The Cobia is a pelagic species that occurs in continental shelf waters of the tropical Atlantic and Indo-west Pacific. In Australia it is known from south-western Western Australia, around the tropical north of the country and south to the central coast of New South Wales.
When you find them Cobia are usually not to hard to tempt with the right set up. They will happily take mulies, squid, strips of fish and other baits, ideally for the best results fish with just a light weight or without any weight at all.
Cobia can also be caught on lures, including bibbed lures that are trolled or cast. They’ll readily hit lead-head jigs and occasionally respond well to poppers. Jigs and soft plastics are also very effective on cobia. Sight casting soft plastics or at Cobia sitting on manta rays or sharks is a highly productive way to fish for them. Many lures are lost though by anglers who find themselves hooked to the host rather than the fish so be careful with your casts.
When hooked Cobia can go very hard and are capable of very long and powerful runs, but they will also often come in quite quickly at first, leading the angler to think the battle is won. Don't be fooled by this as they often get a very strong second wind at that point and it pays to exercise caution when using the gaff, as they are incredibly strong fish.