Over the years, I had caught a number of black sea bass, but nothing larger than 7 or 8-inches, most smaller. They were bait stealers as far as I was concerned. When we fished for flounder at Chincoteague, the little black devils were quick to steal a prime, live minnow.
My opinions of black sea bass changed dramatically on an offshore trip out of Topsail, NC when our guide put us on a school of bass running up to 15-inches. When we had cleaned and filleted them and put them on a table with fresh flounder, Mahi, and other fish, the clear winner in the eating department was the sea bass.
The Virginia Recreational Sea Bass season is coming up this February. The best fishing is offshore over wrecks and structure and there are some 30 guides out of Virginia Beach eager to take your party. The fish you catch won’t be bait stealers, they will be studs up to 6 and 7 pounds and some of the best eating you’ll ever experience
If interested in the special recreational black sea bass season this February, a free permit for vessel captains is now available online or from your local VMRC licensing agent. Find out more about permitting and reporting requirements for the February black sea bass season here.
Hatteras Report
Got a report out of Hatteras this week.
It’s cold down there and the wind is blowing 22 mph. The sound temperatures are from 38 to 45 while the ocean is about 48. Surf angers are finding a few black drum and red drum. Offshore boats are returning with blackfin and bluefin tuna and some king macks. Boats out of Oregon Inlet and Pirate’s Cove are catching blackfin, bluefin, yellowfin, and Big-eye tuna.
The NC piers are mostly dead with reports of a few skates and dogfish.
