Gulf Coast Fisherman Magazine Vol 39 No 2 - Spring 2015 | Page 29
The Fly Guy
by Pete Cooper, Jr.
Try a Pipe for Cobia
T
he first legal-sized cobia I caught
on a fly came from a “pipe”.
Later that morning I was to catch
a much larger speciman that
would end up earning me the Louisiana
Outdoor Writers’ Association’s
prestigious “Fish Of The Year Award” for
1994. Pipes – at times – can draw these
fish just as strongly as any other offshore
petroleum platform, and they offer a very
viable fly-fishing opportunity.
One really good reason is that a pipe
has only one sub-surface obstacle for a
hooked fish to cut your line on. Another
is that if you stick virtually anything into
the bed of an otherwise fairly featureless
ocean – and have it rise all the way to the
surface – it is lifetime guaranteed to
attract fish. Cobia are quite prone to such
an attraction. Finally, the fish are often
found on the surface near one, thereby
allowing you to pick your target. That,
incidentally, is pretty hard to beat in the
sight-fishing department! Here’s the drill.
Approach the pipe from up-current.
Begin a drift from a bit less than 50 yards
and on a line that will permit the boat to
pass some 30 to 40 feet from it – no more!
If there are fish on the surface, you should
be able to see them plainly. Pick the one
you want, then place the fly no more than
three feet up-current of it and
immediately begin steady, moderately
fast strips. And always be ready to snatch
the fly from a smaller fish that is moving
to intercept it!
If no fish are obvious on the surface,
swing the boat around to a point where
you can make a similar drift down the
other side of the pipe. Do this only after
you have checked the water around the
boat, and especially near the outboard’s
lower unit, for any fish that have decided
to check you out. If nothing has been
detected on that drift, then move back to
a point up-current of the pipe, and while
the helmsman holds the boat in place,
make a few blind-casts to it, dropping the
fly some 10 feet, or so, short and allowing
it to drift back towards the pipe as it sinks.
When you guess it has gotten close
enough, then strip it back fast – and be
prepared for a sudden, vicious strike that
may occur right at the boat! Three or four
casts like this will usually determine if
anybody who’s willing is at home.
If you have not generated a
response, move the boat to the downcurrent side of the pipe and prospect it.
This time, place the fly tightly to the
structure and immediately begin the
retrieve. It might take two or three
presentations like that for the fly to get a
fish’s attention, so don’t get impatient.
If there has still been no response to
your efforts, then revert to Plan B –
which you can begin with if you really
want to. Have the helmsman move the
boat back to the up-current side of the
pipe, and while he holds it some 30 feet
away, have another crew-member break
out the chunking material, pogies and
cigar minnows being quite effective.
Five or six handfuls of thumb-sized
chunks, dispensed some 15 to 20 seconds
apart, should let you know for certain if
that pipe is worth the time, or if you need
to try another one.
If fish are present, it is likely they
will come in all sizes. Therefore, I don’t
recommend any blind casting, since it
seems that you are likely to be tussling
with a baby when a beast appears. Wait
until a suitable target presents itself, then
put the fly, once again, a short distance
up-current of it.
And, when you hook up – in any of
these scenarios, quickly determine which
side of the pipe the fish has run around
and follow it to safe water ASAP! Never
have I had a cobia that I hooked around a
pipe initially run towards the boat. But
that aside, everyone aboard should be
prepared for the boat’s sudden
acceleration.
You might imagine that this requires
some fairly stout tackle, and it does,
though my old ‘podnuh’, Bubby, got a
nice one – his first legal-sized fly caught
cobia – on an 8-weight outfit that he had
mistakenly brought along that morning.
While I have taken a few in this setting
on 10 weight – which is just fine when
fishing open-water rips for these fish, I
much preferred a 12 when we went “pipeprospecting”. For sure, you aren’t going
to stop a good fish