Catching Nearshore Tripletail & Cobia With Inshore Tackle
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
Are you interested in nearshore fishing for species like cobia and tripletail?
Here’s a little secret…
You can have great results using the exact same lures and tackle as you do for inshore redfish, flounder, and trout.
So you don’t have to get new tackle in order to do this type of fishing.
In this video, I had a blast catching tripletail and cobia on crab trap buoys using the same gear I use on the flats… I even used the same lures!
And the fun didn’t stop on the water, either.
I kept the two tripletail and had multiple delicious dinners with family and friends afterwards.
If you enjoy sight fishing, then you’re going to love this new video.
Check it out below!
Catching Nearshore Tripletail & Cobia [VIDEO]
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Equipment Used
Here is what I was using this trip:
Setup 1 (first tripletail and cobia)
- Rod: Custom Bull Bay Rod 7′ 6″ Medium-Heavy Power
- Reel: Daiwa Fuego 3000
- Line: 10 lb Sufix 832
- Leader: 20 lb Ande Mono
- Lure: Alabama Leprechaun rigged on 3/0 Owner TwistLock hook with 1/8 oz weight
Setup 2 (second tripletail)
- Rod: TFO Professional 7′ 6″ Medium-Heavy Power
- Reel: Quantum Smoke 2500
- Line: 10 lb PowerPro
- Leader: 30 lb Ande Mono
- Lure: Custom Brazilian Shrimp (Coming to USA soon)
The first tripletail was caught on the Alabama Leprechaun.
It was up near the surface and smashed it as I twitched it by him.
The second tripletail was caught on the Brazilian shrimp (coming soon!).
I was using the Alabama Leprechaun first, but the fish dove deeper so I quickly changed to my setup that had the Brazilian shrimp on a bit heavier of a lure.
It’s always a good idea to have a few rods rigged for different depths so that you can cover the entire water column without having to tie on a new rig.
After a few casts, it finally ate!
And here’s another good thing about this type of fishing — you can use the same inshore gear that you use for redfish, trout, and snook.
The light gear will help you cast accurately, which is crucial for sight fishing tripletail near buoys, and it’s still plenty strong enough to get them into the boat.
Conclusion
Catching tripletail and cobia along buoys is a blast!
Once you’ve found them, approach them slowly and pitch your lure to them.
They can be picky, as you saw in the video, but keep trying and you just might be rewarded with a delicious dinner!
Have any questions about catching tripletail?
Let me know down in the comments.
And if you know someone who wants to catch more tripletail, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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Luke – Can you recommend a rod and reel and line for near shore jigging and bottom fishing , and occasional tarpon fishing?
Nice big Tripletails (my favorite fish to eat)!! What a perfect way to break it in… I bet you will be taking that Pathfinder out Hogfishing soon (my other favorite). Congrats on the new boat and great catches too!!
Thanks Steve! Yes, I’m hoping to start targeting hogfish sometime soon.
Great job!! So jealous!! Hopefully I’ll be pulling up next to you in my Bay boat soon!!!
Thanks Daniel! I hope to see you out there soon.
Good Morning
Up hear in New Jersey we don’t get to see most of the species you present
Any chance you can discuss fish such as Fluke(flounder) striped bass, blackfish(tog) black seabass etc
Greatly appreciate
Ross
We have some excellent courses covering everything you need to know on both Fluke and Striped bass. Both were done from an expert in your region named John Skinner. And both come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so be sure to give them a shot. You’ll be able to find them on our Courses page linked here: https://www.saltstrong.com/courses/
Thanks, Luke. I was unaware that you could target triple tails near crab traps. Is this true for inshore, too?
Thanks again.
Yes. Tripletail will sometimes come inshore too so it’s worth keeping an eye out for them.
Thanks, Luke!
I’ve seen them on the crab traps in shore also. if you can find a bunch of sailboats in an area they will usually congregate there
Thank you. I’ve seen a video of them hanging around anchored sailboats.
Hey Luke,
I check crab pots and bouys constantly but never see anything. Should I just start randomly throwing at them? Also, live shrimp tossed at a bouy would be good too Greenbacks?
Thanks.
If the water is at least moderately clear, you’ll see them if they are there because they’ll often hold close to the surface. Most buoys don’t have any on them, so it would be very time consuming to stop and cast at them without knowing one is there.
Awesome catch Luke! Your captain did a great job as well.
Thanks Stan!
Great job Luke. Really cool video.
Thanks Robert!
congrats!!
Thanks James!
Great video… love to see the inshore/nearshore fishing!
Thanks, Fishing-Rod Rice
Thanks Rod!