Black seabass
 

I havent heard to much about them lately but remember back in Dec. they were pretty thick in LJ and people were hooking them left and right. I hooked on in the surf last night and lost it in the wash after a kelp stringer wrapped up on my line and it shook off.

seems they are getting to be pretty abundant now days. anyone think they'll be taken off the protected list anytime soon?

Highly doubt it...

I'm all for C&R and saving our fishery but I remember a friend of mine telling me about the time he went to Mexico and ordered a "rack of black sea bass ribs". told me that they were bigger then a full rack of baby backs. Sounds tasty.:drool5:

As I understand it they are now quite abundant along our coast, but are very slow growers. They take a long time to reach maturity and to spawn. If DFG started allowing people to keep them they'd be back to their old diminished numbers in no time.
I'm a huge proponent of keeping what you can eat, but Black Seabass are one fish I hope stays on the protected list.