White sea bass lurk in the thick kelp of southern California. These oversized croakers are the largest members of their family; the All-Tackle World Record is 83 pounds, 12 ounces caught in 1953 in Mexico. They fight dirty. Their first trick is super keen vision. Their second trick is to disappear into the kelp. San Diego-based guide Kevin Nakada has caught sea bass up to 65 pounds. After targeting white sea bass for seven years, he’s learned some tricks, too.
Season of the Sea Bass
According to Nakada, white sea bass are available from early spring to late summer. “Early spring is best as the fish start their spawn,” he says. It seems hot love leaves the fish famished. “They’ll eat anything they can get their mouth around,” Nakada laughs.
The easiest way to find the fish is find the bait. “They either eat squid or fin fish,” Nakada says. To catch squid for bait, Nakada recommends a three-ounce barbless squid catcher. “Bounce it off the bottom until it gets heavy then crank steady to keep the squid on the hook,” he says. For finbait like mackerel he jigs a No. 4 and 5 Sabiki rig. Keep the bait in a livewell that circulates fresh water. “A bucket and an aerator won’t work for squid and mackerel,” Nakada adds, he likes Hobie’s XL livewell.
Rigs and Jigs
One of the sea bass’s greatest assets is its eyesight. “They are incredibly leader shy,” Nakada stresses. He starts with five feet of 40-pound fluorocarbon. “If I keep breaking off fish, I’ll go up to 60-pound fluorocarbon.”
When the fish are feeding on finbait, Nakada uses a Carolina rig. He slides a four-ounce eggsinker followed by a plastic bead over the 65-pound braided main line. Then he ties on a 130-pound low-profile swivel. He attaches the five-foot fluorocarbon leader to the swivel and snells on a 4/0 to 7/0 live-bait hook. “Match the hook to the size of the bait,” he adds.
For squid baits, he pins the squid to a dropper rig, yo-yo iron, bucktail or a hook and light eggsinker knocker-rig. “Depending on how deep I mark the bait, I use a dropper rig if the fish are in the bottom, or the eggsinker and hook if the fish are closer to the surface.”
Rods and Reels
The second trick to beating a white sea bass is wrestling it away from the thick kelp where it hides. Nakada uses a Seeker Beacon 7040 medium-heavy action rod with stiff backbone and incredible lifting power designed for this purpose. Use the stiff rod to apply a few more pounds of pressure when needed. He matches it to a Saltist 40 that can produce 20 pounds of drag. The reel has a fast retrieve to gain maximum line when the bass gives an inch. “Once the sea bass gets into the kelp you have a 25-percent chance of wrestling it into the open,” he admits.
To better the odds, Nakada spools his reel with 65-pound braided line. Braided line has almost no stretch and thinner diameter than same pound-test monofilament. “Use original green Power Pro,” he stresses, “it cuts through the kelp like butter.”
This article was originally published in Kayak Angler, Volume 10 • Issue 2.
