Best Black Sea Bass Fishing Secrets For Success

As waters cool, these pugnacious bottom fish grow more aggressive. Learn how to find them and feed them.

October 29, 2025 By Rick Ryals

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Give me some 60-degree water off Northeast Florida, which usually occurs from December through the first half of April, and you’ll find me happily on the hunt for one of the best-tasting fish in the ocean. There’s no easier way to catch black sea bass than a two-hook chicken rig on a traditional bottom fishing setup.

There’s a few things you need to know about sea bass. The big “greenheads” are dominant males. The fish are spawning in the winter off our coast, and the males will congregate a harem of smaller females. The reason that’s important is because the males are dominant, they almost always feed first. That means leave your anchor in the boat, or trolling motor in the chute. Once the biggest bass are taken off a spot, it’s time to move on. In my opinion it is almost never necessary to anchor, or spot lock, while sea bass fishing. The bass you catch on the first couple drifts will be the biggest of the school. Interestingly, sea bass are much like gag grouper. When they are small they’re all females. Once they reach a certain size, as many as the school needs will become males.

I’m not sure who talked me into trying jigging for them with an arrow shaped 3-ounce jig head, but it has really changed the way I view sea bass. First off, they are primarily scent feeders. One of my lifelong fishing partners thought it was hilarious that I would spend extra money for scented baits like Gulp! or Fishbites to catch a “stupid sea bass.” Unfortunately, he laughed at me so hard that by the time I had boxed a half dozen fat bass, and he had no keepers, I suddenly decided I didn’t have enough to loan him a few. Guess it wasn’t that funny after all.

Two men holding several black sea bass. — Chunky black sea bass caught by anglers off Northeast Florida.

I use a Shimano Torium HG14 reel on a Penn 6’6” 30-pound-class jigging rod. Whereas I started out using regular 3- or 4-ounce arrow shaped jigs, I later talked my friend at New Concept Lures into designing “Ricky’s Bottom Ball,” which puts a swivel between the hook and the jig. I’m convinced a free-swinging hook stays in the mouth of a bass better than a fixed hook. Having said that, you’d better still get ready to lose plenty of keeper size bass (above 13 inches). I’ve had dozens of keepers get off on most trips. It took me awhile to understand what was happening. I finally figured out that they were almost always getting off when the fish was about halfway up. To me, that meant the bass was holding onto the tail of the jig, and eventually spitting it out when the bait kept heading for the surface. What’s even more amazing is finally realizing if I dropped the jig a foot or two after one got off, either the same bass or one that was following, would pounce on it.

In this fishery, braid is critical to feel everything that’s going on at the end of your line. I use 60-pound braid with a 3-foot shot of 50-pound mono. If I get hung up, the lighter mono should break first.

Yes, grunts and snapper will eat the jigs, but they are not as interested in them as they are squid or other traditional bottom baits. Both Gulp! and Fishbites survive toothless grunt bites better than any natural bait. I can ignore incessant grunt bites until something bigger finds the jig. Also, the synthetic bait strip is technically an artificial lure—which means you may use a J-hook in waters where circle hooks would otherwise required when pursuing reef fish species with natural baits.

Sea bass are highly seasonal in Northeast Florida, and even more so as you move down the coast. Whereas the size and number of sea bass seems to start to decline once you get south of St. Augustine, there are definitely pockets of them. My friend George Labonte, a fishing captain out of Jupiter, has an area off South Florida where he regularly pulls really nice bass out of 300-plus feet of water. They are present in the Gulf but tend to be smaller there.

My favorite sea bass spots are almost all between 65 and 90 feet of water. My favorite places are spots we only hit once a year, and they are spots most fishermen would never consider. Give me an 18-inch rolldown with a tiny scratch of fish looking like they are stuck to the bottom, and there’s a good chance of pulling two or three keepers off it. Interesting to me is what happens on your scope when the bass start to bite. What looked like a tiny scratch of fish often times turns into an impressive show of fish that apparently run over to investigate.