Ghost Hunting -- Our First Experience with White Seabass
During our two days of fishing with Oliver and Riley Ngy, we hooked six white seabass and landed four of them – three in the 30-pound class along with Hanna’s trophy 40-pounder. They are beautiful fish, the largest member of the croaker family, and they fight incredibly hard.
We didn’t realize what the Ngys had helped us accomplish until we told several other west coast friends.
Every one of them offered up some version of the same question: “You know they’re called ‘The Ghost,’ don’t you?”
Indeed, at a time when other boats in the region were struggling to land even one, we’d hit a jackpot of sorts. We heard it compared to catching three 9-pound largemouths (referred to as “green bass” in the Southern California vernacular) and a 10 on your fish trip. We also added about 50 calico bass and a few other random species. Yes, we’re spoiled.
The population of these fish has rebounded thanks to the substantial efforts of local anglers, government officials and scientists. The Hubbs Seaworld Research Institute, supported heavily by our friends at AFTCO, worked to develop a program to hatch and raise these incredible fish in pens.
Here are a few links explaining the success of restoration programs:
Hubbs-SeaWorld releases 3 millionth white sea bass to the wild
White seabass grow-out pen in Redondo Beach aims to raise fish population
High school fishing club raises funds to save white Seabass
White sea bass being raised in Newport Beach help build the fish’s population in the Pacific
Thousands of baby white sea bass are being raised in pens in Newport Harbor
Conservationists Rally to Restore California’s White Seabass
While the fish are prized by in-the-know west coast anglers, it feels like they’re not fully recognized or appreciated by those who come from other places, so there’s not a huge amount of literature about fishing for them.
Our friend Dan Smith put together a good primer on How to Fish for White Seabass.
We saw a few replicas in California tackle shops, but there aren’t many examples on the web. Here are a few:
And there’s also some great art to commemorate your memorable fish:
If you want to catch one of your own, we HIGHLY recommend a trip with Oliver and Riley. They can put you on White Seabass and plenty of other Pacific species. Email us for information on how to set up a day (or two, or three) on the water with them.
