Are cobia good to eat?

Yes — cobia is one of the better-eating pelagics on the WA coast. The flesh is firm, white, mild and thick off the fillet, sashimi-grade when bled and iced immediately. Skin it and pan-sear or grill the steaks; smaller fish crumb well.

Where do you catch cobia in WA?

Cobia are caught from Kalbarri north along the whole WA coast, with the best fishing through the Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberley — around Exmouth, Coral Bay, Onslow and the Mackerel Islands. They hold tight to isolated bommies, FADs, mooring buoys and floating structure rather than roaming open water.

What is the bag limit for cobia in WA?

Cobia sit inside WA's statewide large pelagic finfish group, which has a combined daily bag limit of 3 fish total — shared with mackerel, tuna, wahoo and barracuda. The minimum legal size for cobia is 750mm. Always confirm current rules at DPIRD before you fish.

Why do cobia follow rays and sharks?

Cobia are opportunists that shadow large rays, sharks and turtles to ambush the small fish and crustaceans those animals flush out of the bottom. A ray gliding across a flat will often have a cobia or two riding in its slipstream — which is why sight-casting to rays is a recognised cobia tactic.

How big do cobia get?

WA cobia commonly run 8–25kg, with fish to 60kg on record. Most shots from a boat in the north are at fish in the 8–20kg range, which is plenty to test mid-weight spin gear when they dive for structure.

Do I need a licence to fish for cobia in WA?

You need a Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence (RFBL) to fish from a powered boat in WA, which covers most cobia fishing. No separate cobia or finfish licence exists. Check DPIRD for current licence rules before heading out.

Cobia in WA: Where to Catch the Cobalt Opportunist

Most people see their first cobia and reach for the gaff thinking it’s a small shark. Long, dark, slope-shouldered, cruising the shadow line of a bommie with the unhurried menace of something higher up the food chain — the cobia (Rachycentron canadum) does a convincing remora-on-steroids impression right up until it inhales your bait and tries to bury you in the reef. It is one of the better fish you can hook in northern WA: hard-fighting, curious to a fault, and genuinely excellent on the plate. It’s also a fish you have to go and find, and “north” is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

This is the honest version — where they actually are, how they behave, and what the rules say before one goes in the esky.

What You’re Looking At

Cobia have a silhouette all of their own. A single low dorsal ridge of short spines, a broad flat head, a dark chocolate-to-cobalt back fading to a paler belly, and often a faint lateral stripe that’s bold on juveniles. At a glance they read as shark, remora or even a small cobia-shaped log drifting past — which is exactly the look that’s fooled every angler at least once.

The behaviour is the giveaway, and it’s the best thing about them. Cobia are opportunists that shadow big slow-moving animals — rays, sharks, turtles, even anchored boats — picking off whatever gets flushed out of the bottom. A stingray flapping across a sandy flat will frequently have a cobia or two tucked in behind it like an escort. Spot the ray, look for the shadow, and you’ve often found your fish before you’ve made a cast. They’re investigators rather than schoolers: usually solo or in pairs, slow to spook, and prone to swimming straight over to see what your lure is.

Where and When in WA

Be straight about range. Cobia are a northern fish in WA — Kalbarri is roughly the southern edge, and the fishing only really gets good once you’re into the Gascoyne and beyond. The best country runs from the Ningaloo coast up through the Pilbara and into the Kimberley.

Exmouth — the obvious base. Cobia turn up on the Ningaloo bommies, around the Muiron Islands, and with grim reliability on the mooring buoys you pass on the run home. Always have a rod ready.
Coral Bay — shallow inshore reef and ray traffic on the flats make this prime sight-casting country for fish you can actually see eat the lure.
Onslow and the Mackerel Islands — isolated Pilbara structure, FADs and bommies hold cobia year-round, often mixed in while you’re chasing Spanish mackerel or trevally.

Cobia bite all year in the north, but they’re noticeably more active and more willing through the warmer months, roughly October to April. Tide changes and slack water around isolated structure are the prime windows. Bright, sunny days actually help here — flat light and a high sun make it far easier to pick a cruising fish off the shadow line of a bommie before it sees you.

The Rules: Check DPIRD First

Cobia sit inside WA’s statewide large pelagic finfish group, which carries a combined daily bag limit of 3 fish in total — and that three is shared across the whole category, so it’s any mix of cobia, mackerel, tuna, wahoo and barracuda, not three of each. The minimum legal size for cobia is 750mm. You also need a Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence (RFBL) to fish from a powered boat, which covers basically all cobia fishing.

Don’t take those numbers off a forum screenshot or this article a year from now — the statewide finfish limits were overhauled in 2026 and they shift. Read the current rules at DPIRD before every trip, and screenshot the page, because reception out on the Pilbara reefs is exactly as good as you’d expect.

How to Catch Them

There are three ways to put a cobia in the boat, and the situation usually picks the method for you.

Sight-cast. The most fun, and the one cobia are built for. When you mark a bommie or pass an anchored boat, give it a wide berth first and scan the shadow line. Spot a ray crossing a flat and watch its slipstream. Pitch a large soft plastic — a 7 to 9 inch jerkshad on a heavy jighead — ahead of a cruising fish and let it sink into its path. They’ll usually swim over to investigate and eat. Keep a pitch rod rigged and ready at all times; cobia appear and vanish in seconds and you don’t want to be re-tying while one cruises past.

Jig. Over deeper bommies, drop a slow-pitch or vertical jig and work it back through the structure zone. Cobia inhale lures, so a single heavy assist hook through the head holds best.

Bait. A live mullet or yakka, a whole pilchard or a fresh fish strip on a no-sinker or lightly-weighted rig, drifted past structure, is hard to beat when fish are around but not showing on top.

Whatever the method, gear up heavier than feels necessary: a heavy spin or overhead outfit, 30–50lb braid and a 60–80lb fluorocarbon leader, on a 7/0–9/0 circle hook for baits. On the strike, lock up and pull the fish away from structure immediately or you’ll lose it. Cobia are famous for one or two long, low, bulldogging runs before they sound — don’t relax until the leader’s in hand. Carry a wide-gape gaff rather than a net for anything over 15kg.

On the Plate

This is where cobia earns its keep. The flesh is firm, white, mild and unusually thick off the fillet — sashimi-grade when bled and iced the moment it’s boated, which up north means immediately, before the heat gets to it. Skin off, then pan-sear or grill the steaks; smaller fish crumb beautifully. It’s genuinely one of the best-eating pelagics on the WA coast, which is part of why a fish that fights this hard is worth keeping for the table rather than the photo.

Cobia reward anglers who watch the water — the ray with a shadow, the buoy with a dark shape under it, the bommie that’s worth one more drift. Confirm the current bag and size rules at DPIRD before you head out, check tides, wind and swell on BiteCompass, and keep a pitch rod rigged. The fish that looks like a shark is usually the best feed on the boat.