Bait Angling for Common Fishes – Chapter XV

Bait Angling for Common Fishes

CHAPTER XV

SEA BASS

This fish has an enormous appetite and is well known In having the reputation of being the most determined and persistent biter of any fish that swims the sea. Though sluggish in habits, its large and powerful fins are able to propel it through the water with great swiftness. During the breeding season the male fish develops a large hump on his shoulders, which takes away the fine graceful appearance which distinguishes the female. When they are first taken from the water their color is remarkably beautiful, a dark blue, purple and olive being the predominant colors. They have a large and powerful mouth (which is characteristic of the bass family), and will take a generous bit of almost anything that is eatable. It spends its time continually nosing about the loose stones and in the cavities among the rocks that have sea weed growing up on them. In this they get various crabs, fishes and other creatures. Upon such feeding grounds the sea bass congregate in great herds, rooting and delving among the holes for such delicacies In water from twenty to fifty feet deep. They are a bottom loving and bottom feeding fish, and rarely come up to the surface. The temperature of the body is low, being very nearly that of the surrounding water, and their digestion Is slow. Though eager feeders, their rate of growth is not rapid. They retreat in all probability into water of greater depth, where they pass the winter In a somewhat torpid state. The best time to catch them is during their feeding time, which Is usually during the lull of the waters between the turn of the tides. The largest fish are caught on the fishing banks, where steamers during the greater part of the year make daily trips to the Cholera Banks off Sandy Hook and Long Branch. These steamers are well patronized by thousands of practical anglers who seldom fail to bring back trophies weighing four to eight pounds. The bass caught in the bays, estuaries and back waters are much smaller, weighing but half to one and a half pounds. These fish rarely, if ever, go up into brackish water. The best places to angle for them is in deep channels, holes under sedgy banks and over wrecks or on a bottom where the black mussel is found, this being a favorite haunt where many may be captured. They will take the bait from Decoration Day to October, but the larger sized fish are taken In Inside waters from September to October. Like the fresh-water bass, he will some times break water, but not till he is drawn near to the boat and ready to be netted, when he will suddenly make a vicious leap, shaking his solid body In all sorts of wriggling and muscular contortions; from the moment the hook gets into his leathery jaws he makes a sturdy fight and dies hard. It frequently occurs that when a fish is hooked and being hauled in, several others follow along almost to the surface of the water, then the hooked fish makes his final effort to escape by leaping above the surface. At such times it is absolutely necessary to keep a taut line; if hooked at all, and the hook is strong, he is sure to be landed, if reasonable care is used.

Almost any bait is suitable for sea bass – skimmer clams, moss bunkers,’ shedder crabs, generous pieces of clam, live klllies, sand worms, shrimps, herring, squid and cut menhaden – all of these will be taken with avidity; one is as good as another, for the sea bass is always on the feed, always hungry. Greater success is achieved on bright, sunny days, when the wind makes a slight ripple on the water. The tackle used should be a good stout rod, multiplying reel and a strong line of generous length. Leaders are only necessary when fishing for the big yellow autumn bass, which are very shy and wary. Late in the season use the No. 2 Sproat hook or a No. 2 Carlisle. A heavy sinker is required to hold firmly on the bottom, and the hooks should be tied quite close to the sinker. Some use only one hook, others use two, each having on a different bait. If baiting with shrimps place two or three together on the same hook, for this fish is one of the few that go for the largest bait, and as his mouth is so ample he is sure to be well hooked with a big bait. Between the turn of the tide the angler is sure to be busy for the short time it lasts. The feeding grounds extend along the coast from Delaware to Maine, wherever the seaweed grows from beds of mussels. It Is eminently a coast fish, seldom venturing far above the bays and back waters.

As a food fish the meat of the sea bass Is excellent; It Is white, the flakes are solid and compact, not so soft and watery as the cod, but more succulent and delicate In taste; It Is best boiled, but epicures regard It as superior In a chowder. As a food as well as game fish It may be placed next In rank to its cousin the striped bass, which of course Is not classed among the bottom feeders.