The Jamaica from Brielle finally had a striped bass to brag about on Thursday. Young Park of Howell boated a `28-pounder to take the pool on a day when there were lots of bunker schools with some predators in them that rarely hit. That was the first ocean striper on a party boat that I've heard of this year. On Friday it was back to all blues, with a slow start developing into a good catch topped by a 12-pounder for Mark Ribaudo of Westwood. As noted in yesterday's blog, the Governor's Surf Fishing Tournament will be contested Sunday at Island Beach State Park. Check the Thursday blog for details. The Seaside Park tackle shops are loaded up with bunker and clams for anglers seeking the winning blues and stripers. There's also been good action on lures, especially for those wading out to the bars at low tide to cast poppers. At Belmar, the Golden Eagle and Miss Belmar Princess reported good jigging action with 8-to-17-pound choppers. Run-Off Crocs worked best on the Golden Eagle, while Ava 47's with or without a tail produced best on Miss Belmar Princess. At Atlantic Highlands, both the Fishermen and the Sea Hunter reported lots of big blues that prevent stripers from getting to the baits and jigs. Scott Leadbeater of Haddon Heights fished his center console for the first time Vinny D'Anton of the Spring Lake Live Liners is back from catching sea trout in Sarasota, and we got together early this morning to try casting in Shark River. The water was crystal clear, but we didn't raise a thing on our poppers. D'Anton then fished the surf at Bradley Beach, and broke the ice with a 24-inch striper on a shad lure. Joe Melillo, at Castaway's Tackle in Point Pleasant, said there's still been no local surf bluefish or striper reports, but a few bass have been hitting in Manasquan River and Point Pleasant Canal.