Overcoming Cobia phobia

Go west, young man!

That was the cry of legendary “professor” of cobia Frank Helton Thursday night as he shared his knowledge — and then some — with the more than 200 gathered on the deck at Hooters Wednesday evening for the Emerald Coast Saltwater Series.

Helton, along with Tim Broom of Half Hitch Tackle and redfish professional Sonny Granger explained what kind of tackle, bait and where to go to catch cobia, during this seventh seminar in the series.

“Start at Destin Pass and go west, because there are more cobia between here and Pensacola,” Helton said, also emphasizing he likes the sun at his back.

However, “If you only have a half-day, don’t even start,” Helton jokingly told the crowd.

But if you’ve got the time, the area from Hulburt Field to what fishermen refer to as the Eiffel Tower, “that’s where the most fish show up,” Helton said.

He took it a little further to name four places he “bet odds” that folks would see cobia — just past the El Matador, Field 9, the Green Tank and the government pavilion just west of Navarre.

“And if you every see one going east ... check ’em out ... don’t just go by him,” Helton said. A lot of times they are chasing a ray or turtle, where more might be hiding.

Helton, who caught his first cobia in 1949, says “I love to tease the (expletive) out of ‘em. You gotta make ’em mad.”

In his 45 years or more of cobia fishing, he estimated that he’s fished 1,600 days and caught four per day, which would total more then 6,000 cobia.

“I used to stack ‘em up like cord wood,” Helton said.

He recalled a time when he caught 11 cobia over a span of eight days that were 80 pounds or better.

“I don’t care where we went, the big fish were there,” Helton said.
And what has worked best for Helton over the years?

“I like a half-headed jig,” he said.

“There’s an art to working a jig,” he said. “Pier fishermen have got the boat fishermen beat hands down,” Helton said, when it comes to casting a jig.

Broom, of Half Hitch, agreed that a jig is number one, live eel is No. 2 and No. 3 on the list of bait would be a mullet.

But if he could take only one rod and reel and one bait, Broom said, “I’d have to take a live eel with a circle hook. Broom explained that if you hook a cobia on a circle hook with a live eel, the cobia is going to be hard to lose.

However, Broom suggests that you take several rods, some rigged with jigs and some with eels. A jig rod should be a little heavier, “something with a backbone,” Broom said.

As for the eel rod, “it would be something with a little softer touch,” he said.

“But you want an arsenal of rods,” Broom said. “You’ve got to be prepared.”

Sonny Granger and Helton both agreed.

“If you keep your equipment right, you stand a better chance ... so pay attention to details,” Granger said.

Helton said when he was fishing a lot of tournaments he would even go as far as changing his spool of line every week.

When’s the best time to go?

“I want the one or two days before a front,” Broom said. “That’s what is going to bring that southerly flow ... something that will bring ’em up on the beach.

“There’s no magic secret to spotting fish,” Broom said. “If you go west you can see the fish much further away,” with the sun at your back.

Once the fish is spotted, “you want to get him trapped between the beach and the boat ... keep him inshore of you.”
“I guess I was blessed to see,” Helton said.

Nevertheless he said, “I always carry two pair of sunglasses with me.”

And sunglasses are a big part of cobia fishing.

Both Helton and Broom suggested Costa Del Mar glasses.

“They make it easier to see the definition in the water,” Broom said, noting that the amber lens is best.

“It’s true, you get what you pay for and you can’t skimp on glasses, because you’ve got to be able to see,” Granger said.