Though I started out shore fishing this morning, everything changed when I stopped by Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant and Don Marantz stopped by to invite me to join his party on BarbGail IV from that town, The chance to get together with veterans of conservation wars of the past was too good to miss, so I sailed out with Tom Fote, Mark Taylor, Bruce Vitale, and Dr. Eleanor Bochenek as Capt. Chris ran to a wreck where mate Alex was constantly unhooking sea bass of all sizes. We had our six-man boat limit of 60 in two hours, before Capt. Chris ran to deeper waters for a shot at winter flounder and ling. Gulp Swimming Mullet were used instead of clam to avoid ocean pout, but those ugly, protected fish were still a problem as we filled a boat limit of large flounder (two per man) up to a 19-inch, 3 1/2-pounder by Marantz. Some ling were added, and Alex had lots of filleting to do after we headed back. The BarbGail IV is a charter boat, but Capt. Chris takes individual reservations on other days. Contact him at 732 281-4439 or Captainchris@barbgailIV.com. The Ocean Explorer from Belmar also reported fine sea bass action on both bait and jigs during an ideal day for drifting with only some very light rain. The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had a hot jigging bite of small blues for 45 minutes early, before ending up with a good catch up to 8 pounds. Vinny D'Anton of Wall hooked his first striper of the season while casting a paddletail jig in Shark River. That 26-incher was then followed by a 20-inch release.