Find the seams.
Before you leave the dock.
Every morning Cobia reads the water off Southeast Florida and the northern Bahamas, marks the temperature breaks, color edges and upwellings, and picks two or three places to start from your inlet. As numbers your plotter takes.
Updated · In beta
Tap a start to open its spot below.
Offshore hotspots in Cobia is a daily list of GPS starting points for offshore trips off Southeast Florida and the northern Bahamas. Each spot sits where the water lines up for fish that day, on a temperature break, a color edge, an upwelling over a hump or ledge, a cool eddy or the edge of the Stream. Set your home inlet and you get two or three starts a day, each with its position, depth, the straight line run from your inlet and why it's there.
Key facts
- What it finds
- Temperature breaks, color edges, upwellings over humps and ledges, cool eddies and the edge of the Stream.
- Your starts
- Two or three a day from your home inlet, weighing how good a spot looks against how far you'd run.
- How it rates them
- Strong, Decent, Fair or Weak, with a count of the mornings in a row a spot has looked good.
- When it updates
- A report every evening for the next day, updated at 5:30 AM Eastern with that morning's look at the water.
- To your plotter
- A GPX file of your starts or every spot, or one position in DDM, DD or DMS.
- Where it works
- Seven regions, from Sebastian down to Miami and across to Walker's Cay, Grand Bahama, Bimini and Abaco.
Where the water lined up on October 30
This is the water off Jupiter and Palm Beach that morning, drawn from Cobia's own ocean data. Warm Gulf Stream water runs up the middle, cooler water sits over the Little Bahama Bank, and the gold lines are the sharpest temperature breaks. The dots were that morning's spots. The numbered ones were the starts from Jupiter Inlet.
Every start comes with its numbers
Open a spot and it gives you what you need at the dock. The position in the format your plotter takes, the run from your inlet, the depth, and why the spot is there.
- DDM, DD or DMS. Pick the format and copy it. DDM is what most plotters take.
- The (3) is a streak. It counts the mornings in a row a spot has looked good, from two on.
- Spots drift about 5 miles a day, so each one says how far it moved since yesterday.
Try the three starts above, and the three position formats on the spot. The positions are the real ones from that morning's report.
- A 4.8°F temperature break
- 11 fm of water
- Found 3 days in a row
Not for navigation. Check the route for shallows. Spots drift about 5 miles a day, so check the water when you get there.
Where fish set up offshore
The same edges a good captain hunts for, read across the whole region before you wake up. Each spot is tagged with what put it there.
Where warmer and cooler water meet. Each spot says how big its break is.
Green, bait rich water against clear blue water. Fish the edge where they meet.
Current pushing up over a hump, ledge or steep bottom lifts cooler water and bait.
A cool swirl off the Stream, cooler in the middle than the water around it.
The edge of the Stream, where fast water runs past slower water.
Not for navigation. Check the route for shallows. Spots drift about 5 miles a day.
Your starts, on your plotter
Share one GPX file with your starts or every spot in the region, or copy the positions as plain text, one spot per line. Each waypoint is named like JP03, so the plotter and the app agree, and its notes say Not for navigation.
- Garmin ActiveCaptainPick ActiveCaptain in the share sheet. The waypoints sync to your Garmin plotter the next time it connects.
- Navionics BoatingPick Navionics. The spots import as markers.
- C-MAPImport as waypoints. They show on your Simrad, Lowrance or B&G when it syncs.
- SD card plottersSave to Files, then copy the file to the card your plotter reads.
Fresh before you leave the dock
The water moves overnight, so the spots do too. Cobia checks it again in the morning, keeps an eye on the spots you save, and asks how it went when you're back in.
Tomorrow's report comes out, and the app switches to it.
It updates with that morning's look at the water, so a spot can shift a little.
Saved spots are checked hourly. Alert me if it moves sends a push when one moves, fades or goes under cloud.
Cobia asks how the water was at the spots you saved, sent or opened that day.
- Holding at 8 AM
- Moved 1 nm NE by 11 AM
- Under cloud at 1 PM, so this is an estimateEstimated: cloud hid the water
Solid dots are where the water was seen. A hollow dot is an estimate under cloud, so check that one with your own eyes. The track shown is an example.
Tap the stars for a spot you fished, or Didn't for one you skipped. What you saw is optional.
Ratings help tune tomorrow's spots. We only use them added up across many anglers, never to show where you fished. The rating shown is an example.
- Every position is a fishing starting point, not a navigation fix. The spot screens, the copied positions and the GPX file all say so.
- Runs are straight lines from your inlet, not routes. If a line crosses shallow water, the spot says so.
- Heading to the Bahamas? US boats need a Bahamas cruising permit and a Bahamas fishing permit.
The rest of the read
Questions about offshore hotspots
What are offshore hotspots in Cobia?
A short daily list of GPS starting points off Southeast Florida and the northern Bahamas, each one where the water lines up for fish that day. Every spot is numbered like JP03 and rated Strong, Decent, Fair or Weak. Set your home inlet and Cobia picks two or three of them as your starts, weighing how good each looks against how far you would run.
What is a temperature break?
A line where warmer and cooler water meet, sometimes a degree or more apart over a short distance. Bait collects along it and pelagic fish hunt the edge. A spot on a break tells you how big the break is, like the 4.8°F break at JP07 on October 30.
How often do the spots update?
A report for the next day comes out every evening. At 5:30 AM Eastern it updates with that morning's look at the water, the Bahamas regions included. Save a spot and turn on Alert me if it moves to get a push if it moves, fades or goes under cloud, checked hourly from 7 AM to 3 PM.
What does the number in brackets next to a spot mean?
It's the number of mornings in a row the spot has looked good. It shows from two days up, so a spot without one is new today. On the spot's page it's called Days favorable.
Will the waypoints work with my plotter?
Share the GPX file to Garmin ActiveCaptain, Navionics Boating or C-MAP and the waypoints show up the next time your plotter syncs, or save it to the SD card your plotter reads. You can also copy one position in degrees and decimal minutes, which is what most plotters take.
Can I use it to navigate?
No. Every position is a fishing starting point, not a navigation fix. Runs are straight lines from your inlet, not routes, and a spot whose line crosses shallow water is flagged. Check your chart for shallows and hazards before you go.
Tomorrow's starts,
on your plotter tonight.
Download Cobia, pick your region and home inlet, and your starts land before you leave the dock.
