Choosing the Best Jigs for Ling

When you’ll be casting jigs to sighted cobia (ling), just what you tie onto the end of your line counts. Cobia are famous for following lures and then turning away at the last moment, or at times ignoring them completely. Choose the best jig for the job, however, and you have a much better chance of turning that follow into a rod-bending strike.

• Add a silicon skirt to your jighead. The additional profile and action they provide often makes the jig a bit more tempting.
• Choose a jig heavy enough to sling long distances with accuracy, but light enough that it doesn’t sink like a rock. Most of the time, jigs in the one- to two-ounce range work well.
• Choose a tail with gobs of action to dress out the jig. Paddle-tails will work, but twisters are often a top pick. Long, eel-shaped twisters that flutter and swim at all speeds are usually particularly effective.
• Color choice follows the usual parameters regarding brights in bright sunlight and darks in low-light conditions. But there’s one catch: when it’s very cloudy or there isn’t much available light, sight fishing for cobia is often a nonstarter. So most sharpies who target them by sight fishing concentrate their efforts on clear, sunny days, and as a result, generally have bright white, green, and pink hues on the end of their lines.
• As you put together the pieces and parts of your offering (head, skirt, and tail) be sure to incorporate some color-contrast. Jigs offering a single hue rarely work as well as those that mix and match.
• Some anglers will argue all day over head shape, but truth be told, any style will work just fine. You should, however, pay attention to the hook attached to that head. Cobia are powerful fish, and big ones can bend out thin hooks. So, make sure the heads you pick have the thick, sturdy variety.

You have an ideal jig tied to the end of your line, but it still gets ignored when you rip it past a cobia? Remember this trick: if a fish seems indifferent to a retrieved jig, cast about five feet in front of the fish and allow the jig to free-fall. Sometimes they just can’t resist this presentation, and you can go from zero to hero in the blink of an eye.