# Keaton Beach Black Sea Bass??????



## Slayer (Mar 13, 2012)

after reading and commenting on some post about recent keaton activity..someone mentioned that my trip this weekend with several young boys might want to include fishing for bsb's...which got me to thinking, I've never actually targeted them before....caught some here and there, but never went to specifically catch them....with that said, seen that it was mentioned to find 10-12 foot of water.....THEN WHAT???

deepest water I ever see is when I cross a pretty deep ditch/creek between the southern most birdrack and the dogshead.....will they hit a 1/4oz jighead with a gulp on it with any consistancy??? do I need to find 12' with structure...what exactly do you look for to locate the "endangered BSB's????

if I ever get to 4' of water I've always thought I was already in way to deep of water for trout and reds....

I will most likely be fishing fri. sat, and sun somewhere between Keaton and Spring Warrior

any input would be appreciated


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## bhdawgs (Mar 13, 2012)

Question - are these the same as a rock bass?  I've been catching them for years on the flats and never heard of anybody eating them or targeting them


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## Parker Phoenix (Mar 13, 2012)

Yes, black,with a blue tint, generally very small inshore. Offshore they get bigger. They are cousins to the grouper, and have some of the tastiest white flaky meat as any fish in the ocean. In the Gulf their min size is 10''.


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## Parker Phoenix (Mar 13, 2012)

Slayer said:


> after reading and commenting on some post about recent keaton activity..someone mentioned that my trip this weekend with several young boys might want to include fishing for bsb's...which got me to thinking, I've never actually targeted them before....caught some here and there, but never went to specifically catch them....with that said, seen that it was mentioned to find 10-12 foot of water.....THEN WHAT???
> 
> deepest water I ever see is when I cross a pretty deep ditch/creek between the southern most birdrack and the dogshead.....will they hit a 1/4oz jighead with a gulp on it with any consistancy??? do I need to find 12' with structure...what exactly do you look for to locate the "endangered BSB's????
> 
> ...




I prefer 35 foot, look for a good hard bottom on your bottom machine, then I look for a mass of color. I rig my pole up like a super sized sabiki rig, I tie on a jig about 3 foot off the bottom, another about 2 foot off the bottom, then I use a diamond jig with a treble hook for a weight. Sweeten each jig with Gulp, and catch them 3 or 4 at a time. Use larger jigs to catch bigger fish, these fish are extremely aggressive, and are not bait shy. I have caught 10'' fish on a 12'' plug. Minimum size in the gulf for BSB's are 10''.


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## Slayer (Mar 13, 2012)

Dang!!!!!  just how far do you have to go out of Keaton to find 35' !!!!!!

thats the very reason I fish out of Carrabelle and Mexico beach...deeper water aint near as far....I do remember going out to the "20 marker" almost 30 years ago to try for cobia...and it was a far piece if I remember right..




Parker Phoenix said:


> I prefer 35 foot, look for a good hard bottom on your bottom machine, then I look for a mass of color. I rig my pole up like a super sized sabiki rig, I tie on a jig about 3 foot off the bottom, another about 2 foot off the bottom, then I use a diamond jig with a treble hook for a weight. Sweeten each jig with Gulp, and catch them 3 or 4 at a time. Use larger jigs to catch bigger fish, these fish are extremely aggressive, and are not bait shy. I have caught 10'' fish on a 12'' plug. Minimum size in the gulf for BSB's are 10''.


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## Parker Phoenix (Mar 13, 2012)

LOL....It can be a lot of seat time, so I never go unless the weather is just right. I fish out of Steinhatchee, and I only go north if I'm trout fishing. Back when we were allowed to catch gag grouper I did spend a lot of time in the upper Gulf pulling gags out of 25 foot of water, those days are over.


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## Ga. Swamper (Mar 13, 2012)

My favorite Pink Mouth Grunt hole is 14 mi off Steinhatchee and is in 35ft of water. Never caught any BSB on this hole, gag grouper in April, we would fish for the grunts to get the gags turned on. Those where the days not so long ago.


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## Slayer (Mar 18, 2012)

Met a guy at Keaton this weekend....said he was out 16 miles and in 40 foot....had a fair amount of BSB and pink mouth grunts....just passing it along


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## Jhud (Mar 19, 2012)

We were there yesterday too. Decided to stay inshore. Went home with 3 trout, 2 mackerel, and a blue. Lots of short trout. Someone at the marina said they did better in 6-8 ft water, but lost lots of tackle to the mackerel. Had a great day, will be headin back in a couple weeks (apr 1-3). Hoping to get out a few miles and try to find some bsb's.


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## biggabuck (Mar 20, 2012)

We caught a lot of short sea bass this weekend had a blast went alittle to far but they are there. Over all we had a great trip. Brought home. A decent mess of fish and bad it back from a long run out.


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