Fish That Can Kill You!

Cobia

Cobia are curious creatures. They will often swim right up to the boat and eat whatever bait they are offered. But that's where the curiosity ends and the dirty tricks begin. "No two cobia fight the same way," says Captain Troy Crane (maraudersportfishing.com) - a nearshore fishing specialist out of Pirates Cove, North Carolina. Crane says that cobia will pull every trick in the book from charging the boat to spooling a reel. Even after a big cobia is on the deck, the fight is not over. "They flat-out tear stuff up," Crane says. "I've seen them throw coolers, break fishbox lids, jump off the gaff, we even had one fish smack an angler in the chin and knock him over."

Season: May through September.

Location: North Carolina's Outerbanks oceanfront.

Tackle: Heavy spinning gear, 65-pound braided line, 2-ounce bucktails

Techniques: On bright sunny days, Crane cruises the beach sight-casting to marauding cobia. When low light makes sight fishing difficult, he can anchor up and deploy a chum trail to bring these fish into his live bunker and bluefish baits.