It was a shock when a 6-to-7-pound bluefish hit my popper being cast from shore in Shark River yesterday morning as blues larger than 4 pounds hadn't been seen there in some time. I was able to control that blue, which made seven marlin-like leaps, on light spinning tackle on the outgoing tide because the current was flowing away from obstructions. With the current running in toward the problem spots early this morning I switched to my light surf rod -- a decision which proved correct when a similar blue hit my Tsunami popper. Yet, that was nothing compared to my last hit as a much larger fish tore line off the Canyon 5000 reel, but went across the river at first. It ended up barely getting to a piling, but I was able to power it off and land a bluefish that looked just like the long lost jumbos of the great spring run -- 32 inches and probably 10 to 12 pounds. During a summer when big blues have been unheard of, it was hard to believe how large and healthy-looking that chopper was. Vinnie D'Anton caught one small blue on a Chug Bug, but had his 20-pound leader broken twice by unseen fish There was better news on small blues for the Shore party boat fleet. The Golden Eagle from Belmar jigged good numbers of 2-to-4-pounders that continued hitting Run-Off Hammered jigs all day. Some were also taken on teasers. Miss Belmar Princess was also into blues north of the inlet. They said those blues ranged from 2 to 5 pounds. The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant reported active fishing this morning for a variety of species, but primarily fluke. The Jamaica from Brielle reported chub mackerel moved closer to shore on Tuesday. They loaded up with them along with some blues and sea bass. Matt Slobojian reported from Jim's Tackle in Cape May that "Fluke fishing picked up last week on the reefs although the wind kept a lot of boats at the dock. We spoke to a few party boat fisherman who caught their limits on the eight hour boats. Delaware Reef Site #11 sounded like it had the most action. A few guys fished the Old Grounds and did pretty well, Arthur Begeley of Point Pleasant fished the Old Grounds on his friends boat and brought in an 8.66-pound fluke. The total catch for three guys was 11 keeper fish. The inshore troll continued to be pretty good for mahi. We are also starting to get some reports of Spanish mackerel on the troll inshore. We did get a report from Capt. Steve Spagnola earlier in the week, after he made the run to Massey's Canyon. They started off on the troll and caught 2 white marlin. Later they set up on the chunk and boated 4 yellowfin and broke off 3 more on light leader. The white marlin bite was epic this week with a lot of boats reporting double digit releases. Early in the week the bite was in the Tom's Canyon, then the Lindenkohl, and finally the Spencer. We are getting a few spotty reports of bigeye tuna from the Wilmington Canyon, but no concentration like last year. There's not a lot of yellowfin action in the canyons. A few are being picked, but only a few. Tilefish have been a good way to put some meat in the box on slow offshore trips. The soft mud bottom in the Toilet Seat area of the Wilmington is a good place to look for them. If you drop down and don't have a bite in 10 minutes you may have to move around a little to find them. The surf is about the same. The main bite is on kingfish, small fluke and sharks. A few croakers have shown up, but nothing substantial yet. And there are some small weakfish and blues occasionally coming in on Cape May Point beaches."