Lilly finds back bay Bonanza

The Wiz did it again today as his hunch about the back of Raritan Bay being the place to be for stripers paid off as he ran Dr. Wally’s boat from Oceanport to an area with no surface signs but plenty of marks in the deeper waters. Lilly also put together a rig which proved so attractive that the troll hardly started before constant hook-ups.

Almost all the bass were keeper-size, with just one short and a few overs. Though the bass obviously were in a feeding mode, attempts with a popper and a diamond jig brought no response.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a slow start with stripers before they took a ride which got them into both keepers and some overs up to a 43-incher. They will not be sailing tomorrow due to the weather forecast, and are chartered Friday.

A small craft advisory is up into Friday morning. A northeaster blows in Thursday with 25-30 knot winds before dropping to 10-15 in the afternoon.