Bonita Shores to Lostmans Key
Includes Naples, Marco Island, Everglades City and Chokoloskee.

Nov. 6-8

Cobia is This Week’s Special

There is an entire menu of fish being caught right now, but this week’s special has to be cobia. Everyone with whom I talked mentioned cobia at some point in the conversation. There were cobia caught south of Everglades City, right off of Caxambas Pass, and in the Naples and north Naples area. Cobia were boated in as close in as a mile from the beach, out as far as thirty miles, and weighed from as little as ten pounds to up over 40 pounds. Most of these fish were caught on live baits, but a few took plastic tail jigs, and one gobbled up a cut bait on the bottom.

If you enjoy cobia fishing, all of this talk should get you out on the water and into the hunt. However, cobia are unpredictable. They can seem to be everywhere one day, and nowhere the next. It is fairly well documented that these pelagics migrate south along the coast in the fall, and stop at each of the wrecks for a little snack along the way. Last week they were obviously in the Naples area. This week, however, there are no guarantees.

Yet, there are no guarantees that the New York Yankees will win the World Series (this is written on Wednesday) or that the Miami Dolphins will make the playoffs, and still people buy tickets. My advice, this week, is get a ticket to your favorite wreck, send down a live pinfish, and invite a 30-pound cobia home for dinner.

By Captain John Preeg
Captjohnpreeg@aol.com

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