European seabass

Quick facts

How to identify it

A streamlined, muscular body with a broad tail wrist, silver flanks, a dark grey-blue back and a white belly; adults are plain, while juveniles under 10 cm may show faint dark speckles. It has two clearly separated dorsal fins — the first with 8–9 strong spines — a large mouth, and two forward-pointing spines on the rear edge of the gill cover plus a dark blotch on the operculum. The spotted seabass of the Iberian coast is smaller and keeps its dark spots as an adult; the striped bass has bold horizontal stripes. Mullet are sometimes mistaken for bass in murky water but have a small mouth and no separated spiny dorsal.

Where it lives

Seabass are coastal fish, mostly found shallower than about 30 m. They hunt in white water over sand and rock, along surf beaches, breakwaters and harbour walls, in tidal rips off headlands and, above all, in estuaries, lagoons and brackish river mouths where they follow the tide far upstream. They tolerate low salinity so well that they are met in tidal rivers and coastal canals. In the Mediterranean and Adriatic they stay inshore year-round, feeding around river mouths, harbours and rocky coves; on Atlantic coasts they move offshore and south in winter and return to the shallows as the water warms in spring.

Season and behaviour

Seabass spawn in winter and early spring — December to March in the Mediterranean, March to June on Atlantic coasts — offshore in open water, and many countries protect them with a closed season or catch limits during this period. On Atlantic coasts the season runs from late spring to early winter, peaking in September–November when bass feed hard on sand eels, sprats and crabs. In the Mediterranean and Adriatic, autumn and winter storms bring the biggest fish onto the surf beaches and river mouths, while summer fishing is a dawn, dusk and night game. Bass are strongly tidal and love disturbed water: a rising tide at first or last light with a swell running is the classic scenario.

Fishing methods

Lure fishing from the shore is the modern way: a 2.4–3.0 m rod rated 10–40 g, 0.12–0.16 mm braid and a 0.30–0.40 mm fluorocarbon leader, throwing 12–20 cm surface walkers and poppers, shallow minnows, metal jigs and 10–15 cm soft shads on light jig heads or weedless hooks. Work white water, rock gullies and estuary channels on the moving tide and keep moving until you find fish. Surfcasting with a 3.9–4.5 m rod and a pulley or running ledger rig carries bait beyond the breakers on open beaches, while a light float rig with a live prawn or sand eel is deadly around harbour walls. In estuaries, drifting a live bait or a soft lure with the tide covers the channels. Fly anglers use 8–9 weight rods with intermediate lines and baitfish or shrimp patterns.

Baits and lures

The best natural baits are what bass are eating that week: ragworm and lugworm, peeler crab, live or frozen sand eel, prawn, squid strip, mackerel strip and razor clam, with peeler crab and live sand eel the top choices on most coasts. Fresh bait is essential. For lures, start with slim pearl, white or holographic sand-eel imitations in clear water and dark or chartreuse patterns in murk or at night; surface lures shine over shallow rock in calm conditions, and a soft shad rigged weedless lets you fish right through weed and kelp where the biggest bass ambush their prey.

Tips from the bank

1. 01Fish the two hours either side of high water in white, aerated surf — flat calm and slack tide are the worst combination.
2. 02Dawn and dusk are prime, but the biggest bass are often caught in full darkness on a surface lure fished painfully slowly.
3. 03In estuaries follow the tide: bass push upstream on the flood and drop back through the channels on the ebb.
4. 04After a storm, hit the surf beaches and river mouths as the sea settles and starts to clear.
5. 05Use a weedless soft plastic over kelp and boulders — that is where the big, solitary fish hunt.
6. 06Handle bass with a wet hand and mind the gill-cover spines and the first dorsal; support the fish horizontally before release.
7. 07Stay mobile — a bass spot is a spot at one state of tide only, so cover ground and note what worked when.

Where to catch European seabass

Waters where Shoalmap's fishing reports list European seabass.

• Sea
• Laguna di Levante
• Laguna di Ponente
• Jadransko more / Mare Adriatico / Deti Adriatik
• Levantine Sea
• Μονοδένδρι
• بحيرة التمساح
• بحيرة قارون
• Sea

Related species

• Striped bass
  Morone saxatilis

  The migratory American cousin of the seabass — surf, estuary and reservoir brawler.

• Gilthead seabream
  Sparus aurata

  The gold-browed bream of shallow bays and lagoons – wary, strong and superb on the table.

• Common dentex
  Dentex dentex

  The blue-flecked, big-toothed predator of Mediterranean drop-offs.

• Flathead grey mullet
  Mugil cephalus

  The wary, hard-fighting grazer of harbours, estuaries and lagoons.

Frequently asked questions