Well, the party boats are sure happy to see June 1st and the opening of the recreational harvesting of black sea bass. The new regulations are 13-inch minimum size and 5 per person per day. Sea bass are one of my favorite fish to catch and they are a great tasting fish to eat. Use frozen sardines or squid and a chicken rig to catch them. You are likely to catch triggerfish, snapper, grouper, grunt and porgies while fishing this way too. You’ll need to fish in depths from 50 to 120 feet of water. The northeast grounds are a great place to catch these species. We’re still catching some nice dolphin, so when you’re heading offshore, make sure you take along some ballyhoo for trolling. Always have a couple of spinning rods with bare hooks to cast squid or cut bait in case you have dolphin following in your hooked fish. Look for any floating debris, current edges and color changes too. Once you catch one, keep trolling that area, which is usually in depths of 100 to 250 feet.
If you’re really looking to bend a rod, take along some medium action spinning rods and catch some live bait. Then proceed to the beach area in 20 to 30 feet of water. This time of year there are large schools of jack crevalle roaming the beaches. Position the boat ahead of the school and cast your baits to them (you can use large casting plugs and spoons as well). Be prepared for a long battle, but they are fun to catch.
FORECAST BY: Capt. Chris Nelson
All Hooked Up Sportfishing Charters
Phone: (772) 408-3119
Email: CaptainChrisn@yahoo.com
Located at Harbortown Marina, Ft. Pierce, FL