Targeting Prodigal son (Cobia)

[AT SUN RISE]

Is it possible to target Prodigal Son?  I still wish to cath one.  As I understand, it is not that easy.  Can anyone please give advice and maybe some heads-up on traces that can be used. 

[shagnrelease]

Hi there, well its a difficult one because we dont know to much about them in this country and they are almost always caught as by-catch when targeting other species.

however they do like structure, areas like the marker boys on the Patingo wreck at Richards bay, we have seen a few of them there.
Also when we were in Mozambique we could target them succesfully underneath the whale sharks, they seemed to follow these huge sharks about like puppies, basically a moving structure. On that instance we just used a standard couta type drift bait, and also sards hooked through the top lip.

However I know Tunaman did some extensive research on the slimey beasties so I am sure he will also comment.

[Tsutsuma]

Is it possible to target Prodigal Son?  I still wish to cath one.  As I understand, it is not that easy.  Can anyone please give advice and maybe some heads-up on traces that can be used.

Yes - it is.
I fish at a submerged ship wreck in 25 meters of water for my Prodicals
On live bait and a normal ballon I have the best success
On this spot I am telling you about they are full up
First you think it is a shark - when it gte closer to the boat - it looks like a shark.
Thye fight a fantastic dirty fight in this shallow water

[jaenswart]

Is it possible to target Prodigal Son?  I still wish to cath one.  As I understand, it is not that easy.  Can anyone please give advice and maybe some heads-up on traces that can be used.

One of the very best tactics is to find a whale shark. You find a whale shark you find the elusive prodigal son.

Like greg said...structure...living or dead

[Tsutsuma]

One of the very best tactics is to find a whale shark. You find a whale shark you find the elusive prodigal son.

Like greg said...structure...living or dead

I will remember this about Whale Sharks and Prodicals
What about normal whales - do Prodicals swim with them as well??

[Tsutsuma]

Pix of a Prodical I caught on this Werck I am talking about
Was on a live carapao

[jaenswart]

I will remember this about Whale Sharks and Prodicals
What about normal whales - do Prodicals swim with them as well??

I've never seen them around whales. Might be because whales dive quite deep. But worth having a look

[shagnrelease]

I will remember this about Whale Sharks and Prodicals
What about normal whales - do Prodicals swim with them as well??

I doubt it as whales are a lot quiker moving, and the sharks tend to hang around a lot longer.

[Tsutsuma]

I doubt it as whales are a lot quiker moving, and the sharks tend to hang around a lot longer.

OK - thanks your reply
I understand what you are saying
I will keep my eyes open for our Whale Shark friends and there
stunning fighting "Prodicals"

[Tsutsuma]

I've never seen them around whales. Might be because whales dive quite deep. But worth having a look

That is why I was asking - because we have whales all over the place -
they come very close to my boat where I am jigging.
Always while jigging I have two live baits out - one down rigged and the other on the surface -
have never caught a Prodical while whales around
"Shag" hit the nail on the head.

[AT SUN RISE]

Thanks for all the input.  I will try and put it to good use this December at Vidal.  Hope the Walesharks will be there again.  Maybe this time I'll be lucky. Please give more info, regarding fishing around the Walesharks....distance, approach, etc.  Thanks again.

[Tsutsuma]

In our waters here around Inhaca Island - we would target YFT when we find the
Dolphins.
It is a sure thing that YFT swim with Dolphins or Dolphins swim with them.
My and our biggest Yellow Fin Tunas were caught when trolling
Tuna rigs near Dolphins.

[TUNAMAN]

In our waters here around Inhaca Island - we would target YFT when we find the
Dolphins.
It is a sure thing that YFT swim with Dolphins or Dolphins swim with them.
My and our biggest Yellow Fin Tunas were caught when trolling
Tuna rigs near Dolphins.

It is known that big yellow fin follow dolphin. It is not always the case but generally would be when the dolphin is hunting. Yellow fin take advantage of the herding skills Dolphin exhibit when locating any bait.

[Tsutsuma]

It is known that big yellow fin follow dolphin. It is not always the case but generally would be when the dolphin is hunting. Yellow fin take advantage of the herding skills Dolphin exhibit when locating any bait.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm - well there I have my answer
Thanks

[TUNAMAN]

The body of a cobia is elongated with a broad, depressed head. The first dorsal fin consists of 8 to 10 short depressible spines that are not connected by a membrane. Both the second dorsal fin and the anal fin each have one to two spines and 20 to 30 soft rays. The adult cobia is dark brown with a whitish underside and is marked on the sides by silver or bronze lines. Young cobia, possessing alternating black and white stripes and speckled with bronze, orange, and green, are more colorful than adults.
A cobia’s shape is comparable to that of a shark, with a powerful tail fin and the elevated anterior portion of the second dorsal fin. It can be distinguished from the similar remora (Remora remora), by the absence of a suction pad on the head.
Cobia can grow to a length of 6 feet and a weight of 90 pounds, the average size being 3 feet and 15 pounds. Females are slightly larger than males. They generally live 9 to 10 years, and some reports indicate greater longevity. A 9-year-old fish can weigh close to 100 pounds. Scientific reports say that cobia can reach a maximum weight of 150 pounds, but that has not been the case in U.S. waters. The all-tackle rod-and-reel record cobia weighed 135 pounds, 9 ounces.
Found worldwide in tropical and warm temperate waters, cobia inhabit the western Atlantic from Cape Cod to Argentina (being most abundant in the Gulf of Mexico), the eastern Atlantic from the coast of Morocco to South Africa, and Indo-West Pacific waters from Japan to Australia and the East Indies.
Adult cobia prefer shallow continental shelf waters, often congregating along reefs and around buoys, pilings, wrecks, anchored boats, and other stationary or floating objects. They are found in a variety of locations over mud, gravel, or sand bottoms, coral reefs and man-made sloughs, and at depths of up to 60 feet.

Although juveniles are sometimes found in schools, adult cobia often swim alone or among small schools of other cobia or sharks. Fish in these schools may vary considerably in size. They are believed to spawn in the offshore waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico during late spring and summer, between April and May, and the larvae migrate shoreward. Males reach sexual maturity when they are two years old and 24 inches long, and females at age 3 and 36 inches in length. An adult female cobia may lay 6 to 7 million eggs at one time. Juveniles are abundant in summer along coastlines after the spawning season.
Cobia migrate from offshore to inshore environs as well as inshore from east to west and vice versa. Little about their movements has been confirmed, although it is known that in winter some fish move from shallow to deeper water, or laterally to warmer areas. A tagged cobia migrated 1,300 nautical miles from west of the Mississippi River to Daytona Beach, Florida, in an eight-month period. In the western Atlantic, cobia migrate as far north as Cape Cod in the summer and then south again to tropical waters in the fall.
Cobia feed mostly on crustaceans, particularly shrimp, squid, and crabs (thus the name “crab eater”), as well as on eels and various small fish found in shallow coastal waters.

A few swimming crab obtainable at most Bouys etc. and presented near structure in not to deep water should do the trick.