If you'd told me a few years ago that one of the top three fishing highlights of my whole career would happen on a personal water craft (PWC), I'd have laughed at you. But that's exactly what happened in this episode of The Everyday Angler — trolling high-speed hardbodies off the Sea-Doo FishPro out of Coffs Harbour, I hooked something I never expected: a massive cobia, easily 15 kilos, landed at water level with a glove, a borrowed net and an embarrassing amount of screaming.
Here's the thing though, that fish wasn't luck. Trolling lures off a PWC is a legitimate and deadly effective way to chase serious pelagics, and it's one of the most accessible forms of offshore fishing there is. No big boat, no crew, no huge fuel bill. Just you, a handful of lures, some proper heavy fishing gear and a stretch of coastline where the big fish come in close.
So, rather than just relive the day, I want to break down the whole approach — where to fish, the gear that survives a personal water craft, how to rig, how fast to troll, how on earth you land a big fish off the back of a PWC and what to do with your catch afterwards (spoiler: fresh beachside poke bowls). This is everything I'd tell a mate who wanted to give it a crack.
Quick Links
Where to Fish: Find Where the Current Comes Close
The single most important decision in pelagic fishing happens before you leave the house: picking a stretch of coast where the fish come within reach.
For most of the New South Wales coastline, that comes down to the East Australian Current. The EAC is the highway that carries warm water, bait and pelagic species down the coast — spotted mackerel, Spanish mackerel, wahoo, kingfish, cobia, the lot. In most places, it runs wide, which means long offshore runs in big boats. But at a handful of spots, the current swings in tight to shore, and everything changes.
Coffs Harbour is one of those spots, and it's why it's one of my favourite places to fish anywhere in the country. When the current pushes in, genuine blue-water species are feeding just a couple of kilometres off the beach — comfortably within PWC range. My cobia came from water I could nearly have swum home from.
So, do your homework for your own coastline: look for headlands and harbours where deep water and current come close to shore, check the sea surface temperature charts before you go and study your local marine park maps (this one's non-negotiable). Sanctuary zones are dotted along the coast, and when you're mobile on a PWC, it's very easy to drift near one. I hooked a kingfish about 100 metres from a sanctuary boundary on this trip and had to keep working away from it mid-fight. Know your zones before you launch; it's your responsibility as skipper.
One more location tip: other boats are information. If you launch and find a little fleet working the same water, don't be annoyed — be encouraged. Boats concentrate where fish have been biting.
Why a PWC? The Case for the Sea-Doo FishPro
A fishing PWC like the Sea-Doo FishPro fills a really interesting gap. It's cheap to run and easy to tow, launch and manage solo. It'll sit at trolling speed all day. It has a sounder to put you on the bait, and it turns on a five-cent piece, which is genuinely useful when a big fish decides to run around the wrong side of you.
It also handles more weather than people expect. The day I fished was honestly a bit nautical, an easterly swell straight in on a light nor'easter and the Sea-Doo was completely safe and comfortable. What you must accept, though, is that you will get soaked. Every piece of gear on deck cops spray all day, and that shapes every tackle decision that follows.
The trade-off is space. There's no deck, no gunwale to lean on and no mate with a net. Hooking fish off a PWC is easy; everything after that is where the comedy starts. More on that below — I learnt it the hard way... twice!
The Tackle: Heavy and Built to Take a Soaking
This is not a light-tackle exercise. When the potential bites include Spanish mackerel, wahoo, big kingfish and cobia, you rig so that no fish is unlandable. Here's the outfit and, more importantly, why each piece earns its spot.
The Reel — Daiwa Saltist MQ 14000
There are two boxes to tick on a PWC reel: grunt and sealing. The 14000 size holds heaps of heavy braid and has the drag to genuinely lean on a big pelagic. But the sealing is the underrated hero. My gear got absolutely drenched for hours, and I never gave it a second thought because the Saltist has the seals to keep saltwater out of its guts. On a PWC, a sealed reel isn't a luxury — it's the entry fee. Buy sealed gear or buy it twice.
The Rod — Daiwa Demon Blood PE 4–6
The PE rating is the language of heavy spin tackle: a PE 4–6 blank is designed to fish roughly 50–80lb braid. That gives you a rod with real lifting power through the lower half, but enough give in the tip to let a trolled hardbody swim naturally and to stay connected through the headshakes of a big fish. On a short vessel, the rod is also your shock absorber — a soft-enough tip saves you when a fish surges at close range.
The Line — 50lb Daiwa J-Braid X8
Fifty-pound braid sits perfectly in the middle of that rod's range: heavy enough that I was never nervous about the fish, but thin enough for its strength that lures still get down and swim properly at speed. Off the end, run a long, heavy mono leader for abrasion resistance and shock absorption.
The Wire Question
If mackerel or wahoo are about, start with a short wire trace — their teeth turn an expensive hardbody into a donation. But wire can put shyer fish off. My rule: fish wire while the toothy critters are a real chance, and if the bites dry up, take it off and accept the risk. It's a trade-off you manage hour by hour, not a set-and-forget decision.
The Lure: Why High-Speed Hardbodies Change the Game
The whole approach hinges on one lure style: the high-speed trolling minnow. I fished the Nomad DTX Minnow in 165mm, and the words "high-speed" are the point.
A normal minnow blows out, spins, breaches or stops swimming beyond walking pace. A purpose-built high-speed hardbody like the DTX swims perfectly across a huge speed range, and that unlocks two big advantages:
You Can Match the Predators
Mackerel, wahoo and kingfish are fast fish that respond to a lure moving with genuine pace and purpose. A bib that holds at speed lets you present exactly that.
Speed Becomes a Variable You Control
I spent most of my day trolling at 6–7km/h, with the rod tip just ticking away, but the DTX let me punch up to 10 or 15km/h whenever I wanted to change the look. If nothing's happening, speed is the first dial to turn — before you change lures, change colours or move. Different days, different moods; some days they want it slow and thumping, while other days they want it fleeing for its life.
The bonus for PWC anglers: high-speed lures turn travel time into fishing time. Any time you're moving between marks, you can be fishing.
The Method: Building a Blueprint on the Water
Every session, the goal is the same: start with no idea and use each piece of information to build a recipe for the day. Here's the loop I run.
Troll to Search
Until you know where the fish are, keep a lure swimming. Trolling is the best prospecting tool there is — you're covering ground, watching the sounder and fishing all at once.
Watch the Sounder for Bait and Take It Seriously
This is the theory that produced the fish of a lifetime. All afternoon, my sounder showed thick bait in one area, and I kept saying it out loud: with this much food here, something has to happen. First, a kingfish came off that bait, then the cobia.
Bait doesn't guarantee predators, but predators absolutely require bait. When you find it, don't leave fish to find fish — work the area with laps at different speeds and give the residents time to come home.
Change One Thing at a Time
Speed first, then the wire trace, then lure size or colour, then the depth of water. If you change three things at once, you learn nothing when the fishing rod goes off.
Expect the Unexpected
I was rigged for mackerel and hoping for kingfish, and the best fish of the day was a cobia — a species with a habit of appearing when you least expect it. They swim up at you, finning along the surface like a shark (I genuinely thought I'd hooked one), and they pull like a truck. That's the beauty of trolling the open ocean: the next bite is a mystery box. Rig heavy enough to open it.
Landing Big Fish Off a PWC: Have a Plan Before the Bite
Here's the truth: I hooked three good fish on this trip, and the hooking was the easy part every time. I lost the first kingfish at the back of the Sea-Doo in one of the most uncoordinated performances of my life.
I landed the second (my first-ever kingfish off a PWC), a lovely fish around 70–75cm — only after putting the wrong glove on the wrong hand while getting hosed by every second wave. By the time the big cobia arrived, I had a system. Learn from my chaos:
Set Up Your Landing Kit Before You Launch
Keep your gloves and leader within arm's reach, not buried in a compartment. Decide in advance where a fish comes aboard.
Back the Drag Off at the PWC
At water level, a big fish surging at close range will find the angles fast. Softening the drag for the endgame saves pulled hooks and prevents you from getting towed around.
Glove Up and Tail or Leader the Fish
With no net and no deckie, a glove on your leader hand and a solid tail grab is the standard play for kingfish-shaped things. It is harder than it looks. It's also the most fun you'll have all day.
Accept Help When It's Offered
For the cobia, a legend in a nearby boat heard the commotion (everyone within 100 metres heard the commotion) and came over with a landing net. That's fishing culture at its best, and there's no prize for refusing a net when the fish of a lifetime is on the leader. The exchange rate is one cold beer at the ramp.
Ice Immediately
If you're keeping a fish, it goes onto ice the moment it's aboard. On the PWC, I run the Dometic Recon 16L — compact enough for a PWC, and it starts the cold chain that makes everything in the next section possible.
From PWC to Plate: Fresh Poke Bowls on the Beach
A fish that's been bled and iced from the moment of capture opens up the best reward in fishing: eating it fresh, simply and outdoors. My pick for a summer pelagic is a poke bowl, and it might be the easiest impressive camp meal there is.
The shopping list is tiny: cucumber, red onion and avocado (diced), fresh limes and a bagged slaw mix from the supermarket, carrot and cabbage — for instant crunch. No shame in the bag; we're everyday anglers, not chefs.
The fish goes two ways. Dice a portion of your freshest fillet into small cubes and leave it raw — a well-iced fish like cobia or kingfish is beautiful like this. Leave the rest as whole fillets, dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper and place them straight onto the grill.
I cook on the Dometic 2 Cook 3 Turbo, and the trick is the dome lid: it traps the heat and cooks the fillet through evenly without constant flipping. Set, forget, flake.
Assembly: slaw base, veggies on top, fresh cubes and grilled flakes over that, a big squeeze of lime, done. One burner, one board, ten minutes and a meal you'd happily pay restaurant money for — eaten on the sand a couple of kilometres from where you caught it. Camp cooking doesn't need to be hard.
Quick Tips Before You Go
Check the forecast like your day depends on it, because it does. A PWC handles plenty, but you're the skipper and the safety margin is yours to manage. Tell someone your plan, wear your safety gear and keep your phone in a waterproof pouch.
Fish with a support crew or a buddy vessel when you can. And log your marks, bait, bites and temperature because the blueprint you build today is the head start you'll have next time.
What We Used Today
50lb Daiwa J-Braid X8, heavy mono leader and wire trace
Nomad DTX Minnow 165mm high-speed trolling lures
Dometic 2 Cook 3 Turbo FFD stove with dome lid
Landing gloves — and one borrowed net that cost me a beer
Keen to give today's adventure a go? Screenshot the products we used in today's episode and stock up in store at BCF, or head to bcf.com.au.