San Diego’s summer offshore machine is humming. The bluefin are still most catchable in the dark, the Coronados are kicking out yellowtail, and the paddy hoppers are starting to find the year’s first dorado — the SoCal summer trifecta is nearly complete.
What’s Hitting
This week on the water, bluefin from 30 to 150-plus pounds are holding in the offshore banks inside 60 miles, with the overnight boats doing the steadiest damage on knife jigs in the dark and sinker-rigged sardines at gray light. Yellowtail are on the kelp paddies and at the Coronados — mixed grade, some legit 20-pound class. Calico bass fishing along the kelp at Point Loma and La Jolla is excellent on the swing, and the half-day fleet is padding counts with rockfish and a few halibut on the flats.
Where to Find Them
Bluefin: the offshore knolls and banks southwest of the 9 Mile Bank — the fleet finds the fish nightly; the trick is being there in the dark. Yellowtail: any paddy holding bait on the way out, and the lee side of North Island at the Coronados. Calicos: the kelp edges on the outgoing tide.
Tides & Conditions
The building moon is a mixed blessing — more current swings the paddy and island fishing up, but bright nights can make the bluefin jig bite finicky. Marine layer mornings, flat afternoon seas, and 68- to 72-degree offshore water have been the recent pattern.
Tackle & Tactics
Bluefin: 80- to 100-pound setups for the night jig — 200- to 300-gram knife jigs — plus a 40-pound sardine outfit for the morning fly-line window. Yellowtail: yo-yo iron at the islands, fly-lined sardines on the paddies. Calicos: weedless swimbaits thrown into the thickest kelp you dare.
Local Intel This Week
The Shelter Island launch ramp is the main public access for trailer boats; Dana Landing serves Mission Bay. The landings at Point Loma and H&M are running full overnight schedules. Fish are concentrating on the offshore banks after dark and on the paddies by day. Check current California DFW regulations before keeping fish — bluefin limits and the Mexican-waters permit question both matter this week.
This Week’s Tip
On the night bluefin grounds, resist the urge to swing on the first tick. Let the jig get bit, keep turning the handle until the rod loads, and then lean in — the fish that mouths a knife jig in the dark drops it the instant it feels a premature hookset.