Sea Bass Fishing Tips

[Gerry Zagorski]

Good luck to everyone Seabass fishing for the season opener this Saturday. If you've not fished for them before they are VERY AGRESSIVE so not a lot of skill required so great for beginners and probably one of the tastiest fish in our local waters...

Depending on conditions, which are wind and current you'll either be drifting or anchored up.. Drifting as long as it's not too fast or against the current, is the preferred method since you cover more bottom. If you are drifting a traditional high low rig will works well, which is sinker at the bottom and two hooks spaced 12 inches above the sinker and between the high and low hooks with clams. If you want to spice it up you can substitute a metal AVA 14 or 27 for the sinker and they'll hit that too...

If you anchor probably best to to stick with a sinker because jigs tend to snag on the bottom if you're not moving..

In either case, be sure to constantly work the pole and jig it up and down with sweeping pole lifts and drops from the 8 oclock to the 11 oclock position. Unlike other fish, you want to keep the bait moving. These fish are like kinder garden kids so the more movement and flash the more attention you'll get and this helps trigger strikes.

Good luck and make us proud

[JoeyFlatFish]

Good job with the detailed instructions Gerry. Especially because most of us behave like kinder gardeners

[bulletbob]

If I might add a thought or two...

Listen to the Captain if on a head boat or charter, or keep a close eye on your FF if on a private boat.. Sea Bass will suspend and will come up a good distance from bottom sometimes just a few feet below the boat hull.. This is especially so when they are on swarms of small baitfish. Seen lots of times guys right on bottom doing poorly and then the cap says, "bring your rigs off bottom, most of the fish are 20 feet under the boat!", and then everyone starts catching.. Doesn't happen all the time, but enough that its worth a mention.. Also I have had better luck a few times with alternative baits if I had them on hand.. Boats will have clams, but if you have squid or maybe some spearing or frozen peanut bunker in the freezer by all means bring them with you.. Sometimes they will get you bigger fish than clams will.. again, not every day, but it happens pretty often.. I miss sea bass fishing terribly, it was my favorite type of party boat fishing, especially back in the day when
"mixed bags" were the norm, and on a good day you would bring home sea bass, porgies, and even a flounder, fluke and tog or two....

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by bulletbob

If I might add a thought or two...

Listen to the Captain if on a head boat or charter, or keep a close eye on your FF if on a private boat.. Sea Bass will suspend and will come up a good distance from bottom sometimes just a few feet below the boat hull.. This is especially so when they are on swarms of small baitfish. Seen lots of times guys right on bottom doing poorly and then the cap says, "bring your rigs off bottom, most of the fish are 20 feet under the boat!", and then everyone starts catching.. Doesn't happen all the time, but enough that its worth a mention.. Also I have had better luck a few times with alternative baits if I had them on hand.. Boats will have clams, but if you have squid or maybe some spearing or frozen peanut bunker in the freezer by all means bring them with you.. Sometimes they will get you bigger fish than clams will.. again, not every day, but it happens pretty often.. I miss sea bass fishing terribly, it was my favorite type of party boat fishing, especially back in the day when
"mixed bags" were the norm, and on a good day you would bring home sea bass, porgies, and even a flounder, fluke and tog or two....

Great tips thanks

[Jigman13]

40 to 80 gram jigs also help weed out smaller fish. I rarely use bait anymore for sea bass. More fun on jigs and more often than not, larger fish...

[fishdoctor]

Great tips!

[Gerry Zagorski]

One other tip I forgot and was reminded of by brother Joe today... Don't go crazy setting the hook on these fish where your practically jump out of you deck boots... They have softer mouths so when you feel a bite just lift and reel. You also want to use a rod on the lighter side with a softer tip, this help keeping them hooked or shaking you off since the rod tip will absorb the shock and also helps impart the correct jigging action you want.

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by Jigman13

40 to 80 gram jigs also help weed out smaller fish. I rarely use bait anymore for sea bass. More fun on jigs and more often than not, larger fish...

Agreed for the most part,but I have been sea bass fishing many times where the guys that used jigs all day caught nothing or had very slow fishing. I think that happens when the fish aren't keying on bait fish. Typically when they won't hit jigs,the bait guys are slow as well,but its either soak clams or don't catch at all.

[wyldbillnj]

If you're getting the machine gun bites....be patient. That "thump" of the larger fish is worth waiting for.