My First Nearshore Reef Trip Of The Summer [Cobia & Surprise Snook]
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
The wind forecast on a recent trip I was on was very light, so I decided to head out on my first nearshore reef trip of the year to see if there was any feeding activity.
Our trolling motor was getting services, so I decided to just drift over the reef while bouncing Power Prawn USA jigs along the bottom.
As soon as I had the first bite of the morning, I knew I made a great decision… see video for details.
Nearshore Reef Fishing
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Featured Equipment:
- Lure: Power Prawn USA – Original
- Jighead: Hoss Weedless Football – 3/4 oz with 5/0 Hook
- Reel: Daiwa BG MQ – 3000
- Rod: Custom Prototype (7’6″ MH Fast 10-20 lb line rating)
- Mainline: J-Braid 8 Grand – 20 lb
- Leader: Ande Mono – 30 lb
- Scent: Dr. Juice Saltwater Slam Exclusive Scent
Conclusion
Nearshore reef fishing sure can be productive even if you don’t have any live bait or a trolling motor.
The Power Prawn lures rigged on Hoss Weedless Football Jigheads have been shocking effective for catching a variety of species… here’s a quick list of what I have been catching out there recently:
- cobia
- snook
- gag grouper
- mangrove snapper
- flounder
- sea bass
- Spanish mackerel
Your Feedback Needed
I’ll be doing MANY more trips to nearshore reefs this summer, so please let me know about any specific topics you’d like me to focus on using the Comment feed below.
This was my first nearshore reef trip of the year but I plan to get out and hit more reefs soon!
Tight Lines!
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Another great fun report. I like the way the cobia handled himself in the netting experience. Thanks for emphasizing the drifting aspect. How far offshore does your phone still receive the smart spots?
Thanks Jan! The smart spots has worked even out at 12 miles out for me when going out from Tampa. But that range will of course vary based on location and phone service providers.
That was fun. I was holding my breath on landing the cobia. Glad you did not go for a swim!
Thanks for making time to post the nice comment William!
That was a fun video!!!
Thanks Amy!
It would make the post at least pertinent if you were to give us some idea of what area you were fishing….no need to give specific location, but at least a reasonably general idea. Obvioulsy with the sun rising, it would indicate it was on the East Coast ( or was the sun setting???). Some things that work in one area are not all that good in others.
This was filmed on the Gulf coast, but this same strategy works great on the Atlantic coast too… only difference is that heavier jigheads are often needed on the Atlantic because the currents are stronger.
wow great for here around Cape Coral.
Thanks for making time to post the nice comment.
Nice snook ! The reel look like it was spooled with gray j-braid I don’t remember you saying anything about the color..?
The color of the braid doesn’t seem to matter to the fish. I just use gray because it is harder for my dog, Otis, to see it when he jumps in after a fish… once he learned that he can just follow the line to get to the fish, I had to switch from the yellow I used to go with so that it would show up in videos to the gray.
A GREEN Cobia can be VERY belligerent, what a catch Luke, congrats & thanks so much for sharing !! P.S. That rod is REALLY going to be a pleasure to fish with !!!!
Thanks George!
Luke, that was a great trip. Thanks for the video and tips! The reef location on the smart fishing app is great.
Glad to see that you enjoyed this post and that you’re liking the reef location aspect of Smart Spots.
Those were two very nice fish Luke! Never in a million years would I expect a snook being that far out there.
Thanks Mark! It’s surprising how far out snook will sometimes go… my record was a catch at 50ft.
Seems as if there should be a challenge…… On nearshore reefs, does the power prawn catch as many fish as live bait?
Let’s GOOOO!!!!!
That’ll be a fun test to conduct.