How to Catch Cobia – Gold Coast
Cobia/Black kingfish: Rachycentron canadus (Linnaeus)
Want to know how to catch monster Cobia off the Queensland coast. Author Anthony Coughran explains how.
Cobia are a frequent visitor to our shores all year round. But mainly thicken up in numbers over the winter months. There is a few reasons why they build up in numbers at this time of the year.
- The whale migration.
- The slowing of the currents on our reefs.
- our reef species spawning.
- The annual mullet and tailor run.
- White Bait run.
- Manta ray migration,
How to catch monster Cobia
Cobia habitat and movements
Cobia Size and bag limits
* A size limit of 75cm and bag of 2 for Qld.
* No size limit and a bag limit of 5 for NSW.
Distribution, where and how to catch Cobia
Cobia can be found from Fremantle in WA right around the top end and back down the east coast in Qld and northern NSW.
The best time to catch a cobia
From the start of May to November. But you will still get the odd one through the warmer months too.
Best places to catch a Cobia
Most local reefs around the 18 and 24 fathom mark that hold bait and good number of small reef fish. Furthermore ledges, shale next to reefs, wrecks, man made structures, reefs with high populations of crabs/crustaceans and Around large bouys and FADs as well.
Best baits
Live baits are definitely the best baits you can use on Cobia. Yakka’s, pike, slimies, mullet, tailor, squid or cuttlefish, crabs, small Bonnie’s and even small squire and bream. They will also hit a wide range of dead baits as well. Butterflied, large strip baits, whole fillets, whole squid, prawns and combos all work well too.
Best set ups to chase Cobia
- Live bait set ups:
Lines 30lb – 80lb braid or mono to 60lb – 150lb leader on a 40lb – 100lb rod with a 6000 – 12000 reel. - Artificial set ups:
30lb – 60lb mono or braid with 40lb – 100lb leader.
A 30lb – 100lb rod with a 5000 – 12000 reel.
Live bait rigs
Anchor and Drift Fishing
You can use a similar rig to your live bait rigs for drift baits. A small pea sinker to a double hook or single hook. Allows your baits to drift along the bottom nicely.
Soft Plastics
Still one of the best ways to catch Cobia on the Gold coasts close reefs. For reefs offshore, a 3/4 – 2 ounce jig head couples with 3- 9inch plastics are the go. Coupled with 30lb- 80lb leader. Jerk shads
Micro jigs
Micro jigs also work well Cobia. 20g to 300g jigs work well. Colour and weight depends on the day. Slow pitch, flat blat and flutter jigs work the best.
Fish preservation and cleaning
Cobia also go by the names of blackie, black king and crab eater.
There is a lot of different species of fish in our waters. So having a fish ID app, fish ID books like Grants guide to fish or a fish almanac will help you identify the species you have caught. Which mean there will be no confusion when you get back in or with dpi. Or you can ask us. But if you are unsure take a pic and throw it back. You can always ask us when your back in. It’s not worth it if you don’t know what it is.
If you would like any additional information on chasing these hard fighting brutes, drop us a line we will help you out. For Gold coast fishing charters bookings click here. On behalf of The team at FFGC and True Blue fishing charters we wish everybody safe travels and fishing fun. Thanks AntFFGC.