Catching cobia on the fly with a big shark assist - Daniel Island News

Learning keeps fishing interesting. Doing the same thing over and over again gets pretty boring. 

 

Even if you are catching fish.

 

Thankfully, when fishing, there is always something new to observe or learn. Recently, I have been focusing on cobia around artificial reefs and natural ledges. As it turns out, they are reasonably easy to catch. If you soak a live menhaden on a 6/0 circle hook over an artificial reef, your chances of catching a cobia are quite good.  

 

On Sunday, I wanted to try something new. So, I invited my brother, Dave, and set out to target cobia on the fly. On the ride out to the Charleston 60 reef, we spotted a large school of menhaden. Since we were fly fishing, we almost passed them by. But we figured it couldn't hurt to have a little bait. One throw of the 10-foot cast net produced all the menhaden we needed.  

 

Upon arrival at the reef, we idled around looking for cobia cruising on the surface. No luck. We set up a drift and began tossing out live menhaden. King mackerel and barracuda were quick to take advantage of the easy meal. A good bit later, an 11-foot tiger shark began milling around the boat. Dave and I just stared at it until it faded off into the depths. It was an interesting diversion from the fact that we had not seen a single cobia.  

 

A few minutes later, the big shark returned, and it was being followed by a school of small cobia. While Dave got ready with the fly rod, I threw a few more menhaden into the water to draw the shark closer to the boat. The school of cobia went wild and began chasing the menhaden. Dave cast a large fly into the frenzy and hooked up immediately. Steady pressure with the 12-weight fly rod quickly brought the cobia to the boat. Good thing because the tiger shark kept trying to eat it. 

 

After a round of high fives and a quick picture, we cautiously released the fish. It is an unnerving feeling to revive a fish (with your hands in the water) when a giant shark is lurking nearby.

 

For the next hour, each time the tiger shark came to the boat, we caught a cobia on the fly. When we ran out of menhaden, the shark lost interest and left for good. 

 

On the ride back to the dock, I looked at Dave and said, "Now that was interesting!"

 

 

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