Sample Reports

Saturday June 15th 2019

Report Updated: July 6, 2019 at 10:52 am

PM Updates marked in RED

—– Weather —–
Weather was reported to be pretty good inshore but it was breezy and rough up at the Channel Islands.
The forecast is calling for excellent conditions the next several days straight including the Channel Islands which has been see some very rough conditions for the past 4-5 days
As always, please keep a close eye on the latest forecast and conditions for your local area before you head out!

Synopsis for Inshore Waters of the Southern California Coast
Weak onshore flow will prevail through Wednesday.

LIVE Weather Broadcast
Northern Sector – Santa Barbara to LA
Southern Sector – Orange and San Diego County and SCI
Baja Sector (experimental, may not be updated every day)

—– Bait Report —–
Bait Barge Contact Info 
Everingham Bros Bait Company 

San Diego – 3-6″ sardine (6-14)
Mission Bay – 4-6″ sardine (6-15)
Oceanside Bait Barge Recording (760) 434-1183 – 4-5″ sardine + 3″ anchovy + mini mackerel. Now on summer hours 5 am-5pm (6-8).
Dana Point – 5-7″ sardine and 3-5″ anchovy (6-14)
Newport Bait Barge (310) 461-5370 – small to medium sardines (6-9)
Nacho’s Bait Barge (updated when members report) – Live squid & 5-8″ sardine (6-14)
San Pedro Bait Barge (310) 365-2516 CH.11 – medium sardines (6-13)
Redondo Bait Report (310) 372-2111 – sardines – Available most mornings. Call 909 721-5849 for Mike at the bait barge (6-14)
Marina Del Rey (updated when members report) – 8″ sardines. $30/scoop, half scoops not available (6-14)
CISCOS Bait Barge – anchovy  (6-14)

G-Fly Premium California Flying Fish Baits
These locations have locally caught frozen flying fish for bluefin in stock…
Hogans Tackle in Dana Point
Dana Landing in Mission Bay
Islands Fishing Tackle in Carson

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INSHORE & ISLANDS Section
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Inshore GPS Spots are here.


2019 Yellowtail Shootout is coming 6/21 – 6/23
Registration is open! Get your team together for the tournament weekend of June 21-23!

BD Outdoors will host a fun party June 23rd and award prizes to the 1st-5th place teams. The tournament party will also have an amazing raffle where you can win prizes from our sponsors. Lunch will be a bbq provided by Traeger Grills and we will keep your whistle wet thanks to Firestone Walker Brewing. See you at the tourney!

****** Limited Inshore Report ********
The offshore report is taking center stage now with the arrival of yellowfin tuna into areas inside of 50 miles from Point Loma. Much of the available time spent looking for information switched over to getting tuna dope and as a result the inshore report is less complete.
This will likely be the case from now until the tuna leave us in the fall.
There will still be an inshore report everyday but it is going to rely more heavily on member contributions.

Channel Islands
…SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE TONIGHT…

Wind and rough seas look to be an issue along the north sides of all the Islands until Monday when it is forecast to die down
All the boats that are getting out are fishing the south sides of the Islands to get out of the wind and rough seas

Fishing;
Santa Rosa Island is still seeing a pretty good yellowtail bite at the Eagles Nest. This same area is also giving up a few white seabass and some halibut. There was a 50lb halibut caught this morning on the Endeavor.
All of this is coming on live squid fished on a dropper loop with 6 to 10 ounces of lead. The squid is a little on the small side so a 4/0 to 5/0 hook is the right size.
Bite time is from about 5;30 am until about 10-11am and then it dies.
After that there is very good fishing for reds and other mixed red rockfish at the East End Pinnacles.

At Santa Cruz Island the boats are finding some seabass along with some yellowtail, halibut and barracuda in the greater Yellow Banks area which is really the entire distance between Blue Banks and Smugglers.
There is a lot of boat pressure right now as both the fleet of sportboats and lots of private boats are on this.
A number of boats did well. The Aloha Spirit scored full limits of seabass this morning. They ranged from about 15 to 25lbs.
Several other scored limits as well but there were plenty that struggled to get any at all.
The seabass in this large area are not biting the squid. Weird but true. They are biting red plastic tube baits on very long casts towards and along the kelp line. In some cases right in the kelp. The fish in this area are keyed up on red crab which is why they are chomping on the red plastics.

LA Harbor / Long Beach Shelf / Newport Beach
Early reports had the yellows at the Mussel Farm active and chasing bait under birds at the NW corner of the buoys.
Lots of boat pressure though and from what we heard those yellows never did bite at least where the boats could get to them.
There was a report of breezers near the Double Rig and a report of sonar yellows on the 150 but again we did not get any reports of yellows being caught. There might have been, we just don’t know as of post time.
Bottom fishing remains good and is still what most are doing.
You can find mixed red rockfish and whitefish on the Southeast Bank and the sculpin bite on the scattered stones on the 150 remains pretty good too.
Red is the hot color. Red plastics or red jigs or a red painted sculpin rig all with a strip or 2 of squid is the ticket for these sculpin.

Catalina Island
Squid;
Squid is very hard to come by right now. Last night the boats were not able to make any at all.
The Long Beach Carnage is out in front of Avalon with squid for sale this morning. Word is they got this bait at SCI as there is not much signal of squid at Catalina right now.
The Kinley Marie is currently sold out but is out looking for more squid for Sunday. If they get some they could be at the West End or the Backside of the Island. Call them on the cell number (323) 742-2807 to find out where they are and if they have any for sale.
Contact info:
Long Beach Carnage – Contact them on VHF channel 11 or call them at (562) 714-8103.
Kinley Marie – Contact them on VHF channel 11 or call them at (323) 742-2807

Fishing;
No Change. The fishing is good and very steady.
Only real issue is boat traffic of which there is a ton of today and we most likely happen again tomorrow.
The rest is a re-post from yesterday as there is nothing new to add;
The Island is loaded with yellowtail right now but that does not mean it is easy to score them. A few boats are making good scores almost daily but not all. Some struggle just to get a few.
Here is the deal. The key is still finding a spot with some good current running along the island. The first few boats that get on a spot with current and yellowtail are able to anchor up and score well on flylined sardines and surface iron, but if you find yourself getting to the area a little later you’ll be better off trolling Rapalas or drifting with flylined sardines around the outside of the fleet (and not through it!). The yellows are a little mixed in size, with some 5-8 lbers around but also several schools of the nicer 12-25 lb. grade.
They will bite the squid too although right now it isn’t a “must have” bait.
There are seabass around too and even these fish have been at times going hot and heavy for the sardine over the squid.

Location(s)
This is changing almost daily. There is not one single area you can name that is the best as the best fishing is changing daily.
The yellows could go off anywhere along the entire front side if you find the right conditions, ie; good current, clean water and light boat pressure.
That said the most recent hot spots have been the Can Dumps, Condos to Hen Rock, Little Gibraltar to Red Bluff which includes Empire Landing, Isthmus Reef and from Lions Head up to the West End on the front side.
( Be sure to stay out of the Goat Harbor MPA which is between Long Point and Little Gibraltar. )
On the back side the boats have been scoring some seabass at times along with a fair pick on the yellowtail. Best areas are back side east and back side west although the area in the middle back should not be written off. If conditions are good there there is also very likely seabass and yellowtail there.
Lastly there are also the 3 B’s. There is good fishing for bass, barracuda and bonito all around the Island right now.

San Clemente Island
Good yellowtail fishing again today.
Squid:
There is still plenty of squid in Pyramid Cove and the squid boat fleet is there wrapping it. The squid is showing signs of thinning out though so no telling how much longer this will last.
Generally speaking the stuff is in 90 to 120 feet in the Caves area. There are sea lions and yellowtail and seabass on it. Might be hard for the private boater to get a float so be sure and bring the squid jigs. You just might need them.

Fishing:
Status Quo guys. Nothing new to add to this.
Just like Catalina this Island is also jugged full of yellowtail but the bite is inconsistent.
Why?
As we’ve been preaching for days, it’s all about finding current, but it’s not necessarily following a consistent day-to-day pattern of when it moves and when it’s slack.
Good current = good yellowtail fishing. No current = no bite.
Today conditions were good and so was the yellowtail fishing.

Yellowtail are being found in Pyramid Cove on the squid bed near the Caves in 90 feet of water, along with some seabass.
Most of these fish are coming on the dropper loop squid between 4am and 9am with a re-bite happening some days late in the afternoon. Fish these with HEAVY GEAR! 40-50lb is perfect. These fish are NOT line shy. When they want to bite they will bite any size line. You do not want to have a hooked yellow or seabass in the water very long or it will become a sea lion snack.
The front side still has plenty of yellows pretty much all up and down the Island but the main concentration still appears to be in the Gold Bluff / White Rock area
In addition the boats are also catching some legal size barracuda, bonito and calico bass.
Bluefin are being found off the backside now too. See the offshore section for more info on that.

Be sure to check the Navy closure schedule before heading out. Always monitor VHF Ch. 16 and obey any requests to clear out of closed security zones.
Click here  for info on how to read the closure schedule.

Dana Point / Oceanside
If you have anchovy and you find a kelp bed in good clean water the odds are very good that you can get a good calico bass bite going. Without that though the bite is tough.
Water is still streaky so not every kelp bed is good and it changes everyday but with that in mind keep looking and testing the kelp bed with a few handfuls of anchovy. The bass will let you know right away if they want to come out and play.

Del Mar to Imperial Beach
Water conditions are said to be really bad today. Brown or straight red tide. Reports from the La Jolla area said the fishing was slow except for rockfish.
To the south the word was also slow except for rockfish.
In the IB area there is some yellowtail and barracuda in the International Reef area but the volume is actually south in Mexican Waters

**** Attention ****
There is now an ice vending machine at the Shelter Island launch ramp for your convenience. It’s located right near the bathroom building at the top of the ramp. The machine takes credit cards and 20 lb. bags are $6.95 each.
Swipe your credit card to open, take as many as you want, and it charges by weight when you close the door.

 ——– Mexican waters ———
Getting Permits To Fish Mexico: An Angler’s Guide To Baja
by That Baja Guy-Gary Graham

Coronado Islands / Rockpile
There are spots of yellowtail, some mixed with barracuda from the Border near the International Reef all the way down the inside of the Island on the flats to below SKR (and maybe farther south).
Birds are giving away the location of the schools but as of yet these yellows are not really eager to bite. A few guys have scored with the surface iron cast ahead of working tern birds and some guys have scored slow trolling sardines and rapalas
One really good area to have a look at in a 2-3 mile block centered around 32.27 x 117 13. Lots of barracuda here and there appears to be a lot of yellowtail mixed in with them.
There are also reports of yellowtail to the west of the Islands from 1 to 3 miles out off North and South Islands. These are said to be breezers and on kelps.

Evening Report from Kelly and Karen;
We left out of SD bay around 6:00 and headed down to IB flats, in calm seas, Beautiful morning,
Nothing happening at IB flats, came across 3 to 4 empty patty’s
Ended up at South Island south side for wide open barracuda bite, they range from 14 inches to 3 feet. We tried the south kelp for nothing, we also tried the north island for about the same as the south.
We did not get any yellowtail. There was a lot of nice patty’s On the way back with nothing on them.

Evening Report from Mike Belk;
Decided to hit the islands today since the tuna heard I was fishing this weekend and went hiding a few days ago. Typical. Got to the north weather side of South Island, and got bit dropping the first Rapala back. Cuda. Went around to Lighthouse and didn’t see much signal. Turned the corner north. Acres of birds working cuda between the lee and the pens. All the way up the length of the island. Every cast type fishing on cuda. Some decent sized. All surface iron. Released more than limits in about 30 min and went East to the flats to look for yellows. No sign of birds there so came back to Middle Grounds, not much there. Same for SKR. Decided to take a risk and head West to see if the kelps closer to the islands were holding, like they do sometimes this time of year. Sure enough, first kelp just south of North Island has two nice yellows follow the jig to the boat but wouldn’t bite it or bait. Kept going about halfway to the 302, tons of kelps, none holding. Dragged some tuna jigs along the color break north and then back toward Pukey. Got back to the islands around 2:00 and found fast moving bird schools northwest of Pukey and North Middle Grounds. Pulled two chunky yellows out of one big bird school on surface iron and had a HUGE school of yellows rush the boat. By the time we boated the first two, the school was gone and never popped back up. Chased birds for a bit and then came home via IB flats, which were brown and devoid of life. Water still green at islands but 66 and tons of life. Take the kids down for some cuda, it’s stupid wide open.

With so few boats fishing the Islands reports are very hard to come by so if you fished the Islands please shoot us a report to Reports@www.fishdope.com.

Bracelets are now required to fish within Pacific Island Biosphere Reserve areas, including the Coronado Islands, Todos Santos, and San Martin Island. You can purchase bracelets for $5 per person per day at Fisherman’s Landing Tackle Shop, Point Loma Sportfishing Tackle Shop, and Dana Landing Market & Fuel Dock. You will need to provide your boat name, boat owner’s name, number of passengers, and dates you will be in the reserve areas, but you don’t need any other special IDs or info to purchase the bracelets. Everyone on board must have a bracelet to enter the Biosphere Reserve. Biosphere Reserve boundaries are now available on the FishDope Charts (click the Closures layer). For more information, please see https://www.bdoutdoors.com/pacific-islands-biosphere-reserve/ and for the full Biosphere Reserve Declaration click here: (may need to refresh a few times to display the document ñ in Spanish)
The boundaries of the Biosphere reserve:
N32 20.000′ to N32 29.000′, and W117 12.000′ to W117 20.000′

**** ATTENTION ****
You must stay at least 250 meters (820 feet) away from any tuna pens. If you don’t you are at risk of losing your boat and landing in a Mexican jail.
Click here for more details on this subject

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The Mexican Navy is there and checking boats on a regular basis for Vessel Temporary Import Permit  and Valid Country of Residence Passport for each person on the boat (can’t purchase the FMM (Tourist Card) without a passport anyway).
Required permits are listed on the CONAPESCA website  for fishing within 12 miles of land including the islands. The permits can be purchased through their website.

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OFFSHORE Section
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–——— US WATERS ———–
Back Side of San Clemente Island
Bluefin are still be reported on the back side of the Island but there doesn’t appear that very many boats are fishing for the them.
They appear to be mainly along the 150 fathom line from the West End to down off China.
These tuna are reported to be mixed in size, with spots of both the 40-60 lb. grade along with spots of the bigger 100+ lb. models showing too.
Have a look in a 2-3 mile wide band from about 33 00 x 118 39 down to 32 45 x 118 28 for the general area.

43 Fathom Spot / San Clemente Basin Buoy
This zone got looked at today and our contact found very little. Some signal of bait around but no sign of any gamefish

——- MEXICAN WATERS ————
Corner / 226-302 / San Salvador Knoll
Word is if you want a really big bluefin this is where you want to go look. That said it is far from a sure thing.
While there are some of those 6-80lb units much of the bluefin found in recent days in this area have been 200 lbs or better.
The boats out this way are reporting very little surface signal except for birds and bait. If this stuff and you are in the right zone. The tuna have been hanging deep down from 100 to over 300 feet. Those deep ones are not likely to respond to chum but those down 100 to 150 might possibly respond.
Sinker rigs have been getting the most bluefin bites. 50lb fluoro with a 4-6oz torpedo sinker rubber banded to the line about 4 feet up from the small 1 to 1/0 circle hook is the ticket.
There was some yellowfin caught trolling feathers and plugs earlier in the week but not much since then. If you get one it will most likely come on the troll and then there will probably not be any bait fish with it.

Location(s)
Best area seem to be outside the 302-226 around 32 29 x 117 48 down to 32 26 x 117 41. Again, and we can’t stress this enough – you need to be watching your meter to find bait and tuna marks from 150-300 ft or else you’ll miss the zone completely.

The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or yellowfin were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowfin were caught:
32 26 x 117 48 – Big bluefin

475 Knuckle / Upper Hidden Bank
Not much heard from this area today. The vast majority of boats pushed down well below the 32 00 line.
We did hear of a kelp holding some yellowtail and 1 stray yellowfin at 32 01 x 117 24. In the late afternoon we started hearing of boats getting into stops close to or right on the 32.00 line
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or yellowfin were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowfin were caught:
32 01 x 117 24 – Kelp paddy yellowtail and yellowfin tuna
32 00 x 117 31 – Bluefin

Hidden Bank / Upper 500 / 295 / 238-450 down to west of the 1140 Finger / Lower 500
Currently this is the primary zone where most of the fleet is fishing. There is a lot of bluefin and pretty good numbers of yellowfin scattered around over a very large area.

The boats are finding bluefin in several different size classes. There some 25-35lb stuff, good numbers of 50-80lb tuna and there are some schools of the big stuff over 100lbs
The yellowfin are running from litle 6-8lb footballs up to about 30lbs with most in the 12 to 18lb class.
The bluefin are both up on top and holding down deep.
Boats reported finding breezers, puddlers, some spots of foamers and jumpers. They are report finding them on sonar marks from 50 to over 200 feet down
The yellowfin are mainly coming off jig stops and are mixed from 5-25 lbs. or so. They are biting the Halcos, cedar plugs, and feathers in black/purple, Mex flag, and classic blue/white. Some of the schools will also respond to chum and eat finbait, so be ready with a 25 lb flyline bait rig and brail a net full of bait after each jig strike.
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or yellowfin were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowfin were caught:
31 57 x 117 30 – Mixed bluefin and yellowfin
31 56 x 117 31 – Bluefin
31 53 x 117 32 – Mixed bluefin and yellowfin
31 51 x 117 32 – Kelp paddy yellowtail and yellowfin
31 46 x 117 29 – Yellowfin jig stop
31 38 x 117 22 – 60-80lb Bluefin
31 38 x 117 27 – Double yellowfin jig stop. Several bait fish too
31 35 x 117 24 – Kelp paddy yellowtail and yellowfin tuna
31 32 x 117 27 – Mixed bluefin and yellowfin
31 28 x 117 15 – Bluefin
31 21 x 117 13 – 40-60lb Bluefin
31 20 x 117 24 – Mixed bluefin and yellowfin
31 18 x 117 12 – 40-60lb Bluefin

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All reports, good, bad, or otherwise are very helpful.
If you go fishing please give us a call or shoot us an email.
reports@www.fishdope.com
1 (619) 992-6099

 


Friday June 14th 2019

Report Updated: July 6, 2019 at 10:51 am

PM Updates marked in RED

—– Weather —–
Generally good weather conditions except for the Channel Islands which has a Small Craft Advisory up for stiff NW wind and big rough seas.
This same weather is forecast for tomorrow. Nice local inshore and windy and rough at the Channel Islands.
Wind is forecast to come down up there for Sunday, Fathers Day and be nice everywhere.
As always, please keep a close eye on the latest forecast and conditions for your local area before you head out!

Synopsis for Inshore Waters of the Southern California Coast
Weak onshore flow will prevail through Tuesday.

LIVE Weather Broadcast
Northern Sector – Santa Barbara to LA
Southern Sector – Orange and San Diego County and SCI
Baja Sector (experimental, may not be updated every day)

—– Bait Report —–
Bait Barge Contact Info 
Everingham Bros Bait Company 

San Diego – 3-6″ sardine (6-14)
Mission Bay – 4-6″ sardine (6-10)
Oceanside Bait Barge Recording (760) 434-1183 – 4-5″ sardine + 3″ anchovy + mini mackerel. Now on summer hours 5 am-5pm (6-8).
Dana Point – 5-7″ sardine and 3-5″ anchovy (6-14)
Newport Bait Barge (310) 461-5370 – small to medium sardines (6-9)
Nacho’s Bait Barge (updated when members report) – Live squid & 5-8″ sardine (6-14)
San Pedro Bait Barge (310) 365-2516 CH.11 – medium sardines (6-13)
Redondo Bait Report (310) 372-2111 – sardines – Available most mornings. Call 909 721-5849 for Mike at the bait barge (6-14)
Marina Del Rey (updated when members report) – 8″ sardines. $30/scoop, half scoops not available (6-14)
CISCOS Bait Barge – anchovy  (6-14)

G-Fly Premium California Flying Fish Baits
These locations have locally caught frozen flying fish for bluefin in stock…
Hogans Tackle in Dana Point
Dana Landing in Mission Bay
Islands Fishing Tackle in Carson

******************************
INSHORE & ISLANDS Section
******************************

Inshore GPS Spots are here.


2019 Yellowtail Shootout is coming 6/21 – 6/23
Registration is open! Get your team together for the tournament weekend of June 21-23!

BD Outdoors will host a fun party June 23rd and award prizes to the 1st-5th place teams. The tournament party will also have an amazing raffle where you can win prizes from our sponsors. Lunch will be a bbq provided by Traeger Grills and we will keep your whistle wet thanks to Firestone Walker Brewing. See you at the tourney!

****** Limited Inshore Report ********
The offshore report is taking center stage now with the arrival of yellowfin tuna into areas inside of 50 miles from Point Loma. Much of the available time spent looking for information switched over to getting tuna dope and as a result the inshore report is less complete.
This will likely be the case from now until the tuna leave us in the fall.
There will still be an inshore report everyday but it is going to rely more heavily on member contributions.

Channel Islands
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE TONIGHT…

It is very rough along the north sides of all the Islands right now and is forecast to remain that way right through the weekend

Fishing;
At Santa Rosa Island there is still squid in Becher’s Bay but sea conditions are very poor. It is very rough and windy there with only a slight chance for a seabass, yellowtail and/or halibut.
At the Eagles Nest conditions are a lot better. It is protected from the strong north to  NW winds and seas.
The water isn’t all that clean but it is holding fish anyway.
There are a lot of 15-18lb class yellowtail in the area along with a slight chance at a seabass or 2. There is also a little bit of squid in the area which is no doubt why the yellows and seabass are there.
This is a straight dropper loop bite. 25 to 30lb mono is working just fine. You need about 6 to 8oz of lead to hold bottom with the current.
Bite time is from about 5;30 am until about 10-11am and then it dies.
After that there is very good fishing for reds and other mixed red rockfish at the East End Pinnacles.

At Santa Cruz Island there is a decent amount of white seabass showing in the greater Yellow Banks area which is really the entire distance between Blue Banks and Smugglers.
This zone is also well protected from strong NW winds.
The seabass in this large area are not biting the squid. Weird but true. They are biting red plastic tube baits on very long casts towards and along the kelp line. In some cases right in the kelp. The fish in this area are keyed up on red crab which is why they are chomping on the red plastics.

LA Harbor / Long Beach Shelf / Newport Beach
There are yellowtail living at the Mussel Farm but for the most part they are staying well inside of the buoys and are not reachable. Still a few do wander away for it at times and you might be able to pick off a few yellows slow trolling sardines around the outside of the Farm.
There has also been a few sightings of breezing yellows near the Double Rig and on the 150 although we do not know if any of these were caught or not.
Bottom fishing remains good and is still what most are doing.
You can find mixed red rockfish and whitefish on the Southeast Bank and the sculpin bite on the scattered stones on the 150 remains pretty good too.
Red is the hot color. Red plastics or red jigs or a red painted sculpin rig all with a strip or 2 of squid is the ticket for these sculpin.

Catalina Island
Squid;
Squid is very hard to come by right now. There is a hint of the stuff at Mill’s Landing and near West Cove but the volume is very low and it isn’t floating.
The Long Beach Carnage is out in front of Avalon with squid for sale this morning. Word is they got this bait at SCI as there is not much signal of squid at Catalina right now.
The Kinley Marie is currently sold out but is out looking for more squid for this weekend. If they get some they could be at the West End or the Backside of the Island. Call them on the cell number (323) 742-2807 to find out where they are and if they have any for sale.
Contact info:
Long Beach Carnage – Contact them on VHF channel 11 or call them at (562) 714-8103.
Kinley Marie – Contact them on VHF channel 11 or call them at (323) 742-2807

Fishing;
The Island is loaded with yellowtail right now but that does not mean it is easy to score them. A few boats are making good scores almost daily but not all. Some struggle just to get a few.
Here is the deal. The key is still finding a spot with some good current running along the island. The first few boats that get on a spot with current and yellowtail are able to anchor up and score well on flylined sardines and surface iron, but if you find yourself getting to the area a little later you’ll be better off trolling Rapalas or drifting with flylined sardines around the outside of the fleet (and not through it!). The yellows are a little mixed in size, with some 5-8 lbers around but also several schools of the nicer 12-25 lb. grade.
They will bite the squid too although right now it isn’t a “must have” bait.
There are seabass around too and even these fish have been at times going hot and heavy for the sardine over the squid.

Location(s)
This is changing almost daily. There is not one single area you can name that is the best as the best fishing is changing daily.
The yellows could go off anywhere along the entire front side if you find the right conditions, ie; good current, clean water and light boat pressure.
That said the most recent hot spots have been the Can Dumps, Condos to Hen Rock, Little Gibraltar to Red Bluff which includes Empire Landing, Isthmus Reef and from Lions Head up to the West End on the front side.
( Be sure to stay out of the Goat Harbor MPA which is between Long Point and Little Gibraltar. )
On the back side the boats have been scoring some seabass at times along with a fair pick on the yellowtail. Best areas are back side east and back side west although the area in the middle back should not be written off. If conditions are good there there is also very likely seabass and yellowtail there.
Lastly there are also the 3 B’s. There is good fishing for bass, barracuda and bonito all around the Island right now.

Report from Ericka Gray;
Barracuda, halibut, lots of calicos but no yellows. Fished Seal Rocks up to Two Harbors, anchored, drifted and trolled xraps. All fish caught on live squid.
Thanks,
Ericka Gray

Evening Report from Jesse at Lingcodjig.com
Left our slip in San Pedro at 6:00am headed towards The frontside around eagle reef. Had a tank of live macs that my kids had caught during the week. Got to the island at 7:15 and slow trolled the area. My Dad got hit hard and after a long run the hook pulled. Fished the area for a few more hours for a few short bites. Around 11 fish got active. Boils around, ended up with 2 fish in the boat before 1pm when we had to head back. Fish were 12 and 20lbs. Side note.. lots of boat traffic, lots of boats just driving over the fish, and anchoring too close. Please Be considerate of other boats in the area.
Jesse
Lingcodjigs.com

San Clemente Island
Good yellowtail fishing today. Here is the run down.
Squid:
There is still tonnage of squid in Pyramid Cove and the squid boat fleet is there wrapping it. Generally speaking the stuff is in 90 to 120 feet in the Caves area. There are sea lions and yellowtail and seabass on it. Might be hard for the private boater to get a float so be sure and bring the squid jigs. You just might need them.

Fishing:
Just like Catalina this Island is also jugged full of yellowtail but the bite is inconsistent.
Why?
As we’ve been preaching for days, it’s all about finding current, but it’s not necessarily following a consistent day-to-day pattern of when it moves and when it’s slack.
Good current = good yellowtail fishing. No current = no bite.
Yellowtail are being found in Pyramid Cove on the squid bed near the Caves in 90 feet of water, along with some seabass.
Most of these fish are coming on the dropper loop squid between 4am and 9am with a re-bite happening some days late in the afternoon. Fish these with HEAVY GEAR! 40-50lb is perfect. These fish are NOT line shy. When they want to bite they will bite any size line. You do not want to have a hooked yellow or seabass in the water very long or it will become a sea lion snack.
The front side still has plenty of yellows pretty much all up and down the Island but the main concentration still appears to be in the Gold Bluff / White Rock area
In addition the boats are also catching some legal size barracuda, bonito and calico bass.
Bluefin are being found off the backside now too. See the offshore section for more info on that.

Be sure to check the Navy closure schedule before heading out. Always monitor VHF Ch. 16 and obey any requests to clear out of closed security zones.
Click here  for info on how to read the closure schedule.

Dana Point / Oceanside
Bass fishing is pretty good now if you get a scoop of anchovy from either Dana or Oceanside and use it at any kelp where the water is somewhat clean.
Water is still streaky so not every kelp bed is good and it changes everyday but with that in mind keep looking and testing the kelp bed with a few handfuls of anchovy. The bass will let you know right away if they want to come out and play

Del Mar to Imperial Beach
Best news is yellowtail and some barracuda of on the IB Flats to several miles below the border. Watch for birds working over spots of bait to mark the zone to work. Lately the main area has been just outside the end of the IB pipe right along the US-Mexico Border. The water isn’t ideal. It is still off-color but is improving.
Up north in the La Jolla area there is a continued chance of finding a breezer or bird school of yellowtail from just above the MPA to up and out to the NW Corner.
Keep a jig stick ready with a mint 7X tied on and be ready to make a long cast at a moments notice. These yellows when up and not staying up very long. You’ll need to act quick before they sink out on you.
Red tide is still around in spots but is improving and any kelp area free of this will have a decent bass bite happening now. Plastics along with small sardines and/or anchovy will get these bass.

**** Attention ****
There is now an ice vending machine at the Shelter Island launch ramp for your convenience. It’s located right near the bathroom building at the top of the ramp. The machine takes credit cards and 20 lb. bags are $6.95 each.
Swipe your credit card to open, take as many as you want, and it charges by weight when you close the door.

 ——– Mexican waters ———
Getting Permits To Fish Mexico: An Angler’s Guide To Baja
by That Baja Guy-Gary Graham

Coronado Islands / Rockpile
There are yellowtail around and conditions are improving.
Some of the best fishing right now is for breezers off to the west of both North and South Islands. These are hanging out 1 to 3 miles due west of the Islands. There is more to the north of North Island as mentioned in the Del Mar to Imperial Beach report above.
We also hear that some yellowtail and big bonito are on the coast down below the Islands and appear to be slowly on the move to the north.
At the Islands proper some yellows have been caught in recent days from the Lighthouse down through the 5 Minute Kelp and down the South Kelp Ridge (SKR). These areas are also holding a bunch of barracuda now too
The ridge running through the Middle Grounds to the north end of South Island has had yellows on it as well.

Evening Report from Garrett Brugh;
Good 4-5″ sardine from SD barge. Green water around n. Island that cleans as you work south. Single YT on Lee side of N. Island on sardine color nomad diver right in middle of island in 80′ at 6am. Had decent school under us but couldn’t get more to go despite a boil on a net full of sardines over the side. Ran down to skr and found good life but couldn’t connect with anything on the rapalas, couldn’t drop back or slow troll live baits as the seals were too thick. Tried for calico at lighthouse for a few minutes but wasn’t red hot and settled for one 2lb fish. Came back up to find lots of bait on ribbon kelp but no game fish. Spent rest of day inside islands along the beach. Found wide open barracuda on micro bait under birds at 27 over 13. Saw a few YT but they didn’t want anything to do with live baits, rapalas or jigs/snipers. Frustratingly watched a few YT schools swim right under the boat. You had to work through bones and very finicky YT but we eventually got one at 27 over 14 on a surface iron (old Salas 7x that was grey metal color but swims like a champ). As the afternoon progressed we picked one on a slow trolled bait dragged near a bird school within a mile of 27 over 14. Despite run and gun and good jigs and baits into bird school YT we had to work for our last fish that came on a flyline sardine into breezers late in afternoon in same area. Saw some sun and had good weather all day. 63.4 to 64.5f water (warmest up north along beach, coldest on skr). Hit that area east of the islands and work the birds.

With so few boats fishing the Islands reports are very hard to come by so if you fished the Islands please shoot us a report to Reports@www.fishdope.com.

Bracelets are now required to fish within Pacific Island Biosphere Reserve areas, including the Coronado Islands, Todos Santos, and San Martin Island. You can purchase bracelets for $5 per person per day at Fisherman’s Landing Tackle Shop, Point Loma Sportfishing Tackle Shop, and Dana Landing Market & Fuel Dock. You will need to provide your boat name, boat owner’s name, number of passengers, and dates you will be in the reserve areas, but you don’t need any other special IDs or info to purchase the bracelets. Everyone on board must have a bracelet to enter the Biosphere Reserve. Biosphere Reserve boundaries are now available on the FishDope Charts (click the Closures layer). For more information, please see https://www.bdoutdoors.com/pacific-islands-biosphere-reserve/ and for the full Biosphere Reserve Declaration click here: (may need to refresh a few times to display the document ñ in Spanish)
The boundaries of the Biosphere reserve:
N32 20.000′ to N32 29.000′, and W117 12.000′ to W117 20.000′

**** ATTENTION ****
You must stay at least 250 meters (820 feet) away from any tuna pens. If you don’t you are at risk of losing your boat and landing in a Mexican jail.
Click here for more details on this subject

**************************
The Mexican Navy is there and checking boats on a regular basis for Vessel Temporary Import Permit  and Valid Country of Residence Passport for each person on the boat (can’t purchase the FMM (Tourist Card) without a passport anyway).
Required permits are listed on the CONAPESCA website  for fishing within 12 miles of land including the islands. The permits can be purchased through their website.

******************************
OFFSHORE Section
******************************

–——— US WATERS ———–
Back Side of San Clemente Island
No new word again today and the NW wind is blowing out here, which will keep many private boats off the grounds this weekend. There had been bluefin off and on in recent days scattered all up and down the backside of the island. You might run across them in anywhere from 100 to 500 fathoms along the dropoff. These tuna have been mixed in size, with spots of both the 40-60 lb. grade along with spots of the bigger 100+ lb. models showing too.
Have a look in a 2-3 mile wide band from about 33 00 x 118 39 down to 32 45 x 118 28 for the general area.

178 / 9 Mile Bank / 182
Heard a few guys out looking around but it sounded like they didn’t find much. Word is the water is still on the dirty side and the kelps are generally empty.
Best chance is down close to the border and inside the 9 near the International Reef. Some breezers of yellowtail are being for in that area.

——- MEXICAN WATERS ————
Corner / 226-302 / San Salvador Knoll
Hit and miss with way more miss than hit.
That said if you want a really big bluefin this is the zone to be looking at right now. If not this area the back side of Clemente would be the 2nd choice.
Best time lately has been late afternoon with not a lot happening in the middle of the day.
Most of the bluefin are in the 75 to 150lb class with a few stand out well over 200lbs while the yellowfin are mostly 12-20lbers with a few a little bigger or smaller.
90% of the bluefin are being found as sonar marks down from 100 to over 300 feet. Those deep ones are not likely to respond to chum but those down 100 to 150 might possibly respond.
Sinker rigs have been getting the most bluefin bites. 50lb fluoro with a 4-6oz torpedo sinker rubber banded to the line about 4 feet up from the small 1 to 1/0 circle hook is the ticket.

99% of the yellowfin being caught in this area are coming on blind jig stops with almost zero bait fish. Currently there isn’t a lot of these around this area. Not nearly as many as was being seen last weekend.

Location(s)
Best area seem to be outside the 302-226 around 32 29 x 114 44 down to 32 26 x 117 41. Again, and we can’t stress this enough – you need to be watching your meter to find bait and tuna marks from 150-300 ft or else you’ll miss the zone completely.

The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or yellowfin were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowfin were caught:
32 30 x 117 44 – Bluefin foamer
32 28 x 117 44 – Big bluefin sonar schools ( several between 150 and 200 feet)

475 Knuckle / Upper Hidden Bank / Hidden Bank
Super hit and miss in this zone too. While 1 or 2 boats make a good score a number of other in the area find nothing.
What tuna there is, is showing mainly in the afternoon hours as quick puddlers and an occasional spot of feeders crashing on bait. Some days it stays up ok and some days it’s up and down before you can even get the boat turned towards it. Casting poppers and Colt Snipers into the breaking fish is your best bet unless you’ve got sport-boat style chum capacity, in which case you can get an occasional spot to stick with the boat and eat flylined sardines on 40-50 lb. fluoro and a 1/0 circle hook. The bluefin are mixed from 40 to over 100 lbs. depending on the school.
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or yellowfin were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowfin were caught:
32 00 x 117 15 – Bluefin
31 58 x 117 16 – Yellowfin jig stop ( black/purple halco. No bait fish)

Double 220 to the 238-450 down to west of the 1140 Finger / Lower 500
Currently this is the “go-to” area where the majority of boats are going in search of both bluefin and yellowfin
The yellowfin are coming off jig stops and are mixed from 5-25 lbs. or so. They are biting the Halcos, cedar plugs, and feathers in black/purple, Mex flag, and classic blue/white. Some of the schools will also respond to chum and eat finbait, so be ready with a 25 lb flyline bait rig and brail a net full of bait after each jig strike.
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or yellowfin were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowfin were caught:
31 58 x 117 16 – Yellowfin jig stop ( black/purple halco. No bait fish)
31 45 x 117 27 – Yellowfin jig stop
31 40 x 117 31 – Kelp paddy yellowtail
31 39 x 117 31 – Bluefin
31 39 x 117 33 – Bluefin & yellowfin
31 37 x 117 32 – Yellowfin jig stop
31 36 x 117 34 – Bluefin
31 28 x 117 07 – Mixed bluefin and yellowfin
31 27 x 117 07 – 80-100lb bluefin
31 26 x 117 06 – 80-100lb bluefin

South of the Lower 500 to west of San Martin
No exacts from this region today although we did here a few boats are done in this area and doing pretty good on yellowfin along with a fair showing of bluefin.
The bluefin are ranging mostly from 25-40lbs with a few in the 60-90lb class. There are also some of the 100-130 lb. grade bluefin outside San Quintin.
The yellowfin are ranging from as little as 4lb up to 25-30lbs with most in the 12 to 18lb class and are mostly troll fish although the boats are starting to see better numbers of bait fish now following a jig stop.
Black/purple, zucchini, blue/white and Mexican flag colors are working for the feathers. The bluefin are eating finbait with heavy chum, and you can also get them to eat a popper or surface iron when you find good spots up crashing on finbait under birds.

*******************************************************************
All reports, good, bad, or otherwise are very helpful.
If you go fishing please give us a call or shoot us an email.
reports@www.fishdope.com
1 (619) 992-6099


Thursday, June 13th, 2019

Report Updated: July 6, 2019 at 10:51 am

—– Weather ALERT —–
Not as many complaints about fog this morning, but the “June Gloom” overcast weather is still in full force. The wind did pick up out of the northwest a little stronger this afternoon than the previous few days, and this is forecast to continue into the weekend. A Small Craft Advisory is up over the outer waters and a Catalina eddy may spin up some coastal SE wind on Friday and Saturday mornings. Please keep a close eye on the latest conditions and forecast before you head out, especially if you plan to run offshore or to the outer islands the next few days.

LIVE Weather Broadcast
Northern Sector – Santa Barbara to LA
Southern Sector – Orange and San Diego County and SCI
Baja Sector (experimental, may not be updated every day)

—– Bait Report —–
Bait Barge Contact Info 
Everingham Bros Bait Company 

San Diego – 3-6″ sardine (6-13)
Mission Bay – 4-6″ sardine (6-10)
Oceanside Bait Barge Recording (760) 434-1183 – 4-5″ sardine + 3″ anchovy + mini mackerel. Now on summer hours 5 am-5pm (6-8).
Dana Point – 5-7″ sardine and 3-5″ anchovy (6-11)
Newport Bait Barge (310) 461-5370 – small to medium sardines (6-9)
Nacho’s Bait Barge (updated when members report) – Live squid & 5-8″ sardine (6-13)
San Pedro Bait Barge (310) 365-2516 CH.11 – medium sardines (6-13)
Redondo Bait Report (310) 372-2111 – sardines – Available most mornings. Call 909 721-5849 for Mike at the bait barge (6-3)
Marina Del Rey (updated when members report) – Sardines. $30/scoop, half scoops not available (6-3)
CISCOS Bait Barge – anchovy with some sardine mixed in. (6-11)

G-Fly Premium California Flying Fish Baits
These locations have locally caught frozen flying fish for bluefin in stock…
Hogans Tackle in Dana Point
Dana Landing in Mission Bay
Islands Fishing Tackle in Carson

******************************
INSHORE & ISLANDS Section
******************************

Inshore GPS Spots are here.


2019 Yellowtail Shootout is coming 6/21 – 6/23
Registration is open! Get your team together for the tournament weekend of June 21-23!

BD Outdoors will host a fun party June 23rd and award prizes to the 1st-5th place teams. The tournament party will also have an amazing raffle where you can win prizes from our sponsors. Lunch will be a bbq provided by Traeger Grills and we will keep your whistle wet thanks to Firestone Walker Brewing. See you at the tourney!

****** Limited Inshore Report ********
The offshore report is taking center stage now with the arrival of yellowfin tuna into areas inside of 50 miles from Point Loma. Much of the available time spent looking for information switched over to getting tuna dope and as a result the inshore report is less complete.
This will likely be the case from now until the tuna leave us in the fall.
There will still be an inshore report everyday but it is going to rely more heavily on member contributions.

Channel Islands
Small Craft Advisory for Miguel and Rosa tonight and possibly again Friday afternoon
White seabass bit a little better today. The stretch from Blue Banks to Yellowbanks and even all the way up the ridge outside Smuggler’s to Hungryman’s is worth a look as schools of 10-20 lb. seabass are cruising all through this area. The fish have been keyed on red crab so focus your effort where you see the best signal of it, both floating around on the surface and on your meter. Red tube baits have been the hot ticket, with a few fish also caught on red or mint surface iron.
Santa Rosa Island has some yellowtail in the 12-25 lb. class at Eagle’s Nest on the usual squid grounds there, along with a very occasional white seabass or halibut. Squid on a dropper loop is your best bet but yo-yo iron will work at times too, especially when you mark fish right under your boat. With the stronger winds in the forecast the next few days, you’ll definitely want to stick to the backside of the island if you are even able to make it out here in the first place.

Santa Monica Bay / Palos Verdes
The kelp line along the north side of PV is finally coming to life, as the calico bass are waking up and there is an occasional white seabass or yellowtail cruising along the outside edges of the kelp too. Finding some current running along the coast or pushing slightly in to the beach is key. You can anchor up on the upcurrent side and start a chum line of finbait to get the bass active, and slow-trolling with mackerel outside the edges of the kelp is a good way to target the bigger gamefish (but again, keep your expectations low as there have only been a very few now and then).

LA Harbor / Long Beach Shelf / Newport Beach
No word on yellowtail today as our contacts only caught bottomfish. Still, the Mussel Farm (33 36.900 x 118 06.500) is worth a look as there have been some yellows hanging out within the buoys and lines that make up the farm. Slow-trolling sardines or mackerel outside the buoys is a good way to work this area, and if you mark any fish down deep you can shut down and drop yo-yo iron or a sardine on a dropper loop down to them.
Otherwise, rockfish and sculpin are still biting well around the 150 and Southeast Bank.

Catalina Island
Squid:
Squid is very hard to come by right now. There is a hint of the stuff at Mill’s Landing and near West Cove but the volume is very low and it isn’t floating.
The Long Beach Carnage had squid for sale out in front of Avalon this morning. Kinley Marie has also been out this week and is worth a call.
The odds are very high that they will be running to SCI to make bait before coming back out in front of Avalon in the mornings. Be sure to call them before heading across.
Contact info:
Long Beach Carnage – Contact them on VHF channel 11 or call them at (562) 714-8103.
Kinley Marie – Contact them on VHF channel 11 or call them at (323) 742-2807

Fishing:
Yellowtail fishing was slower today but there are still plenty of fish scattered up and down the frontside of the island and at either end on the backside. The key is still finding a spot with some good current running along the island. The first few boats that get on a spot with current and yellowtail are able to anchor up and score well on flylined sardines and surface iron, but if you find yourself getting to the area a little later you’ll be better off trolling Rapalas or drifting with flylined sardines around the outside of the fleet (and not through it!). The yellows are a little mixed in size, with some 5-8 lbers around but also several schools of the nicer 12-25 lb. grade.
Good spots to look along the front side have been around the east end quarry / Can Dump area, Hen Rock, Empire Landing and Yellowtail Point, west of Two Harbors from Eagle Reef to Arrow Point, and around Black Rocks.
The backside also still has both yellowtail and white seabass, and once again it’s all about finding the right conditions with current flowing along the island and into a kelp bed or rock point. Most of the seabass have been on squid fished tight to the beach but you may also find a random school now and then out in the clean water that’s willing to eat sardines or mackerel. Both the east and west ends of the backside are worth checking out – again, stay mobile and look for current!
Finally, the yellows and seabass may grab the headlines but bass, barracuda, and bonito are also around and biting well, making for a fun day even if the bigger gamefish don’t cooperate. Overall, fishing is really good at the island right now.
Capt. Dave Hansen https://www.yoursaltwaterguide.com fished the island yesterday and found a random school of nice 40 lb. class white seabass that wanted to eat sardines for him. Here’s his audio report:

 

San Clemente Island
Squid:
There is still tonnage of squid in Pyramid Cove and the squid boat fleet is there wrapping it. Generally speaking the stuff is in 90 to 120 feet in the Caves area. There are sea lions and yellowtail and seabass on it. Might be hard for the private boater to get a float so be sure and bring the squid jigs. You just might need them.

Fishing:
Yellowtail fishing at the island improved today over yesterday. As we’ve been preaching for days, it’s all about finding current, but it’s not necessarily following a consistent day-to-day pattern of when it moves and when it’s slack. Good current = good yellowtail fishing. No current = no bite.
The yellows are running in 2 different size classes, with some nice 15-25 lb. fish and some smaller 6-15 pounders. The larger grade yellowtail are being found in Pyramid Cove on the squid bed near the Caves in 90 feet of water, along with some seabass. You may also find the same mix up west around the Dunes and West Cove.
Dropper loop live squid is the ticket here has been between 4am and 8am, with an occasional re-bite around midday. Fish these with HEAVY GEAR! 40-50lb is perfect. You do not want to have a hooked yellow or seabass in the water very long or it will become a sea lion snack.
The smaller grade yellows are spread out along the front side with the best concentration being found in the Gold Bluff/White Rock area. These yellows want the squid but when in a biting mood they have also been caught on the sardine and the surface iron.
Sea lions are a MAJOR issue! While the yellowtail and seabass bite has been on and off the sea lion problem is everyday!
They are stealing a lot of hooked fish and are not making things easy to catch squid either.

Be sure to check the Navy closure schedule before heading out. Always monitor VHF Ch. 16 and obey any requests to clear out of closed security zones.
Click here  for info on how to read the closure schedule.

Dana Point / Oceanside
A little bit of cleaner water is trying to push in from Carlsbad up to San Onofre. It hasn’t made it all the way into the kelp beds through the entire stretch yet but it’s just offshore waiting to push in. In spots where it has pushed in shallow, bass fishing is really good especially with the small finbait both Oceanside and Dana have had lately.

Del Mar to Imperial Beach
Didn’t hear of as much yellowtail activity in La Jolla today. There had been an occasional school popping up outside Northwest in about 30 fathoms as well as closer to the kelp from Northwest to the Bump. The water is finally cleaning up a little bit so it’s possible for these fish to show again at any time. Just keep your expectations low but be ready with a jig stick in case a spot pops up under terns.
Point Loma is still on the dirty side but bass fishing is picking up. They’re starting to get into spawn mode and are eating plastics pretty well, especially when the current gets moving a little bit. The upper end of the peninsula has a little cleaner water than lower end, which still has some thick red tide around. So, you’ll want to focus your efforts in the cleaner water.
Finally, there’s now just a little bit of barracuda and yellowtail starting to filter onto the Imperial Beach Flats and out to the International Reef. It’s not a lot of either species but given that the water is still off-color it’s an interesting sign to keep an eye on over the next few days. Watch for birds working over spots of bait to mark the zone to work. Lately the main area has been just outside the end of the IB pipe right along the US-Mexico Border.

**** Attention ****
There is now an ice vending machine at the Shelter Island launch ramp for your convenience. It’s located right near the bathroom building at the top of the ramp. The machine takes credit cards and 20 lb. bags are $6.95 each.
Swipe your credit card to open, take as many as you want, and it charges by weight when you close the door.

 ——– Mexican waters ———
Getting Permits To Fish Mexico: An Angler’s Guide To Baja
by That Baja Guy-Gary Graham

Coronado Islands / Rockpile
Yellowtail are making occasional appearances around the islands in a few areas. You might find a few along the weather side of South Island and around the Lighthouse, and there have been a few caught from the Lighthouse down through the 5 Minute Kelp and down the South Kelp Ridge (SKR) in recent days, too.
You may also find some open water yellowtail out to the west of North Island where the water cleans up a bit. These are mostly breezers and spots of mainly smaller 4-8 lb. yellows under terns. Flylined finbait and surface iron will work best but these fish haven’t been super hungry most of the day.
Also keep an eye out for yellowtail and big bonito sliding up the coast down below the Rockpile / upper Finger Bank. Have a look at the western edges of the bank along the dropoff and watch for terns and breezing fish through this zone. The yellows aren’t really biting well but when the bonito get foamed up under terns they’ll eat flylined finbait and small jigs really well. They’re nice big 6-14 lb. models, too.

With so few boats fishing the Islands reports are very hard to come by so if you fished the Islands please shoot us a report to Reports@www.fishdope.com.

Bracelets are now required to fish within Pacific Island Biosphere Reserve areas, including the Coronado Islands, Todos Santos, and San Martin Island. You can purchase bracelets for $5 per person per day at Fisherman’s Landing Tackle Shop, Point Loma Sportfishing Tackle Shop, and Dana Landing Market & Fuel Dock. You will need to provide your boat name, boat owner’s name, number of passengers, and dates you will be in the reserve areas, but you don’t need any other special IDs or info to purchase the bracelets. Everyone on board must have a bracelet to enter the Biosphere Reserve. Biosphere Reserve boundaries are now available on the FishDope Charts (click the Closures layer). For more information, please see https://www.bdoutdoors.com/pacific-islands-biosphere-reserve/ and for the full Biosphere Reserve Declaration click here: (may need to refresh a few times to display the document ñ in Spanish)
The boundaries of the Biosphere reserve:
N32 20.000′ to N32 29.000′, and W117 12.000′ to W117 20.000′

**** ATTENTION ****
You must stay at least 250 meters (820 feet) away from any tuna pens. If you don’t you are at risk of losing your boat and landing in a Mexican jail.
Click here for more details on this subject

**************************
The Mexican Navy is there and checking boats on a regular basis for Vessel Temporary Import Permit  and Valid Country of Residence Passport for each person on the boat (can’t purchase the FMM (Tourist Card) without a passport anyway).
Required permits are listed on the CONAPESCA website  for fishing within 12 miles of land including the islands. The permits can be purchased through their website.

******************************
OFFSHORE Section
******************************

–——— US WATERS ———–
Back Side of San Clemente Island
No new word again today and the NW wind is picking up out here, which will keep many private boats off hte grounds this weekend. There had been bluefin off and on in recent days scattered all up and down the backside of the island. You might run across them in anywhere from 100 to 500 fathoms along the dropoff. These tuna have been mixed in size, with spots of both the 40-60 lb. grade along with spots of the bigger 100+ lb. models showing too.
Have a look from about 33 00 x 118 39 down to 32 45 x 118 28 for the general area.

9 Mile Bank to the 182
No change here, the 9 Mile Bank is dirty green. It’s got a good amount of bait and mammals, but not really much tuna signal. They’ve mainly been sticking to the cleaner water so far this season even though in seasons past they have worked into the dirty stuff at times.
The water cleans up west of the bank and out towards the 182, but it’s been very lifeless the last several days.

——- MEXICAN WATERS ————
Corner / 226-302 / San Salvador Knoll
Once again today this zone was basically dead for most of the day as far as surface signal goes, and even the meter mark fish just aren’t biting right now. However, it’s still the main zone to look for the bigger bluefin that have been showing as deep meter marks from 200-300 ft. over the last week or so. Mid afternoon until dark has been the best time lately. The primary zone with the best marks the last couple days has been right between and outside the 302 and 226 around 32 29 x 114 44 down to 32 26 x 117 41. Again, and we can’t stress this enough – you need to be watching your meter to find bait and tuna marks from 150-300 ft or else you’ll miss the zone completely.
Most of the bluefin are in the 75 to 150lb class while the yellowfin are mostly 12-20lbers with a few a little bigger or smaller.
90% of the bluefin are being found as sonar marks down from 100 to over 300 feet. Those deep ones are not likely to respond to chum but those down 100 to 150 might possibly respond.
Sinker rigs have been getting the most bluefin bites. 50lb fluoro with a 4-6oz torpedo sinker rubber banded to the line about 4 feet up from the small 1 to 1/0 circle hook is the ticket.
PM Update: A few big bluefin popped up this afternoon in the same zone highlighted above. Ryan Lenyk fishing with Randy on the Innovator stuck a “cow” 230 lb. bluefin on a large purple Braid Fin Flyer at 330 pm at 32 26 x 117 45. They saw a few meter marks but not a lot, along with a couple terns and an occasional spot of 80-100 lb. bluefin also in the area. Congrats Ryan and Randy!

475 Knuckle / Upper Hidden Bank / Hidden Bank
There’s still some bluefin in this zone but it doesn’t want to show or bite every day. They’re mainly showing in the afternoon hours as quick puddlers and an occasional spot of feeders crashing on bait. Some days it stays up ok and some days it’s up and down before you can even get the boat turned towards it. Casting poppers and Colt Snipers into the breaking fish is your best bet unless you’ve got sport-boat style chum capacity, in which case you can get an occasional spot to stick with the boat and eat flylined sardines on 40-50 lb. fluoro and a 1/0 circle hook. The bluefin are mixed from 40 to over 100 lbs. depending on the school.
32 01 x 117 14 Bluefin general area

Double 220 / 295 / 238 and down to the 1140 Finger
The bite was a little off today but there are still mixed bluefin and yellowfin through this zone. There’s a swirl of green water in the area from around the 295 to the 238 and the tuna are sticking to the clean edges to the east, west, and north of this swirl (and probably south, too).
In recent days it had mostly been yellowfin biting in the morning and bluefin in the afternoon, but today a few boats got on better bluefin schools early in the day. The bluefin tend to show and bite best on the slack high tides, and as we approach the full moon early next week those tides will be just after sunrise and right around sunset. So, plan to get on the grounds early and/or stay late, with a mid-day lull. Yellowfin will sometimes bite through the tide swings a little better than bluefin.
The yellowfin are mixed from 5-25 lbs. or so and are eating Halcos, cedar plugs, and feathers in black/purple, Mex flag, and classic blue/white. Some of the schools will also respond to chum and eat finbait, so be ready with a 25 lb. flyline bait rig and brail a net full of bait after each jig strike.
31 42 x 117 21  Yellowfin
31 39 x 117 25  Bluefin under birds
31 39 x 117 35  Bluefin under birds
31 38 x 117 31  Yellowfin
31 38 x 117 32  Bluefin
31 37 x 117 33  Scattered spots of bluefin and yellowfin
31 36 x 117 34  Bluefin
31 32 x 117 26  Bluefin
31 27 x 117 08  Bluefin

Lower 500 and south
Didn’t get new word today from the Lower 500 but there’s a good chance there are still mixed yellowfin and bluefin here. There are also more yellowfin and bluefin all the way down to at least San Quintin so this bodes well for the coming weeks to months. Pay attention to the water color, as the tuna have mainly been in the clean water near a color break to green water.
The bluefin are ranging mostly from 25-40lbs with a few in the 60-90lb class. There are also some of the 100-130 lb. grade bluefin outside San Quintin.
The yellowfin are ranging from as little as 4lb up to 25-30lbs with most in the 12 to 18lb class and are mostly troll fish although the boats are starting to see better numbers of bait fish now following a jig stop.
Black/purple, zucchini, blue/white and Mexican flag colors are working for the feathers. The bluefin are eating finbait with heavy chum, and you can also get them to eat a popper or surface iron when you find good spots up crashing on finbait under birds.

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