Your box, ranked.
Tie on the top one.
Name the fish and Cobia ranks the lures you already own for it, for this season and today's water. Each pick says why. What you're missing comes last.
Updated
Flair hawk and white bucktail jigs are bridge, inlet, and beach classics, deadly on big snook after dark. Moving water has fish feeding.
You own 3 · Flair hawk jig 1/2 oz · White
Jig-rigged soft plastics are the most versatile snook presentation. Match jig weight to current and depth.
You own 12 · Round jighead 1/4 oz
The do-everything snook bait. Swim a mullet-profile paddletail along beaches, seawalls, and passes.
You own 6 · Paddle tail 4 in · Mullet
Twitch-and-pause suspending plugs shine around docks, seawalls, and bridge pilings in current. Moving water has fish feeding.
You own 2 · Suspending twitchbait · Silver/Blue
A weedless spoon's wobble and flash covers grassy flats and potholes without fouling.
You own 1 · Weedless spoon 1/2 oz · Gold
Walk-the-dog at first light over flats, beaches, and bait schools for explosive surface strikes.
Weedless-rigged flukes skip under mangroves and fool wary beach snook like a fleeing baitfish.
Tap a water clarity. The order and the reasons change the way the app's do. The two Browse buttons open those lure classes here on the site.
What to throw is the lure picker in the tackle box of Cobia, the free fishing app. Name a species and it ranks the lure types you already own for that fish, using what works for it, the season, and today's tide, water temperature and wind where you are. Every pick says why. The lures you don't own come last, as a short list of gaps worth adding.
Key facts
- What it ranks
- Only the lure types in your own tackle box, like a bucktail, a paddletail or a jerkbait.
- What moves it
- The species, the season, the tide, water temperature and wind where you are, and the water clarity you pick.
- The labels
- Top pick, Solid and Situational, with the reason under each one.
- The gaps
- Up to three lure types worth adding, with a Browse button into the catalog.
- Colors
- Colors now and later this season on Android. Ask Cobia talks color on both phones.
- Price and platforms
- Free on iPhone and Android.
What works for the fish, then what the water is doing
Each species Cobia covers has its own list of lure types, built from published fishing sources and state agency tips. A type earns a label for that fish. Today's water then nudges the order.
- The season can change the list. A topwater that's a top pick for snook in summer drops back in winter.
- The water nudges, it doesn't overrule. Conditions move a lure 20 percent at most, so a Top pick stays near the top.
- No brand is in it. It ranks kinds of lure, not products, so there's nothing for a brand to buy.
“Vibration & flash cut through the stained water”
Spinnerbaits, bladed jigs, lipless cranks, blade baits and spoons move up.
“A natural finesse look for the clear water”
Worms, jigheads with plastics, tubes, flukes and grubs move up.
“Worked slow for the cold water”
The same finesse baits, fished slow.
“The calm surface is prime for topwater”
Walkers, poppers, frogs and buzzbaits move up. A cold or windy day pushes them down.
“A major solunar window is on”
Topwater gets another lift while the bite window is open.
“Moving water has fish feeding”
Crankbaits, jerkbaits, hard swimbaits, bucktails and inline spinners move up.
The line in quotes is the one added to that lure's reason in the app.
Snook colors on top. The lower chip is from a sample largemouth box, where a bluegill pattern you own shines around the summer bream beds.
The color that's working, and the one to save
Under the ranking, the Android app lists the colors producing for that fish right now. Then it names colors you already own that come into their own later in the year, so nothing in your box gets written off.
On iPhone, ask Cobia what color to throw and it answers from the same list.
It tells you when the answer isn't in your box
After the ranked list come up to three gaps. They're lure types that are a Top pick or Solid for the fish and missing from your box, named by kind so you can buy one anywhere.
- Gray, never full color. A gap's picture is a stand-in for the kind of lure, so it never looks like something you own.
- Always below your own lures. What you own comes first.
- An empty box still gets an answer. You see the gaps for that fish, so you know what to pick up first.
None of your lures match this species yet. See suggestions below.
Flair hawk and white bucktail jigs are bridge, inlet, and beach classics, deadly on big snook after dark.
Jig-rigged soft plastics are the most versatile snook presentation. Match jig weight to current and depth.
The do-everything snook bait. Swim a mullet-profile paddletail along beaches, seawalls, and passes.
An empty box, asking about snook. Sample.
Each one has its own page here, with when to throw it and what eats it.
Where the picks come from
Questions about what to throw
How does Cobia decide what lure to throw?
It starts from the species' own list of lure types, each labeled Top pick, Solid or Situational for that fish and that season. It ranks the types you own by that label, then moves them up or down a little for the tide, water temperature, wind and the water clarity you pick. Each pick shows the reason.
Does Cobia get paid to recommend lures?
No. The ranking has no brand in it at all. It ranks kinds of lure, like a bucktail or a paddletail, against the fish and the water.
What if my tackle box is empty?
You still get the gaps for that fish: up to three lure types worth adding, each with a Browse button into the catalog. Add lures to your box and the ranked list fills in.
What does water clarity change?
Pick Clear water, Stained or Muddy. Stained and muddy water lift baits with vibration and flash, like spinnerbaits and spoons. Clear water lifts natural finesse baits, like worms and jig-rigged plastics.
Which fish does it work for?
Freshwater and saltwater species, from largemouth and smallmouth to snook, redfish, seatrout and offshore fish. If Cobia doesn't have a lure list for a fish yet, it says so instead of guessing.
Tie on
the top pick.
Download Cobia, add your lures, and name the fish you're after.
