This week out of San Diego, the bluefin remain a night-shift fishery, the Coronados are kicking out yellowtail, and the kelp beds are giving up calicos on nearly every trip. The summer offshore season is in full swing, and the landings are running full boats.
What’s Hitting
Bluefin from 30-pound class to cow-sized are on the offshore banks, with the most consistent action coming in the dark on knife jigs. Daytime kelp-paddy stops are adding yellowtail and the first dorado of the season as the water warms. At the Coronados, the yellowtail are on the flat-fall and surface iron early, calico bass are feeding hard in the kelp lines on the full moon tides, and the half-day boats are steady on rockfish and a pick of white seabass for the lucky few.
Where to Find Them
The bluefin have been holding on the banks inside 60 miles — the fleet finds them on sonar after sunset when the fish come up off the bottom marks. Yellowtail want the lee side of the islands and the hard-bottom high spots. The calico bite is best on the outer kelp lines from Point Loma to La Jolla on moving water.
Tides & Conditions
June gloom has finally burned off to classic July conditions — light morning breeze, calm seas, and a warming trend pushing offshore surface temps toward the magic numbers. The moon phase this week favors the night bluefin program.
Tackle & Tactics
For night bluefin, a 300- to 500-gram knife jig on 80-pound braid dropped to the marks is the standard — let it flutter, wind fast, hang on. Daytime paddies want a sardine flylined on 30-pound. Island yellowtail eat the surface iron at dawn, and the calicos want weedless swimbaits thrown into the thickest kelp you can find.
Local Intel This Week
Shelter Island’s public launch ramp is the main gateway for the offshore fleet, with Dana Landing and the Ski Beach ramp covering Mission Bay this week. The fish are concentrating on the offshore banks at night and the island high spots at dawn. Bluefin limits and Mexican-water permits for the Coronados both apply — check current CDFW regulations and carry Mexican documentation before fishing south of the line.
This Week’s Tip
On the night bluefin grounds, the sonar mark tells you the depth — but the jig only works if it gets there before the school moves. Free-spool with your thumb on the spool and count the drop; when the captain calls fish at 40 fathoms, being at 38 in ten seconds beats being at 45 in thirty.