I was wondering how exactly do you troll live bait for king mackeral and cobia. Or even artificial baits. How fast do you go and what kind of rigs, bait, or anything would really help

Thanks,
Jay

Troll slow, just in gear with a king rig, menhaden works well.

Some techniques that have worked for me (for kings): troll slow enough for the bait to run naturally - without spinning, rolling onto it's side or coming to the surface and skipping. You will probably have to bump in and out of gear to go slow enough. Most small fish that are available locally will do fine for bait such as menhaden/bunker/shad and bluefish. Fish them right behind the motor wash and if you have a downrigger you can run a couple surface baits and a deeper bait. Use light "coffee" colored wire (32-44lb) and the smallest high quality barrel swivels - like size 8 Spro swivels and VMC size 6 4X trebles. Obviously if you have a favorite brand go for it just use a very small swivel and some very strong hooks. Use a haywire twist to attach the swivels and hooks - be sure to break the wire when completing the twist DO NOT cut it. The rig, when complete should be approx 30-36" and consist of the barrel swivel and two trebles or a single and a treble. The second hook should be attached through the eye of the first hook with a haywire twist and about 5-6" back - depending on the size of the bait you may need to add a longer section or an additional (3rd) hook to the rig. I would recommend a reel that holds about 200+ yds of 20lb mono with a quality drag. Kings are a slash feeder so when you get a strike your reel is going to sound like it hooked into a top fuel dragster. Keep the drag light enough so it will not tear from the fish but manageable enough to fight the fish. Clear other lines when fighting a hook up and use a gaff.

Hope this helps. Again, these are some techniques that I've used and I'm sure there are many other techniques out there. Good luck and tight lines.