Bob Correll of Bay Head had been frustrated by two previous evenings without a hit despite being able to snag plenty of bunkers for bait, but that changed Thursday evening when Capt. Joe Massa of My III Sons at Morgan Marina and I joined him aboard his Boston Whaler out of Manasquan Inlet. We checked bunkers all the way up to the Rocks, before heading back south and finding the first tight pod of bunkers I've seen in the ocean this spring. When bunkers are concentrated like that there are often stripers below them -- and we stuck with that school off Asbury Park until they started hitting as we ended up getting the skunk off the boat by catching five in the 30-to-35-pound class on snagged bunkers. Capt. Dave Riback had put magic hours fares on his Queen Mary from Point Pleasant on a few bass both Tuesday and Wednesday, but called Thursday evening "terrible". Bluefish earlier that day had been only "O.K.", but there was a good early shot of big blues on jigs this morning before they turned off. The Jamaica from Brielle got into 6-to-12-pound blues on Thursday, along with some 2-to-3-pounders. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported good early jigging today for 3-to-12-pound blues. Fluking in Raritan Reach has been the best in years according to Capt. Scotty Hilliard on Prowler 5 from Atlantic Highlands -- where Capt. Ron Santee of the Fishermen now has the same opinion. Capt. Ron Santee Sr. was aboard today to limit up to a 9 1/16-pounder that wasn't even the largest of the day as Jim Gebhardt boated a 9 3/8-pounder. The Sea Hunter from that port also had very good fluking today with some limits. Capt. Stan Zagleski was into those fluke with his Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands as everyone bagged keepers and some limited. John Porada from Pompton Lakes had four up to the 5-pound pool winner. Nelson Mendoza limited out of a total of 10 legal fluke. Tank Matraxia of Lyndhurst fished in Shrewsbury River with the former deputy Police Chief of his town as Carmine Letteri put him into a 6-pound fluke and a few other keepers plus tagged shorts as they jigged with green gulp on a jig head along with a killie.