Giant sunfish leads captain to more cobia off the New Jersey coast

Capt. Freddy Gamboa is on a roll, thanks in part to a big sunfish.

The Andreas' Toy Charters captain has tracked down the cobia on two successful trips this week. The first one, a 45-pounder, was landed Saturday. He was back out on their trail three days later and got the second one, a 38-pounder, on Tuesday.

The key is the tower on his center consul boat, which allows him to sightsee for the fish from on top that platform. He's been going into the shipping lanes and scouting for the fish around the buoys as the fish are known to be drawn to floating objects or marine life on the surface like leatherback turtles. The one he caught Tuesday was next to a big, lazy sunfish. They casted for the fish and got it to fall for a Nomad Squidtrex, a soft-plastic lure.

Cobia are most abundant from Virginia south, but they swim to New Jersey waters in the late spring and summer. More and more are appearing each season off the coast here and one theory is the fish are expanding their range. Generally speaking, the adult cobia travel alone or in small groups.

While the water has been chilly along the beaches, Gamboa said it was 68 degrees on the surface once he got off the land a bit. He's been staying within 10 to 20 miles.

The bluefish haven't been at the mouths of the inlets or on the beaches. It could be that the colder water pushed them out. A couple party boat captains looked for them in the morning this week but didn't find them. Capt. Howard Bogan Jr. on the Jamaica said there are some schools of bluefish 12 miles out but they haven't had any luck getting them to bite and instead have been filling up on ling, which are biting now. Fishermen are able to land a couple dozen in a day's fishing.

There have been some scattered reports of mackerel. Creekside Outfitters in Waretown had a party of fishermen bring in one Spanish mackerel and a couple bonito last week.

The breezes were a little strong this week for ocean fluke fishing as the drifts were way too fast. Some captains even canceled trips because of it. or stayed in tight to the beaches to stay out of the wind. The water temp in close to the beaches was in the low 50s. It didn't add up to great fluke reports from the for-hire fleet.

That's not to say captains didn't see fish come over the rail as they worked over areas in front of Asbury Park and points further north. The boats had some light west winds on Thursday morning and Capt. Ron Kish on the Capt. Cal 2 out of Belmar had some keepers in the boat early.

The spot are in Barnegat Bay. Grumpy's Tackle in Seaside Park had the season's first reports this week. The palm size fish make great baits but are also a ton of fun for kids to catch on light tackle.

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.