Edges and blue water

Cobia

Rachycentron canadum

Brown bomber. Looks like a shark, fights like a jack, eats like a snapper.

What they like

  • 2–25 musual depth (they tolerate 1–60 m)
  • 20–29 °Cwater temperature they feed in
  • clear or coloured waterwater clarity
  • rough bottom, drop-offs, channelsbottom they hunt, in order
  • any tidetide
  • daylightlight

Cruising just under the surface along the beaches in spring, riding with rays and turtles; markers, buoys and wrecks all year.

Season by region

Peak months, shaded. Outside them the species may still be around, just less reliably.

Florida and the Gulf
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Georgia to the Chesapeake
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Bait and technique

Methods: spinning / casting, bait, fly.

Bait and lures: Live eels, crabs, pinfish; big bucktail jigs, eel-pattern flies.

Technique: Sight-cast from a high platform or paddle quietly along the beach; cast a jig ahead of the fish and let it sink.

Rules

Florida: Florida: 33 in fork length minimum (36 in federal Gulf), 1 per person / 2 per vessel. Verify with FWC and NOAA.

Seasons, sizes and bag limits change every year and differ by zone. Check the current regulations before you keep anything.

Depth maps where cobia live

Preferences are expert estimates from the fisheries literature and angling practice, not measurements at your spot. The likelihoods on the maps are a planning aid, not a catch prediction.