Black Sea Bass (Centropristis Striatus)

Sea Bass, Black Bass, Bass, Humpbacks, Seabass

NJ Fishing Season

May 22 - October 11 (25 Fish per person, 12.5 inch minimum size)

November 1 - December 31 (25 Fish per person, 12.5 inch minimum size)

Sea Bass Sizes

Current Records

	Weight	Catch Place	Catch Date	Angler
IGFA World Record
	10 lbs. 4 oz	Virginia Beach Virginia	Jan 1, 2000	Alan Paschall
NJ State Record
	8 lbs. 2 oz.	Off Pt. Pleasant	1994	John Geddes

 

The largest black sea bass weigh up to 10 pounds. However, most adults do not exceed 1.5 pounds. A 12-inch fish generally weighs 1 pound, while an 18 to 20-inch fish weighs about 3 pounds.

Food (Bait)

The black sea bass is predominantly a bottom-feeder, It prefers small baits such as shrimp, small crabs, squid, and clam.

Angling Tips

Refer to our Instruction Forum

Black Seabass Fishing Tips

5 Tips on Better Wreck Fishing Success

The best time to fish for Black Sea Bass is from May through summer, when they are closest to shore. Any underwater structures, such as those associated with wrecks, jetties, and piers, will attract this species. Although they can be found from near shore to depths of up to  120 feet, large males tend to be found in deeper water.  In addition to bait on the bottom It will strike at plugs, jigs, and bucktails. Ava Diamond Jigs are especially effective.  The most commonly caught fish weigh from ½ to 2 pounds.  Although a sea bass has a large mouth, use a small bait-holder hook as the fish tends to shy away from larger hooks.

General Information

Black sea bass are fairly stout-bodied fish, with a long dorsal fin, and large pectoral and pelvic fins. The rounded tail sometimes has a long streamer trailing out from the top edge. Each gill cover has a flat spine near the outer edge. Mature males have a fleshy dorsal hump just anterior to the dorsal fin.

The background color of the black sea bass (smokey gray, brown, or bluish black) is mottled with darker patches and light speckles. The belly is only slightly lighter than the sides. The dorsal fin is marked with whitish mottling, while all other fins have dark spots, Young sea bass are green or brown with a dark lateral stripe running from the head to the tail.

Reproduction

The black sea bass has an unusual life cycle: most individuals are hermaphroditic, reproducing both as female and a male at some time in their lives. Although some fish are males from the time they reach sexual maturity, most produce eggs when they first mature. At some subsequent point the ovary tissues in these fish become non-functional, while at the same time testes commence production of sperm. The age at which individuals "switch" from female to male is variable, although most fish have done so before they are 6 years old. In heavily exploited populations in which larger, older males are selectively harvested, the resulting death of males causes females to change sex at a younger age and smaller size than would be the case in populations less depleted by fishing. The effects of reduced abundance of males and reduced average size of females on the reproductive capacity of sea bass populations is not fully understood.

Black sea bass reproduce from February to July, with the spawning season starting earliest in the southern portion of their range and progressing northward as spring passes. Off the New Jersey coast, they reproduce from May until the end of June. The eggs are buoyant, floating in the water column until they hatch 1 ½ to 5 days after fertilization. The larvae drift in bays, inlets, and offshore areas; they become bottom-dwelling when they have grown to about ½ inch in length.

Habitat

Black sea bass generally over winter at depths from 240 to more than 600 feet, with fish inhabiting deeper waters in the New Jersey-New York region than in the mid-Atlantic region to the south. Few fish occur north of Cape May (New Jersey) in the winter, although some are known to travel extensively between Nantucket Shoals and Cape Hatteras at depths to nearly 1,100 feet. In the spring, this species displays a general northward and inshore movement, expanding its range as far north as Cape Cod from May to October. During the summer, adult sea bass gather around rocky bottoms, sunken wrecks, old pilings, and wharves. At this time of year they are most abundant at depths of less than 120 feet. Young-of-the-year and yearlings tend to summer in estuaries, which are critically important nursery grounds for this species.

Handling

The firm, white flesh of this species is a favorite of many. Bass are easy to fillet, especially when chilled, and yield a thick slice of meat.

Cooking

Try broiling black sea bass fillets. When broiling, fold under the thin section from the tail area to allow more even cooking. Place the fish in a greased pan; sprinkle with fresh ground pepper and paprika, and dot with butter or olive oil. Broil 5 to 6 minutes on each side, depending upon thickness, until the fillets are golden-brown. Be careful not to cook too long, as the fillets will dry and become somewhat leathery.Chinese restaurants will serve delicious whole deep-fried bass as "Hunan fish."