06/17/2026
Sea Bass on a fine & successful day - 6/17/26
Wasn't in the forecast. Rain doesn't mind being unannounced though. Came down pretty good too. Eight am forecast was sunny; said 'you will need your Hook reef builder shades this morning, skipper.' Actual conditions varied to somewhat wetter, and sunglasses would be needed a bit after 10.
No matter. Rain was all done time Maria sent a terracotta unit over the stern waist cap starting a brand new reef today. Couple more units and it'll have fish on it. Some sea bass may well spawn there this summer, then return to exactly that tiny reef in 2027 to do it again.
When they do, they'll find their little bit of habitat has grown.
Where habitat is concerned there's not a lot of mystery to it. When we add a hard substrate to seafloor, fish & numerous types of non-mobile (sessile) growths including our temperate corals will grow there creating what most would refer to as a reef ecology.
Unless you're a Real Coral Reef Scientist type person. Then these temperate pretenders of reef account no interest whatever. NOAA has an entire arm dedicated to corals. They work around the world. I've sure tried - they ain't interested.
So, we take some blocks, some terracotta off with us every day.
Works every time too.
And when the OC Reef Foundation account builds up some - we build a lot more reef at once.
Singman won the cbass pool & reef raffle, while Maria won the t-shirt with (gasp!) a throwback flounder.
Derned if I know why fluke didn't chew today. Couple throwbacks was all of it. Thankfully, cbass did chew. Our best bite in a while I think. Lot of nice fish too.
Paul was first into double digits at 12:32 - then, Be Still My Heart(!) Mercy! Our very own Portly Prince Of Pastries, the Royal Keeper of All that might contribute to Human Rotundity, Distempered Sugars, and Personal Sponsor of all sports teams for Ocean City's Pastry Chefs: Yes, it's true! Hurricane Murray his dernself found his way to double digits today.
(Is Cathy kryptonite? The evidence is mounting..)
Comes yet another windy day tomorrow. Plenty to do, that's for sure. Might even get my PA back up.
If interested in fisheries thoughts?
On my way off this morning I listened to a NOAA think tank project called: "Working Paper: Black sea bass
Ecosystem considerations and indicator development." (Coast Guard considers it terribly impolite to read deeply while at the helm. Listening to the iPhone is acceptable.)
This is NOAA's latest and greatest. More than some of it sailed over my head. Having fished the Mid-Atlantic 46 years, I'd have no idea if salinity was ever even once different than it had been the day before. Sounded like it was important for developing sea bass in the first days and weeks of life though. Nor do I understand "North Atlantic oscillation" theory.
Nope.
One could be forgiven for assuming any science included in this paper is believed true. As ever in these writings though, everything is always couched as 'may' or 'might be'.and, in a few sections at least, should be.
I sure think some of it, really important parts, are a bit out of synch with life on the seafloor.
I know some of its authors. Perhaps a rebuttal on a few aspects will land on the right computers & lead to experimentation.
I sure hope so.
Promise - throughout their entire range, black sea bass are not getting a fair shake from science and management.
We can make sea bass make a lot more sea bass.
Incredibly many more.
Needs fixing.
Cheers,
Monty
