Though it's generally been a tough year for bluefish, it would be hard to beat the action with big choppers up to 18 pounds currently going on along the west edge of the Mud Hole. Both the Miss Belmar Princess and the Golden Eagle from Belmar reported "all you want" jigging  on Thursday. The only question now is whether we'll see those legitimate 20-pounders that showed up around this time last year. The bottom fishing fleet is struggling through a tough period now with both fluke and sea bass closed while blackfish are limited to one per man. Porgies are filling in, but lots of big sea bass have to be returned until the season reopens on Oct. 18.     Capt. Jim Curcio passed away at his home in Edison from a massive heart attack on Monday. The 62-year-old Curcio was a top striper angler and Hi-Mar Striper Club member  who ran his Shenanigans from Morgan Marina. Curcio owned Curcio Bus Service in Edison for 35 years before retiring in 2007. He lost his wife in February, but is survived by his children James, Jr., Danielle and Kristin. Capt. Sal Cursi said that,ished with sand worms and released two small fluke. in accordance with his wishes, Curcio's ashes will be spread in Raritan Bay. A memorial visitation will be held today at the Flynn and Son Funeral Home, 23 Ford Ave., Fords from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Warm water temperatures continue to hold back the striped bass migratory run from the east. As a result, we're still working on local bass both from boats and in the surf. Despite Tuesday's gusty south winds, Chuck Many of Annandale fished most of his summer spots in the Raritan Bay area with Ty Man from Gateway Marina in Highlands and marked bass in many of them though the bite wasn't good. Many, Nellie Greer of Bethlehem, Pa., and I only managed to release six bass on live and chunked bunker -- and four of them were shorts. Two weeks earlier, Many and I had released 23 bass up to 41 inches with only a couple of shorts. We did have one exciting moment when we anchored to try chunking and I threw back a live bunker I'd been drifting. We then saw a striper jump several feet staight out of the water and turn a  somersault just like a mako shark to come down on the bunker. None of us had ever seen a striper jump like that. Tony Arcabascio of Bayville tried trolling his Tony Maja Bunker Spoons off Island Beach State Park from his Maja on Monday. There was lots of bait out there, and whales were breaching in the schools, but there were no hits on the spoons. Arcabascio said the fall run of big stripers in that area started last year on Oct. 28, and he feels the volume of bait there bodes well for this year. He noted that the blowfish run in Barnegat Bay has never amounted to much as only small puffers are abundant. There haven't been many striper reports in the surf since the last storm, except for the 25 3/4-pounder hooked Sunday by Frank Stone and weighed in at Betty & Nick's Tackle in Seaside Park. There have been lots of small blues im the south end of Island Beach State Park on mullet, and a flurry occurred Thursday around noon from 14th Ave. to 23rd Ave. in Seaside Park on poppers. Further north there's only been a small blue here and there, but Nick Kolidiy of Brick managed two of the 2-pounders Thursday morning in Bay Head -- and went back later in the morning to catch seven more on metal as they were chasing small bait in close.There was nothing in close when I fished at Sea Girt in the morning, but lots of birds were working about a mile off the beach. Chris Hernandez of Elizabeth said he'd started in the dark and released a 20-inch fluke on a SP Minnow. I told him that at that point I'd settle for a stargazer, and switched to Gulp in hope of breaking the ice with a fluke -- but only made a few casts before hooking my stargazer. Just before leaving I did catch a fluke that was all of 11 inches.  Leif Pettersen was fishing his fly rod at Deal, and connected with 20-and-24-inch stripers on black and white snake flies. Canyon fishing remains very good for those finding a weather window to get out to the Hudson. Pettersen and his friend, Adam  D'Onofrio, fished the Friday night trip of the Gambler from Point Pleasant as each caught a very large albacore, and D'Onofrio lost a 6-foot mako. The best tuna bite was from false light to 9 a.m. The Golden Eagle from Belmar returned from the weekend trip with with 20 yellowfins and albacore plus 20 dolphin. There was plenty of action as up to five tuna at a time were being fought, but 40 were lost to the anchor line as the current had lines running up to the bow.   The Jamaica from Brielle hing.com/shore/blogs/fishing.had a good Sunday to Monday trip as tuna up to 80 pounds were boated along with a 130-pound swordfish and a 125-pound mako. There's room on Friday, Saturday and Sunday 5 p.m. departures for 22-hour trips, and on 31-hour sailings at 7 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations. Keep up with daily changes in the fisheries by visiting my blog at nj.com/shore/blogs/fishing.