I’ll be driving from Florida up north and have alway heard about the cobia fishing in the broad river, I was thinking if the stars aligned I would stop off a day and use my kayak to fish for them, I never caught one but maybe you guys could tell me some general areas I might have a shot. I es thinking maybe this weekend on Thursday…has the action started? Also any recommendations on a hotel near the action. Thanks in advance!
Joe
Make sure you video it! I’d love to watch a video on a 40# + cobia being landed from a kayak. Make sure you pick a very nice day, the broad can get pretty choppy with a little wind, and very choppy with a lot of wind. None can be kept in May all must be released.
Remember that you will need an SC saltwater fishing license and that the harvest of cobia in St Helena, Port Royal and Calibogue sound and adjacent state waters is prohibited during the month of May. There are a number of hotels on Hwy 21 leading into Beaufort they would be the closest to the boat landing/fishing pier at the Broad River bridge which is generally a good sport for fishing. I will warn you that there is a 7-8 foot tide and the current especially in the main channel is significant I would not want to paddle against it. Good luck.
I’ve got some pretty big fish off the kayak so the cobia should be ok, I’m going to release any fish I get. If I did launch at he bridge should I head back into the shallows or head towards the mouth?
Here is a pretty big fish I got from the kayak last week
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Originally posted by Fred67Make sure you video it! I’d love to watch a video on a 40# + cobia being landed from a kayak. Make sure you pick a very nice day, the broad can get pretty choppy with a little wind, and very choppy with a lot of wind. None can be kept in May all must be released.
X2!! The Broad is not kayak friendly at all if there is even the slightest amount of wind. It can get nasty in a hurry!
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Most fish are caught below or right at bridge. There are two areas that fishermen/fish tend to congregate downstream the Parris Island rip and a place about half way between there and the bridge called the Turtle. Big eddys on falling tides and current is swift. The pier and bridge also produce fish. During slack water some pursue them with fly fishing gear presented on the surface. Because of historic fishing on this spawning aggregation numbers are not what they used to be but hopefully you will have some luck.
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The Broad is not kayak friendly at all if there is even the slightest amount of wind. It can get nasty in a hurry!
Amen, We got caught in a storm on the Broad as a kid. My Dad was a Navy man and it was only through his seamanship that we did not sink.
If that is you with that billfish, I think you’ll be fine catching a Cobia. I recall a guy catching a 6’+ Tarpon a couple of years ago down that way in a kayak.
“Apathy is the Glove into Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”, but really, who cares?
I can’t believe you caught that in a kayak. That is some fishing.
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Originally posted by Myrtleman44I can’t believe you caught that in a kayak. That is some fishing.
Yep, some kind of fishing. Must have been high speed paddle trolling.
I bet that sailfish was a riot – I’m guessing S Florida, or in the panhandle somewhere? As far as your original question, I haven’t seen menhaden in numbers yet, so it may be a little early for cobia this year. Most other years I would have expected to see them already. Water temp at the Charleston NOAA station is still sub 70 degrees, unfortunately.
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It took over an hour and I was 3 miles from the spot I hooked him. Yes it was south Florida and only about a mile off the beach in 70 feet of water. I was happy he swam away in great shape.
Looks like a few might have been caught already – just saw this in the Beaufort section: http://old.charlestonfishing.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=176662
I’m hoping they show up in a week or two in the Charleston area, although they don’t seem to really venture inshore here. Not sure what it is about the Beaufort area that they like, maybe Charleston is a little too busy for them.
Good luck, and definitely let us know how you do! Landing a cobia in a kayak would be pretty sweet.
Also sent you a PM about the sailfish – I bet that was a hell of an experience fighting and landing that from a kayak.
1994 Hewes Redfisher 18, 2004 Yamaha 150 VMAX
Malibu X-Factor Kayak
Do not bring a large cobia into the yak or you and everything in it will be floating in the Broad River. You may think he is whipped but once they hit the bottom of the boat they go crazy. That plus the law requires a release without removing from the water.
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