Big cobia fish strikes, one of the season's first landed off New Jersey coast

The cobia are here.

I bumped into Capt. Freddy Gamboa on Andreas' Toy Charters on Saturday morning at Clarke's Landing in Point Pleasant and the seasoned charter captain said he was specifically going out to catch a cobia. Later that day he returned with a 45-pounder in the boat, reeled in by Darren Guarino. Gamboa said they landed the fish on a bunker not too far offshore.

Cobia, while no stranger to New Jersey in the summer, is not a generally targeted species here. However, it is one of those fish that anglers are hooking more and more. The bulk of its population is centered off of Virginia but biologists there say the fish is shifting its range to New Jersey.

Local conditions update

The offshore fishing hasn't been too exciting as far as the tuna go. There have been some yellowfin tuna in the canyons to the south, such as the Toms Canyon, but news from the Hudson has been sparse.

Capt. Chris Dos Santos on the Sea Owl went out for tilefish this weekend and did some tuna exploration along the way finding some in an area teeming with whales, dolphins and baitfish. They were some big bluefin. They got one close to the boat but it pulled the hook after a good fight. His party did well on the tilefish as he fished the canyon slopes and some very deep wrecks. He fished in depths from 350 feet to 810 feet and they reeled in blueline and golden tilefish using 24 to 30 ounce weights.

More: 'Jaws' at 50: Peter Benchley's toothy terror tapped a fascination with great white sharks

With the first full weekend of fluke fishing in the books, it's fair to say there's quite a bit of fish on the inshore grounds, but they could use an inch or two.

Capt. Ron Kish on the Capt. Cal 2 out of Belmar said they released as many as 50 short fish on some of their drifts. That's not to say the nets remained dry. With sea bass closed, a lot of the for-hire boats switched to fluke and they all returned with keeper-size fish.

Greg Bogan at Brielle Bait & Tackle said the kayakers did well on the Manasquan River. They weighed in fish from the river that weighed over 5 pounds. The main area is from the train bridge to the inlet. He said white-colored Gulp baits and spearing have the edge over the fluke, at least for now. Along with the fluke, fishermen are catching cocktail size blues in Manasquan Inlet pretty consistently.

With the wind shifting to the more favorable west on Monday, that could help push the fluke fishing along and get more keepers on the hook.

More: What's biting: get all the latest fishing reports here

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ fishing: Season's first cobia starting to hit off the NJ coast