https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/sports/outdoors/fishing/20
Black sea bass is a scrappy little number that is also hard to beat on the table.
Capt. Zach ZachariasCorrespondent, March 4, 2021
There is a species of fish which used to be quite abundant on hard bottom areas of the Gulf that became fairly rare for a while. According to recent reports, I'm happy to hear they are making somewhat of a comeback. That species would be the black sea bass.
Now this is far from a glamorous sport fish, nor a bottom dweller that will bring you to your knees, but it is a scrappy little number that is also hard to beat on the table.
Black sea bass inhabit Florida coastal waters of 20 to 80 feet or so and favor structured live habitats including some inshore areas. Sea bass are winter spawners with a peak in March and they prefer a diet of small fish, shrimp, squid, crustaceans and shellfish.
They are usually an incidental catch when targeting grouper and snapper, but can be great fun when using scaled back, lighter tackle which also increase your odds of catching them. Fishing in the shallower part of their range helps your odds as well.
The Florida state record is 5 pounds 1 ounce caught near Panama City, but can reach 24 inches and 8 pounds. The average is 12 inches and 1.5 pounds. The minimum size limit in the Gulf is 10 inches overall and I was shocked to learn that the daily recreational bag limit is 100 pounds per person. Gimme a break! How do you even enforce an outrageous limit as that. For all intents, there is no bag limit at all. In our Atlantic waters the minimum size is 13 inches and the bag is 7 per person. That is far more reasonable and begs the question why is there such a huge differential between the two coasts.
No wonder they were such a rare catch for a while!
Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate
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