Cocoa Beach, Merritt Island Fishing Report

The Beach is Hot – For Fishing that is!

You have heard it before, find the bait and you find the fish. The pogies have returned to the beach from where ever they went and the fishing has heated up. Mike and Max joined me this week for a little nearshore action and we got more than a little action. We boated south along the beach until we found some pogies and filled the well with one well placed cast. We turned east toward the sunrise and the adventure was on. Max hooked up first with a nice king.



We were using a standard stinger rig with Daiichi Octopus Hooks. We used a Bleeding Bait 4/0 for the nose hook and a 6/0 as the trailer. About 12 to 14 inches of 40 lb braided wire made up the stinger and it was fastened to about 5 feet of 60 pound Triple Fish Saltwater Leader using an Albright knot. We had Power Pro 40 lb as the mainline. This set up worked every time but once when we pulled back a stub. The leader had been severed completely by a toothy critter.



We were in double figures for the day on kings so most of them were given their freedom. Dad, Mike and son Max, put three nice kings on ice for a family fish fry they planned for the evening of their trip. With three in the bag we still had plenty more action Max was tussling with a near twenty pound king when Mike yells, “What’s that?” I replied quickly with, “Cobia, drop a bait in the water.” The big cobe had moseyed up to see what was going on with the kingfish at the side of the boat so Mike made an offering while Max left the king in the water to keep the cobia’s attention. The whole scheme worked perfectly and the fish ate the pogie. Mike gave him an open bail for a while to let him eat it and then set the hook. This big guy just kind of swam around the boat as if nothing had happened.

I told Mike he was going to have to wear him down a little before we hauled him in. The last thing anyone wants in the boat is a green cobia. Mike started to pressure him and let him know he was hooked up and the big guy finally began to realize everything was not normal. Anyway, a few minutes later after some hard pullin’ and a lot of sweatin’ we pulled a 30 pound cobia aboard and the evening menu had changed. Mike’s guests were going to enjoy some fresh cobia instead of kings.



As always, you can visit my website at www.inshorefishingadventures.com to view pictures of the fish we catch in the Cocoa Beach area. That’s what it’s all about. Good fishin’.

Capt. Ron Presley
Phone 321-454-7285
presleyr@bellsouth.net