Inshore cobia thick at Crystal Coast

(when menhaden boats chased off)

It’s cobia time at the N.C. coast, from Southport to Ocracoke Inlet.

Joe Shute of Atlantic Beach (Cape Lookout Fly Shop, 800-868-0941) said his main tactic now is “cruising for cobias.”

Shute said last week anglers landed a pair of 50-pounders, which are trophy-size fish.

“We sight fish or fish on the bottom, depending on the weather,” the veteran guide said.

Shute takes visiting anglers to buoys near Beaufort Inlet to look for cobia. These fish, sometimes called “ling” or “lemonfish,” seem to like to congregate at the “cans” (buoys), as local captains and guides call them.

“One of the favorite lures to cast at them are big soft-plastic lures called Hogies that appear similar to big Sassy Shads,” Shute said. Hogies are colored lures that have luminescent flakes, making them resemble “pogies” (menhaden).

“We also use big bucktails and also sometimes pitch live baits to them,” Shute said.

The first order of the day is to look for schools of baitfish near buoys. That usually means cobia will be near.

“The main problem has been lack of bait because the big menhaden boats (Omega Protein) came down from Virginia and wiped out the shad (menhaden) schools,” Shute said. “The cobia had been thick until they showed up.”

Omega Protein boats, based at Reedville, Va., on the Chesapeake Bay, are supposed to remain 3 miles off the Crystal Coast beaches, but Shute said they were in 20 feet of water last week until chased away. Omega Protein boats have been banned from dragging nets for menhaden in Maryland waters of the Bay and off the Maryland coast.

“The good thing is somebody called the N.C. Marine Patrol, and they came out there pretty quickly and chased them off,” he said.

Shute said anglers fishing for cobia sometimes hook into big red drum and sharks, as well.