Black Sea Bass

Season in Rhode Island

OTW June 2026: quality fish at 70 to 80 ft, keepers a grind for kayaks. OTW Aug 2026: anglers doing well on party boat trips, mainly shorts inshore. Snug Harbor Oct 2026: larger fish showing on reefs and rock piles. OTW Dec 2025: solid for boats running to Sharks Ledge (offshore, not charted). (Our inference)

Season by region

Where to find them

Deeper sides of the humps (70 to 80 ft for quality fish), reefs and rock piles; mostly shorts inshore (OTW 2026).

On the bottom right against structure: pier pilings, jetty rocks, reefs.

What to look for

Structure: pilings, rocks, live bottom. Many short fish mean you need to move to bigger structure.

What to throw

Bucktail or jighead with a 4 to 5 in paddle tail1/2 to 1 oz, 4 to 5 in tail. Slow hops along the bottom: lift, drop, let it touch, repeat.

Bait

Squid strips (about 3 in by 1/2 in), Cut mullet or bluefish, Shrimp, Crab. Two-hook dropper rig with 1/0 to 3/0 circle hooks on short droppers, sinker just heavy enough to hold the bottom.

Leader

Short 2 to 3 in droppers with 1/0 to 3/0 circle hooks.

Common mistakes

• Fishing open sand away from structure
• Keeping fish under the 13 in limit (many pier fish are short)

Landing

Swing small fish up; use a pier net for big ones.

Handling

• Sharp dorsal spines
• Sharp gill cover spines

Smooth the dorsal fin down from front to back before you grip it.

Keep or release

Good eating; many inshore fish are undersized.

Recipes for black sea bass

Typical: unknown. Large: Sea bass to 5 lb on charter trips (Dec 2025).

Limits

FishOS has not checked the RI limits yet. Check the size, bag and season rules with the Rhode Island DEM Division of Marine Fisheries before you keep a fish.

Sources

• On The Water: Rhode Island Fishing Report, June 25 2026 (Ocean State Tackle, The Saltwater Edge) (Angler knowledge)
• On The Water: Rhode Island Fishing Report, Aug 13 2026 (Ocean State Tackle, The Saltwater Edge) (Angler knowledge)
• The Fisherman: Snug Harbor Marina reports (Oct 2026) (Angler knowledge)
• On The Water: Rhode Island Fishing Report, Dec 11 2025 (Snug Harbor Marina, The Saltwater Edge) (Angler knowledge)
• NOAA NEFSC Essential Fish Habitat source document: black sea bass (2nd ed.) (Official source)
• SCDNR species profile: black sea bass (Official source)

All the fish of Rhode Island