A black sea bass is absolutely one of the best tasting fish that swims, and right now, hardy anglers venturing out in ocean waters are returning with limits.
Dr. Ken Neill, III aboard the Healthy Grin filed this report:
The Healthy Grin and crew did some wreck fishing February 9th. It was a beautiful calm day with an easy run in and out.
We caught a 6-person limit of sea bass. We also caught a lot of small bluefish, but one weighed in 18 pounds. We caught a couple of tautog to 12 pounds. The weird fish of the day was a monkfish.
About 50 miles out, we did see some fish busting the surface that were probably bluefin, but we didn’t get close enough to know for sure.
We came in early. A nice February day of fishing. We did have our special February sea bass permit, called VMRC operations on the way out and in and filed our catch report online. We were not met at the dock on this trip.
On the Outer Banks, a handful of sea mullet have been caught at Hatteras – a good sign that spring is on the way. When the sea mullet start biting, things start happening in saltwater
Freshwater Report
Stan Cobb at Greentop says that crappie at Buggs Island Lake have been suspending over the channels towards the backs of the creeks, and some have been suspended by the bridge pilings. Spider rigs have been the best approach, a great method for covering different depths in a small spread. The crappie at Anna have been suspending around the bridge pilings at 15’-25′.
The rising water levels have changed the position of stripers in the landlocked lakes, particularly Anna and Kerr. They have been releasing so much water from Kerr, that the best action is at Gaston, in the current. Look for the stripers in the mid to upper portions of Anna, but there will be dirty water. Anna has a small watershed, so things may clear up sooner, assuming the rain ceases. Bass fishing was excellent over the weekend at Anna. Several 6-7 pounders were weighed, despite a lack of anglers out on the water. Jigs, jerkbaits, and swimbaits were the baits of choice.
Tidal river fishing took a hit due to fast rising water. However, 14 lbs. was a decent winning weight from the James during this weekend’s winter series. The Chickahominy River should remain clear, despite the amount of rain we’ve had the last several days. Both the lake and the river should be in fine shape for this weekend. The rising water has taken a toll on the yellow perch action. Hopefully, things will improve, and the rain will end. The upper James is at 9.02′ at the Westham gauge. Flood stage is at 12′ at this station.