Target those jumbos this fall – hopefully the other stuff sorts itself out.
In December of 2015, Philadelphia’s Steve Singler landed a 9-pound black sea bass aboard the head boat Voyager out of Point Pleasant, NJ while using 3/0 hooks baited with clam. The Fisherman subscriber would go on to earn state record honors for his 27-1/2-inch humpback caught in 180 to 200 feet of water on a Shimano rod and reel with 40-pound PowerPro. “The only thing I’m disappointed about with this fish is that I caught it 12 days too late to make the Dream Boat Contest,” Singler said later.
So, now you know. With a full two months left in The Fisherman’s Dream Boat Fishing Challenge – October through November – now’s the time to chase those knotheads for glory, state records, pan-seared sea bass, and a shot at a new Steiger Craft.
Fishing For Spots
For many Atlantic Coast anglers, a head boat offers the best, easiest and most economical way of getting into solid bottom fish action this month. And very much like Singler’s record-breaking catch, simple high-low rigs with clam baits are the overwhelmingly preferred method of sea bassing along the party boat rails. For what it’s worth, the IGFA All-Tackle world record for black sea bass is 10 pounds, 4 ounces for Allan Paschall out of Virginia Beach in January of 2000, reportedly on squid.
But in terms of targeting the largest sea bass throughout the region there are key regional variables to consider, the first being location specifics. Black sea bass of course are a structure-loving species found inhabiting rocky bottom, wrecks, artificial reef sites and even inlet jetties. According to biological data used by the various management bodies, there are two distinct stocks of black sea bass along the Atlantic coast with overlapping ranges. Our northern stock migrates seasonally, summering in northern inshore waters at depths of less than 120 feet and wintering in southern offshore waters at depths of 240 to 540 feet, with spawning believed to occur off New England in the late summer. Regrettably, this is right about the time that the fishery closes in Massachusetts (as of September 7) leaving for-hire folks like Capt. Jason Colby of Little Sister Charters out of Westport, MA out of luck this month.
“Their numbers are totally impossible, they’re fantasy numbers,” Capt. Colby told me as we discussed sea bass management and the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP); more on that later. More importantly, as angler from the New Jersey, Delaware region where state-managed artificial reef deployments promoted with LAT/LON locations and charting software updates show the target structure in vivid detail, I was curious how others without a printed popcorn trail might find good pieces for fishing sea bass.
“It’s all trial and error,” said Capt. Colby, explaining how he keeps an eye on the fishfinder whenever he’s on the move from one location to another. “Even at 30 miles per hour I can still see a big boulder on the bottom,” he said, describing how he’ll stop, follow those “cookies” back along the trail, then zoom in to check out the structure. “I’ll stop, mark it, either fish it right there and then, or I’ll come back later.”
This of course is the benefit of upgrading to the best electronics you can afford, along with proper transducer installation, in order to isolate solid bottom structure, even at quicker cruising speeds. Essentially, if you want better bottomfishing success, you should be fishing for sea bass (and tautog for that matter) on every trip you take, regardless of your target species, but keeping an eye on your electronics. Or as Capt. Colby noted, “sometimes I’ll go the whole day looking for new rocks.”
Hone In On Humpbacks
Reefs, wrecks and boulder fields, the key to sea bass success is structure, as well as knowing the best depths throughout the season. Where Little Sister Charters may be on the best sea bass in 40 to 60 feet of water in July, perhaps 60 to 80 feet in August, that all translates differently wherever you may be running, even on a statewide basis. In the upper half of New Jersey for example – between Barnegat Light and into NY Bight waters along the south shore of Long Island – the for-hire fleet may only be heading out between 5 and 15 miles into roughly 65 to 90 feet of water, whereas South Jersey captains may have to head deeper and farther from shore. “At the start of the sea bass season we head to the 100-foot depths and further out,” said Capt. Bob Cope of Full Ahead Sportfishing out of Cape May, adding “For some reason the fish tend to stay more offshore than up in North Jersey where they may be in 80 feet or so, but we hit the 100- to 120-foot depths.”
In the hunt for fall sea bass, many South Jersey and Delaware captains may need to run a bit farther, targeting areas like Deepwater Reef and DelJerseyLand artificial reef sites and dropping the usual hi-lo rigs baited with fresh or salted clams, or jigs when the bottom isn’t too sticky. In an article in The Fisherman authored by Nick Honachefsky, Capt. Cope advised, “Come late November those fish will be pushed further off 50 to 60 miles and more, but we have them in relatively close throughout October depending on the water temps.”
Again, much of the sea bass tactical approach is the standard dropper rig baited with squid, clam, Gulp or Fishbites, but those looking for bigger fish often turn to jigs whenever and wherever possible. Long Island charter captain John Paduano of Premium Charters runs his 25-foot center console out of Montauk, and when the time comes to target trophy sea bass in the fall his tried-and-true method of banging on knotheads is almost always the same. “For my big sea bass I use all artificials, all jigs,” he said.
“A sea bass or a cod has probably never seen a hunk of clam drifting by his face in the middle of the water in its life, but they’ve all seen tons of bergals, sand eels, baby herring, juvenile fish of any kind,” said Capt. Paduano, noting that while diamond jigs work, most of the folks fishing aboard his charters end up switching over leadhead jigs tipped with Powerbait, Gulp, Fishbites, Slug-Gos. “Around 6-inch matches most of the hatch,” had added.
Capt. John has revolutionized the Snap-Jig method of light tackle fishing, and uses rods with a nice parabolic bend. “Those big sea bass have a habit of getting off, and that big bend in the rod allows it to load up, and it’s really hard for those big sea bass to come off once you have them hooked.” He also prefers to keep it light as possible to get smaller jigs down. “We use light 10-pound test, all the time, I’ll fish 150 feet of water with 10-pound test. It allows you to put light jigs down which are easier when the sea bass hits to get them hooked.
In terms of isolating the bigger specimens, Capt. Paduano actually prefers using bucktails over other jig designs, and ideally he prefers conditions with little current to allow for a good drift around the intended piece. “When that jig hits the bottom leave it there for a second if the currently allows you,” noting that an inquisitive humpback will pick it up as if it’s perhaps a crab. “Instead of just lifting set that hook before you do anything,” he said, adding “Probably 50% of the time if sea bass are in the area you’re going to get the biggest sea bass doing that.”
Other tips for targeting those Dream Boat knotheads, Paduano advises casting away from the boat rather than fishing directly underneath wherever possible. Also, if marking a pile of sea bass on your electronics, try casting your jig or bucktail away from the middle of the pile. “The big sea bass are always going to be around the outside,” he advised.
Knothead Snafu
Earlier this year I wrote a short “how to” piece about black sea bass titled Black Sea Bass: Enjoy Now, Worry Later; from the looks of things, the Fisherman title was a tad more prescient than I would’ve liked as we’ve since learned that our recreational harvest limits on sea bass may be reduced by 20% next season. That decision comes by way of a new 2024 management track assessment that uses various data through 2023 to provides an updated estimate of the current stock status. Suffice to say, it does leave many anglers and industry members worried.
During the August meeting of the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) in Philadelphia, members convened alongside the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission), specifically the Commission’s Summer Flounder Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board (Board). So you have the Council and the Board meeting jointly over two days to consider recommendations from the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), Monitoring Committee, and Advisory Panel, as well as comments from members of the public.
According to the SSC projections, a sharp decline in future black sea bass biomass is predicted, prompting their recommendation for a 20% reduction in the acceptable biological catch for 2025, despite what the data also shows to be “generally consistent increases in biomass for the past several years.” Concerns were expressed by both the Board and Council about the negative socioeconomic impacts of a 20% decrease in allowable catch, increases in discards, and compliance with more restrictive measures.
“With biomass currently more than double the target level and overfishing not occurring, it is challenging to communicate the conservation need for a 20% reduction,” noted Council staff in a meeting summary provided by the Commission.
| BOARD VS. COUNCIL |
While the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) is required by law to accept the recommendations of the Scientific and Statistical Committee to reduce the recreational harvest of black sea bass by 20% in ’25, thereby dropping the limit to 4.46 million pounds, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Board) is not legally bound by law to accept the more onerous restrictions, thus leading to their “status quo” vote of keeping angler coastwide harvest at 6.27 million pounds for next season. It’s ultimately up to the regional administrator at NOAA Fisheries to decide our sea bass fate, which should come later this month when the two management bodies meet again in Maryland. Learn more at asmfc.org |
It’s important to remember that the Council is bound by federal law (Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act) to set annual catch limits which do not exceed SSC recommendations. However, since the Commission is not bound by this same federal fisheries law, their Board voted to suspend the typical joint management process for the 2025 black sea bass specifications, allowing it to adopt different catch and landings limits than the Council. As such, the Commission’s Board voted to maintain status quo limits for black sea bass in 2025.
While the Council considered passing a similar motion, when considering that going against the SSC’s recommendations would be in violation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act they ultimately passed a substitute motion with a 20% reduction in harvest for both commercial and recreational fisheries. With the Council and the Commission essentially approving different specifications for 2025, it sets up a bit of a regulatory storm which will need to be addressed by NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Ultimately, the Commission/Board vote for status quo is final, whereas the Council’s recommendation of a 20% overall reduction must be reviewed, and if approved, implemented by NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office. And if NOAA Fisheries approves and implements these specifications recommended by the Council, it would create disparities between the state and federal regulations. For those for-hire captains who hold federal permits to take passengers fishing for fluke, porgy and sea bass in federal waters, they’ll be bound by the 20% more restrictive rules than those who are only subject to state measures on the inside of the 3-mile federal line.
According to the Council/Commission meeting summary, the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office will ultimately use the federal rulemaking process to consider what flexibilities are available to ensure alignment between the state and federal regulations. As a buddy of mine pointed out, this is a management problem, not a conservation problem. Or as I said in my previous article about black sea bass, enjoy it now, worry later!
For anglers, captains and tackle shops actively engaged in the Atlantic black sea bass fishery, the next joint meeting between the Council and Commission meetings in October will be important as this sea bass mess gets sorted out. That joint meeting will occur when the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission convenes for their 82nd Annual Meeting from October 21-24 at the Westin Annapolis, 100 Westgate Circle in Annapolis, MD.
