The Hi-Mar Spring Striper Tournament is a highlight for many anglers who will be gathering Friday at 7 p.m. for the captains meeting in the VFW Building at 431 Bay Ave. in Highlands. Those not already entered can sign up for $150 per boat. The contest runs from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, with weigh-ins at the Hi-Mar tent between Piers 4 and 5 in Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina. For information visit  Hi-Mar.com, or call Joe Tomasewski at 908 514-0776. Striper fishermen who have been frustrated by the abundance of bluefish in Raritan Bay that have made it difficult to get through to stripers can take heart as the choppers weren't nearly such a problem Wednesday when I fished there with Chuck Many of Annandale on his Ty Man from Gateway Marina in Highlands along with Nellie Greer of Bethlehem, Pa. and Curt Hoefig from Annandale. Many had fished live bunkers in some of his favorite spots the previous evening, and did very well with large stripers while not encountering many blues. Those spots were barren just a few hours later, but we picked a few bass chunking bunker on a reading in the bay before seeking faster action anchored in the mouth of the Hudson River. Action was no problem, but we had to fight through some blues and the newly-arrived smooth dogfish to end up releasing seven stripers up to a 23-pounder by Greer and several blues topped by a 16-pound jumbo for Hoefig.  Not bad fishing, but nothing like my June 1 birthday trip last year when we had a one drop striper blitz in the river with only a single bluefish. There was a northeast wind blowing that day, and a rain prediction that did result in flooding just a few miles upriver in Newark while we never had anything more than a drizzle. Wednesday was a beautiful day, but possibly the bass didn't want to be fooled by an 80-year-old. What worked out well for striper fishing was just the opposite for those seeking big blues in the bay. Both the Sea Hunter and Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had to work hard Wednesday for a pick on bait. Ocean jigging has been up and down for blues, but was good on Wednesday. Bob Matthews, at Fisherman's Den in Belmar Marina also noted that big stripers migrating from the south also started turning on for snag-and-drop anglers in the ocean. Sea bass fishing started off with a bang, as some fishermen recorded limits. Shark River fluking is still relatively slow, possibly due to cold waters. Joe Melillo, at Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant said that also seems to be the case in Manasquan River and the canal. He got a report from a diver who speared an 8-pounder there, and saw lots of fluke that just weren't hitting. Warm days should turn that fishery around. Smaller stripers are hitting in the river, but the big bass are turning on to the evening bite in the ocean. Both the Queen Mary and the Cock Robin from Point Pleasant reported good Magic Hours catches this week with bass up to 45 pounds. Tony Arcabascio says the trolling bite on his Tony Maja bunker spoons in 60-foot depths off the shore continues to produce big bass. His son Anthony boated a 48-pounder recently, and Capt. Dave De Gennaro has also gotten into that trolling with his Hi Flier from Barnegat as well as catching 10-to-20-pound stripers clamming at the mouth of Oyster Creek Channel. Surface action with popping plugs on big blues continues in Barnegat Bay. Fluking has been decent in Raritan Bay. Prowler 5 from Atlantic Highlands reported their largest so far on the Sunday evening trip as Joaquin Claro of North Arlington boated an 8 1/2-pounder.  Catches ran up to four keepers. Capt. Stan Zagleski had some fares with three keepers, and everyone went home with dinner Wednesday on Elaine B II from Bahrs in Highlands. Bob Klemm of Butler had three up to 4 7/16 pounds. Both Spro/Gulp and natural baits worked well. The Tackle Box in Hazlet weighed the first doormat -- a 13-pounder by Mark Kipper of Old Bridge on Gulp and bucktail jig in Raritan Reach. Hunter Bartnecki of Hackettstown weighed a 46 1/2-pound striper trolled on a Mo-Jo at Shrewsbury Rocks. Shark tournaments start this weekend at Capt. Jim's in Cape May. Check my daily blog at nj.com/shore/blogs/fishing for more information. Adam La Rosa of the Canyon Runner at Point Pleasant reports "Trips from Wednesday through Sunday on both Canyon Runner boats saw double digit catches of 35-65 pound tuna.Below is One of Many Triple Headers This Past Week Capt. Deane Lambros with second Capt. Kevin Muller working the pit found great action on the troll right at home base - the Hudson Canyon - during 3 overnighters with the Barry Simpson charter, the Anthony Bencivenga (and 8 year daughter Lily) charter from Marlboro, NJ and the Alan Freedman charter - Capt. Craig Angelini worked the Freedman charter. Capt. Phil Dulanie got in on the action with the Pat Cuozzo charter as well. Trolling was the way it used to be with the "old stuff" catching almost everything. White Canyon Runner Squid Bars 9" and blue silver Canyon Runner mini-mambas bars accounted for most of the strikes but a lot of the fish came on ballyhoo as well. Joe Shute and Ilanders over the ballyhoo was the key - mostly white and white/blue. The fish were mostly in 500-700 feet of 63-64 degree water although a few were caught in cooler water. Perhaps best of all is not what we caught but what one of our Canyon Runner Fishing Report Members caught there on Monday - YELLOWFIN!One of Many Bluefin to Fall for a Canyon Runner Mini-Mamba Bar Wednesday it was the Barry Simpson charter who came out to learn a few tricks to bring back to their boat on a tutorial charter (we do several of these each year) and mission accomplished. They had action for the moment they got there catching 3 of 4 within minutes then picked away the rest of the trip to finish off 10 for 15 on bluefins - all the fish except one or two each trip are 40" - 44" which puts them all as legit 35 - 50 pound fish. The night shark action was sporadic with some blue sharks but no luck with Mr. Mako. Thursday to Friday saw Antony Bencivenga book the 48 Viking by himself with his 8 year old daughter Lily. And once again Lily got it done. They picked away the entire time they were fishing with the best of it in the morning as they "left them biting". They finishing off 12/15 with fish up to 47 inches - around 55-60 pounds. Their night bite saw a dozen blue sharks and jumped off a mako.Capt. Phil Dulanie had the 60 Ritchie out with the Pat Cuozzo and Jay Garvey charter and they got into the good fishing as well. Again Friday morning was the best of it and again they "left them biting" bringing a double to the boat and deciding not to put em back out getting home early to let the crew start the drinking for Memorial Day Weekend early. Their night bite saw dozens of blue sharks swimming around the boat the entire night trying to eat our brand new OceanLED lights - didn't think much of it until a 15 pound mahi tried to do the same - must be something with the color blue we used - check out the pic below.Dr. Pat Cuozzo and Jay Garvey Charter Our final trip of the stretch was with the Alan Freedman charter and they had the best of it Saturday to Sunday nailing 17 bluefin out of 25 hooked up in just 4 hours of trolling Saturday. After that they went looking for warmer water and a place to set up for makos. When they did finally stop the sharking was second to none with over a dozen sharks, mostly blue sharks plus a tiger and finally right at first light a 175 pound mako. The morning troll really was just to clean up the cockpit and get ready for the ride home. Folks - it's flat out as good of early season tuna action you can expect as "it's only May 31 and we've already caught over 70 tuna in 5 trips. So get your boats ready, get your tackle ready or call for a charter and get your crew ready - it's game on! Capt. Deane Lambros with second Capt. Kevin Muller working the pit found great action on the troll right at home base - the Hudson Canyon - during 3 overnighters with the Barry Simpson charter, the Anthony Bencivenga (and 8 year daughter Lily) charter from Marlboro, NJ and the Alan Freedman charter - Capt. Craig Angelini worked the Freedman charter. Capt. Phil Dulanie got in on the action with the Pat Cuozzo charter as well. Trolling was the way it used to be with the "old stuff" catching almost everything. White Canyon Runner Squid Bars 9" and blue silver Canyon Runner mini-mambas bars accounted for most of the strikes but a lot of the fish came on ballyhoo as well. Joe Shute and Ilanders over the ballyhoo was the key - mostly white and white/blue. The fish were mostly in 500-700 feet of 63-64 degree water although a few were caught in cooler water. Perhaps best of all is not what we caught but what one of our Canyon Runner Fishing Report Members caught there on Monday - YELLOWFIN!One of Many Bluefin to Fall for a Canyon Runner Mini-Mamba Bar Wednesday it was the Barry Simpson charter who came out to learn a few tricks to bring back to their boat on a tutorial charter (we do several of these each year) and mission accomplished. They had action for the moment they got there catching 3 of 4 within minutes then picked away the rest of the trip to finish off 10 for 15 on bluefins - all the fish except one or two each trip are 40" - 44" which puts them all as legit 35 - 50 pound fish. The night shark action was sporadic with some blue sharks but no luck with Mr. Mako. Thursday to Friday saw Antony Bencivenga book the 48 Viking by himself with his 8 year old daughter Lily. And once again Lily got it done. They picked away the entire time they were fishing with the best of it in the morning as they "left them biting". They finishing off 12/15 with fish up to 47 inches - around 55-60 pounds. Their night bite saw a dozen blue sharks and jumped off a mako.Capt. Phil Dulanie had the 60 Ritchie out with the Pat Cuozzo and Jay Garvey charter and they got into the good fishing as well. Again Friday morning was the best of it and again they "left them biting" bringing a double to the boat and deciding not to put em back out getting home early to let the crew start the drinking for Memorial Day Weekend early. Their night bite saw dozens of blue sharks swimming around the boat the entire night trying to eat our brand new OceanLED lights - didn't think much of it until a 15 pound mahi tried to do the same - must be something with the color blue we used - check out the pic below.Dr. Pat Cuozzo and Jay Garvey Charter Our final trip of the stretch was with the Alan Freedman charter and they had the best of it Saturday to Sunday nailing 17 bluefin out of 25 hooked up in just 4 hours of trolling Saturday. After that they went looking for warmer water and a place to set up for makos. When they did finally stop the sharking was second to none with over a dozen sharks, mostly blue sharks plus a tiger and finally right at first light a 175 pound mako. The morning troll really was just to clean up the cockpit and get ready for the ride home. Folks - it's flat out as good of early season tuna action you can expect as it's only May 31 and we've already caught over 70 tuna in 5 trips. So get your boats ready, get your tackle ready or call for a charter and get your crew ready - it's game on!