How To Choose Fishing Line For Cobia

 Why should you buy fishing line specifically made for Cobia? If you've read our article on the best tackle for catching Cobia, then you know that this game fish is a challenge to land, so it deserves some specific equipment. Heavy duty line designed for Cobia will not only hold up better than normal monofilament or fluorocarbon line, but it will also help you get a better hook set.

With a few exceptions, most anglers use 20-30lb line for Cobia. There are no strict rules, though; some anglers go lighter or heavier depending on personal preferences and/or the strength of their reels. In this article we're going to give you some insight on how to choose the best fishing line for Cobia.

What is Cobia Line Made Of?

Cobia line has a few different options: monofilament, fluorocarbon, and wire. We'll get more into each of these materials below, but for now let's talk about their pros and cons .

Monofilament

- Monofilament has been around for a long time, so it's the most familiar to you. It's relatively inexpensive, so if your reel is on the lower end of the fishing scale then monofilament line makes good financial sense. The drawbacks are that it doesn't handle cold water well and it's quite stiff. To compensate for this stiffness anglers will usually pre-braid their monofilament by tying it to a thinner line.

- Another pro is that monofilament is easy to knot, so you can tie all kinds of knots with it, from clinch and palomar down to the improved blood knot .

- Monofilament is also less visible in the water, meaning it won't spook Cobia or other game fish as much.

Fluorocarbon

- Fluorocarbon has a lower refractive index than monofilament, so it's even less visible in the water. This makes it a good choice for clear water.

- Fluorocarbon also has a lower stretch factor than monofilament, meaning that it's less forgiving of slack on the line. This makes for more accurate presentations.

- On the downside, fluorocarbon is expensive and you can't use knots with it as effectively as you can with monofilament. It also tends to be more visible in the water than monofilament.

- Fluorocarbon is a good choice for Cobia because it has high abrasion resistance and better depth capabilities.

- This is not something you want on your reel, but some anglers prefer fluorocarbon leaders when they're fishing with tough live baits like herring and mullet.

- This has the best attributes of both monofilament and fluorocarbon, but it's more expensive than either one. It also isn't quite as visible in the water as monofilament.

- A good choice for anglers who want to strike a balance between cost and benefits.

- This is the latest addition to the line of choices for Cobia anglers. It's very thin, but it's also very strong and abrasion resistant. It doesn't have much stretch at all, so you can get a good hook set on Cobia, which are known for their sharp teeth.

- The major drawback to wire line is that you can't use a knot with it, so you have to tie on a swivel.

- Wire also has the potential to get hooks caught in your line or cut your fingers when you're tying on a lure.

So basically Monofilament and fluorocarbon are the most popular Cobia lines and wire is the newest.

Non Stretch and Low Stretch Lines

As we've mentioned, Cobia is a tough fighter which means you want to announce your presence with every strike. This means choosing line with little stretch. The less the stretch factor of your line, the more likely you are to set the hook successfully when one of these fish takes your bait.

These fish are known for hitting hard and jumping out of the water, so it pays to have a line with little stretch factor. The downside is that line with less stretch has less forgiveness, so if you get slack in your line, or any bird nest for that matter, there's a lot more chance of snapping the tip of your rod or your line.

- The solution here is to invest in a good quality fishing rod and reel. High-quality gear will be able to handle the extra strain of low stretch lines and still put up a fight against tough fish like Cobia .