| Have a float of some sort tied to your
anchor line so that you can untie and get away from your anchor in a hurry if need be. You
can grind your own chum, but most will buy frozen, ground menhaden from local tackle shops
or seafood houses. You can buy chum pots, make your own, or use an onion sack or burlap
bag. I chum top and bottom. My surface chum pot is a five gallon bucket with holes drilled
in it. My bottom chum pot is a minnow trap with a diver's weight in it to get it to the
bottom. Use fairly heavy tackle for these fish that can push 100 pounds. 30 pound class is
about right. Use a fish finder rig with enough weight to keep your bait on the bottom.
Your leader needs to be short enough for casting. Hook size should be based on the bait
that you are using, a 7/0 is a good starting point. Circle hooks work well. Place out as
many rods as your fishing party can clear in a hurry, the more rods the more tangles. In
addition to the baits on the bottom, you can place a bait or two on the surface using a
cork or balloon to keep it off the bottom. I don't do this anymore because almost all of
my fish have been caught on the bottom. I do keep a rod ready to cast to a surface
swimming cobia ( I do this all summer no matter what I am fishing for). Most cobia
fishermen will leave their reels in free-spool with the clicker on. They will let the
cobia run with the bait for a bit before setting the hook. I leave mine in gear and let
the cobia hook itself. Cobia will eat just about anything but can be picky at times. Any
small, legal sized fish can be used as bait. Croaker, spot, pigfish, grey trout, and
bluefish are the most available. Eels are an area favorite. Cut bait also works well,
fresh menhaden and bluefish are good. Peeler crab works great if you can keep it away from
the bait stealers. As the season progresses, York Spit Light, Latimer Shoal, the Inner
Middle Ground of the CBBT, and the deeper areas of the Hump and 36A (old C10) become good
areas. Structure fishing is best from late July through
September. The major areas are the bouy lines, the CBBT, and the Chesapeake Light Tower.
Casting to visible fish, with jigs and live bait, is the usual method. Early in the
morning and during light current are the most productive times. You can add some weight to
your line and drift your baits past a productive bouy for deeper fish. The trick is
getting the fish away from the structure. Some people will use light drags and try to
tease the fish away, I use a heavy drag and try to horse the fish out. Both ways work
sometimes.
Trolling is primarily done along the CBBT and around the shoals
near the mouth of the bay. Over the shoals, spoons are the preferred lure. 3 1/2 Drones or
number 18 and 19 Pet spoons are good choices. Use an in-line sinker with a 15 to 25 foot
leader and slowly troll over and around the shallow water near the northern section of the
CBBT. You may catch drum as well as cobia doing this. Along the pilings of the CBBT, I
have had good luck slowly trolling green and red surgical eels.
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