This week out of San Diego, the summer offshore season is delivering. The bluefin are here in numbers — and in sizes that keep the rail crowded — while the paddy yellowtail and the kelp-line calicos are giving the local boats plenty to do inside.
What’s Hitting
Bluefin tuna remain the headline, with fish from 40 pounds to well over 200 in the offshore zones, and the best action coming on the night bite. Yellowtail are on the kelp paddies in the same water, calico bass are chewing along the kelp edges from Point Loma to La Jolla, and the half-day boats are finding rockfish and a few bonus white seabass. Dorado should not be far behind if the warm water keeps pushing north.
Where to Find Them
The bluefin zones have been shifting between the 371, the Corner, and the waters below the 425 — the fleet finds them daily, so listen to the dock talk before you pick a heading. Paddy yellows are scattered through the same offshore water. The calicos are tight to the kelp in 15 to 40 feet.
Tides & Conditions
A mild gradient has kept the outside water fishable most days, with the usual afternoon westerly. Offshore water temperatures are in the mid 60s to low 70s across the banks — right in the bluefin comfort zone.
Tackle & Tactics
Night bluefin want knife jigs — 200 to 300 grams in glow — fished on 80- to 100-pound setups, with flat-fall bites coming in the dark hours. Daytime fish take kite baits and the occasional popper. Paddy yellowtail eat sardines fly-lined on 30-pound, and the calicos want weedless swimbaits worked into the kelp.
Local Intel This Week
The Shelter Island launch ramp is the main public gateway to the bay and the offshore grounds, with Dana Landing and De Anza Cove serving Mission Bay and Glorietta Bay covering the south. Fish are concentrating in the offshore bluefin zones and along the kelp inside. California tuna limits and barbless requirements in certain fisheries are specific — check current DFW regulations before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
On the bluefin grounds, the sonar mark matters more than the jig color. Meter the school before you drop, stay on the fish with the trolling motor or bump the drift, and fish the depth the marks show — ten fathoms off is the same as ten miles off with these fish.