Cobia Fishing with Mississippi's Cobia-Fishing Team
Machine
Catching the Cobia
 Editor’s
Note: Tim Reynolds of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, a
member of one of the nation’s best cobia-fishing
teams, along with Dennis Meins, David Harris and Bo
Hamilton, has fished for cobia for 25 years. This week,
we’ll look at the techniques his team uses to
catch cobia that I learned when I fished with Reynolds
Mid-June. We pulled up to a jack-up rig about 35 miles
south of Horn Island, off the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
As soon as we arrived, two cobia surfaced – one
weighed about 40 pounds and the other weighed about
10 pounds.
Question: Tim, we haven’t caught a cobia yet,
but I’ve noticed your fishermen keep changing
baits. Why do they change baits so often?
Reynolds: We change baits constantly until we find one
the cobia will bite.
Question: What do you do once the cobia takes the bait?
Reynolds: I help the angler get the fish away from the
rig. We may need to pull away from the rig to get the
fish out in open water to get the cobia down. We get
the cobia away from the rig as quickly as we can, because
if we don’t move them away, they’ll pull
us into the rig.
(While doing this interview, Dennis Meins hooked a
cobia.)
Question: Tim, why were we able to catch that cobia?
Reynolds: The workers on the rig pointed out the fish’s
location. We also got well away from the fish until
the cobia had a chance to settle down. When the live
croaker swam down to the fish, the cobia wasn’t
hesitant to bite the bait.
 Question:
When you saw the fish take the bait, what did you do?
Reynolds: I immediately put the boat in gear and began
pulling the cobia away from the rig. Dennis held the
rod straight and kept tension on the fish until we could
get the fish into the boat.
Question: I noticed that once we moved the cobia away
from the rig and out in open water, you began moving
the boat so that the boat and the fish moved together.
This way, Dennis didn’t move the fish; he just
kept even with it in the water. Why do you do this?
Reynolds: I always keep the boat pointing in the same
direction as the cobia, even if the fish is 40 or 50
yards from the bait. We’ll pull the fish slowly
toward the bait, but not as much as the boat. If you
place a lot of pressure on the cobia and fight it, the
cobia will flash in the water, dive deep, get really
excited and take the bait. By moving the fish closer
to the boat and moving the boat in the same direction
as the fish, you can get close enough to see the fish
struggling. I knew that once we got close enough for
Bo to gaff the fish, he would make one stroke with the
gaff and bring the fish into the boat.
 Question:
I was very surprised that Dennis didn’t fight
the fish. Why didn’t he fight it?
Reynolds: We’ve learned over the years that if
we don’t get a cobia too excited, and we don’t
fight against it, we’ll lose fewer fish. If you
start trying to manhandle the fish, and they’re
thrashing and fighting, you’ll lose a lot of fish.
The cobia will wallow out a hole around where the hook
is attached, and if it shakes its head one good, hard
time, the hook will slip out. So, we’ll bring
in the fish as gently as possible.
Question: Tim, we spotted that cobia at about 10:00
am, and we didn’t catch it until nearly 11:00
am. What took us so long?
Reynolds: The cobia had probably been previously cast
to and caught. We had to let the cobia settle down and
give it enough baits to choose from to eat. Many times,
you must be patient with the fish to get it to bite.
To reach Tim Reynolds, write him at 1599 A Bienville
Blvd., Ocean Springs, MS, 39564, or email him at timreynolds@allstate.com
or martytim@cable1.net.
For more information on cobia fishing, to book a trip
to fish for cobia and to learn about accommodations
in Biloxi, call Bobby Carter, the manager of the Isle
of Capri, at (228) 436-7928, or visit the website at
www.isleofcapri.com/biloxi.
You won’t find better food or nicer, more-spacious
accommodations anywhere else than on the Isle of Capri.
Go to www.visitmississippi.org, or call 1-866-See-Miss (733-6477)
for more information about Mississippi’s Gulf
Coast.
Tomorrow: Fishing Structure for Cobia
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