Sea Bass are almost Back!

After a long closure, sea bass are almost back! The season off of Ocean City, MD, opens back up on May 22, and anglers have been waiting in the wings for months now. Although bass move inshore at this time of year as the waters begin warming up, anglers in search of big bass will head offshore for wrecks in 100 to 300 of water, 30 to 60 miles from the inlet. Why travel so far, when bass can be caught within spitting distance of the inlet? Because near-shore wrecks and reefs are picked-over by huge numbers of anglers in this area. Don't forget, OC is an easy drive from Baltimore and DC, and there are a LOT of folks who head for the beach in pursuit of these fish!

Standard fare is to drop a two or three 4/0 to 6/0 hook bottom rig, weighted down by three to six ounces of lead and baited with squid. The tried-and-true works, no doubt, but check out what the bass in this picture ate: a Butterfly jigging spoon. Jigging for bass has several advantages over bait fishing. First off, since you're not dragging along the wreckage you get snagged far less often. Use a top-hook rig like the Butterfly, and it's unusual to snag more then once or twice through an entire day of fishing. (Bottom bait anglers can plan on snagging five or ten times as often.)

Another advantage of jigging is the ability to target sections of the water column over the wreck or reef. Often sea bass will set up shop 10, 20, or even 30 feet above the structure. Bait anglers have a tough time targeting these fish, but not jiggers.

Finally, guys who swing jigs tend to catch more keepers and lunkers then bait anglers. Bass a mere six or seven inches long will chew on any size squid bait, but they won't chase after heavy metal. And for some reason, really big bass in the five pound plus range seem particularly interested in chasing jigs. 

So: Are you ready to get psyched to go bassin' this spring? Now's the time to get ready. Get plenty of jigs, score a set of numbers for offshore wrecks and reefs (hint: join the OC Reef Foundation, www.ocreeffoundation.com for $25 and you get a package including GPS numbers for dozens of reef sites both inshore and offshore) and plan out a day. It's been a long wait, but finally, the sea bass are back!