada will grant Emma the World Record for ten and under. They are a persnickety bunch though no treble hooks, leader length, issues with someone touching the rod besides the mate when he hands it to you after the Mate and Captain hooked it up. In fact back in the day off the OBX when the big Cobia and Kings were around I specifically switched to a shortened 2-5/0 single hooks live bait rig tied to IGFA specs so I could qualify. My only claim to fame in those days was my identity as a fisherman, so it was important.
> ...


 Many a fish,according to Clyde and the "redheaded fella" have been lost around those "dead soldiers"... The rain was dumping cows this morning and I mistook it for wind,water is still good could be some good stuff caught.. Suppose to blow like hell this weekend,of course....  Tater is all about the shark'n.. He's got three days off from mating on Catto's boat,and is yaking baits out to catch a dern shark...?? I shouldn't say anything,I was one of those all about shark'n myself,back when I could pull on one...


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

Drumdum said:


> Many a fish,according to Clyde and the "redheaded fella" have been lost around those "dead soldiers"... The rain was dumping cows this morning and I mistook it for wind,water is still good could be some good stuff caught.. Suppose to blow like hell this weekend,of course....  Tater is all about the shark'n.. He's got three days off from mating on Catto's boat,and is yaking baits out to catch a dern shark...?? I shouldn't say anything,I was one of those all about shark'n myself,back when I could pull on one...


I have all kinds of rigs hanging on them dead soldiers. Lost a few Drum and a couple Cobia on them also.

So Catto picked up the Potato Man. Cobia have a dedicated group of killers after them now.

Pretty soon I would imagine the Female Land Sharks wearing bright colored bikinis, will have that Yak gathering dust in your garage.


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## Aristokles (Mar 5, 2013)

Nice cobia catch from the Duck SURF on July Fourth:

http://bobsbaitandtackle.com/outer-banks-fishing-reports/

Rare? I'd say so, but...still, nice


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Not really that unusual...


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## Aristokles (Mar 5, 2013)

Nice fish, Drumdum. Is that one yours?


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Nope that is my truck in background,had went to Corrova to catch some drum,we did,but this happened on his first cast! He is a friend of my son and I.. His name is Matt Hooper.. Figured Garbo would get a kick out of it,since Matt was a young member of his ole Rodanthe crowd...


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