White Seabass

White seabass are not bass but the largest croaker on the Pacific coast, a long, heavy-shouldered fish with a steel-gray to bronze back, bright silver sides, a raised ridge along the belly and a bluish sheen that earns the name ghost. Juveniles carry dark vertical bars and are often mistaken for other species. They range from Magdalena Bay, Baja California, to San Francisco, with the US fishery centered on Southern California from San Diego to Point Conception and the Channel Islands. Most legal fish run 15–30 lb and 28–40 in; 50 lb-plus fish are trophies and the all-tackle record of 83 lb 12 oz from San Felipe has stood since 1953.

White seabass follow spawning squid and schools of sardines and mackerel into the kelp beds and over sandy bottoms in 30–150 ft from spring through summer, feeding mostly at night and at gray light. They are famously fickle, appearing in schools under boats one day and gone the next, and their habit of croaking makes them audible through a hull at times. The population collapsed in the 1970s and has rebounded with hatchery stocking and gill-net closures, making the species a conservation success and a cult target for private boaters, kayakers and spearfishers. The thick, white, mild fillets are among the best on the coast.