Friday May 31st 2019
—– Weather —–
Excellent weather conditions this morning. There was a heavy overcast but the seas were flat and calm with little to no wind.
The afternoon hours saw some breeze but nothing serious.
This same weather pattern is forecast to last the next 5 to 10 days and possibly longer.
Looks like winter might finally be over.
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 Monday.
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 – 4-6″ sardine (5-25)
Mission Bay – 4-6″ sardine/anchovy mix (5-30)
Oceanside Bait Barge Recording (760) 434-1183 – 5″ sardine. New hours for bait dock. Starting 5/27/19. 5 am-5pm.(5-25).
Dana Point – 5-7″ sardine (5-31).
Newport Bait Barge (310) 461-5370 – 4-6″ sardine (5-29)
Nacho’s Bait Barge (updated when members report) – Live squid & sardine (5-31)
San Pedro Bait Barge (310) 365-2516 CH.11 – 4-6″ sardine (5-29)
Redondo Bait Report (310) 372-2111 – sardines – Available most mornings. Call 909 721-5849 for Mike at the bait barge (5-24)
Marina Del Rey (updated when members report) – Sardines. $30/scoop, half scoops not available (5-6)
CISCOS Bait Barge – anchovy (5-31)
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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Channel Islands
Much better weather today but we have not heard yet how the boats did out at Santa Rosa Island for seabass, yellowtail and big halibut. Becher’s Bay has been the location for all these fish and for the squid that is so important for bait.
We’ll be sure and post an update tonight with what we find out.
Santa Monica Bay
Fantastic weather this morning. dead flat calm with just a small widely spaced swell.
Guys fishing rockfish were actually able to use less weight today due to the slow drift.
The South Bank continues to be the primary location for a mix of reds, bocaccio, whitefish and other lesser red type rockfish.
No surface action yet. Water is warming and clearing up though. With any luck we won’t have to wait much longer.
LA Harbor / Long Beach Shelf / Newport Beach
Water is still cold and dirty. It is still under 60 degrees and is green to even brown in some areas.
Rockfish and sculpin continue to be the primary catch.
Hit the Southeast Bank for the rockfish and hit the various stones on the 150 for the sculpin.
Catalina Island
Squid;
The Long Beach Carnage is out in front of Avalon with full tanks of live squid for sale.
There is some at Mills Landing but is still opnly a small amount and very hard to catch. Best bet is to buy some.
Contact info;
Long Beach Carnage – contact them on VHF channel 11 or call them at (562) 714-8103.
Fishing;
From what we got this morning it appears that nothing has changed from yesterday.
The following is a re-post from Thursday as it has all the good current info;
Thursday 5-30… Best bet still appears to be back side east in the Silver Canyon / Salta Verde area. This area has a fairly good number of legal size barracuda and bonito with a good sample of yellowtail mixed in. Maybe best of all if they do bite they are willing to bite the sardine. The live squid works but you don’t absolutely have to have it.
There is still some squid in the Mills Landing area but the amount there isn’t very good and it is very hard to catch. We really need for some new squid to move in before anything will change.
Some yellows along with some barracuda and bonito are being found on the front side although it is much more hit and miss with streaky water conditions. You need to find clean water with current to have any chance at all. Over the past few days boats have seen these fish at Black Rock, Eagle Reef, Yellowtail Point/Empire Landing and at the Condos when conditions are good. If the water isn’t clean or there is no current keep going.
Rockfish at the West End Humps and off the East End are biting good and the quality is good as well. Well worth the effort if the surface fish fail you.
San Clemente Island
Word is the Island is now a parking lot with nearly 100 boats and skiffs over there fishing today…
Squid;
There is plenty of squid in Pyramid Cove to make bait with BUT the best time to make it is early before midnight.
There is still some up just before daylight but we are told it floated good last night right after sunset.
The Long Beach Carnage and another squid boat were here and done by midnight last night.
If you get here early you can buy some from the Carnage but if you are late they will be out in front of Avalon at Catalina to see bait.
Fishing;
Yellowtail are being found in 3 areas primarily but could also be in other areas too as there appears to be a lot of them around right now.
The 9 along with the Dunes/Runway area has some big yellows in the 20-30lb class. Pyramid Cove on the the squid bed near the Caves also has these big yellowtail and some 20-35lb class seabass. On the front side the Gold Bluff/White Rock area has a lot of yellowtail although these are smaller on average running mostly from about 8 to 15lbs.
Squid is the bait of choice in the Cove and up at the 9 but the yellows on the front side are quite willing to bite the fly line sardine and when really biting they will jump all over the surface iron in mint or scrambled egg colors.
Of course they are more than willing to bite the squid too if you have it.
All of this is dependent on current which has been spotty lately. If there is a nice moderate downhill flow the bite tends to be pretty good. Weak flow the bite is slower. No current means no yellowtail.
Today boats began calling in early with decent yellowtail action in the Cove on the dropper loop live squid. They also had a problem with sea lions so they say to use at least 40lb and be ready to pull hard and fast.
In addition the boats are also catching bonito, a few calico bass and some of them also got some legal size barracuda.
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
Calico bass fishing is decent and appears to be improving although 90% of the bass are shorts under the 14″ size limit. Still fun catch and release fishing. Not a lot of kelp around yet but where you do find some it generally has a bunch of bass on it.
Sculpin fishing at Box Canyon is good right now. Lots of limits being caught on the hard bottom in 180 to 200 feet of water.
Red plastics are getting lots of bites.
Reds are biting good too at Box Canyon on the stone piles in 220 to 240 feet. Guys dropping down the largest Colt Sniper with a strip of squid are scoring the larger reds and bocaccio.
Del Mar to Imperial Beach
For the Upper La Jolla area the word we got is slow. Sounds like red tide has moved in.
If this is the case it might take a while to clear up.
Boats down at the Whistler report lots of little rockfish, a few sand bass and sculpin.
**** 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 ñ An Angler’s Guide To Baja
by That Baja Guy-Gary Graham
Coronado Islands / Rockpile
The yellowtail fishing has been slow since the big wind storm about a week ago. Water rolled over and turned cold.
Since that time the water has been warming up. Heard it is now 62-63 degrees. It is still on the dirty green side in most areas but is much improved from what it was before.
That said the boats saw some good schools of yellows at North Island, Middle Grounds and up tight in the Middle Island area yesterday. They didn’t bite but the fish are still there.
Only a matter of time before they do.
Today as of post time we have not heard anything one way or the other.
No idea if we are still waiting for the yellowtail to go back on the bite or if they are starting to bite now.
Watch for an evening update
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.
Ensenada
Yellowtail are showing and biting good at the south end of Todo Santos Island These yellows are running in the 8-15lb class and are mixed in with some legal sized barracuda. Trolled rapalas and surface iron cast to puddlers/breezers is accounting for much of the catch.
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OFFSHORE Section
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–——– US WATERS ———
178 / 9 Mile Bank / 182
Report from Eric;
Not much to report today, head out of Mission Bay at 7 AM towards the 9 Mile Bank. Water was BROWN from inside Mission Bay out to five miles plus, the water did not start to turn green until I was out about seven miles out and all the way out to the 9 Mile Bank the color was dark green. Ran across plenty of patties from five miles out to just inside the 9 Mile Bank. All the patties were empty and the bird activity was sparse to say the least. Pushed further out to just over 18 miles out on the west side of the 9 Mile Bank and the water was still green, but I managed to locate a few marks at 30’ over bait, but I was unable to get a hit on yoyo jigging or fly lining.
All and all, quiet day before the wind picked up.
——- MEXICAN WATERS ————
425-101 / 475 Knuckle / Finger Bank / Upper Hidden Bank
There are bluefin spread out through this zone although it might appear that there isn’t. This is mainly due to they are fat and stuffed full of red crab which there is still tonnage of around.
Bluefin are at times being found as foamers and in this case these will bite the popper but mostly these bluefin are just puddling or breezing or down 50 to 200 feet and not really interested in chum unless you throw a lot of it. Like 3 to 5 scoops worth and then only a few schools respond. Private boaters just simply do not have this kind of bait capacity. The big sportboats have the advantage here not only with bait but also with side scanning sonar.
Most bites are coming on 30 to 40lb fluorocarbon, a size 1 to 1/0 circle hook and a hot sardine.
While the 30lb is drawing more bites landing a big 90 to 150lb bluefin is nearly impossible. It is not fun with a 50-70lber either. It can be done but might take you 1 to 2 hours and during that time the hook wears a big hole in the corner of the mouth and the chances of getting chewed off go way up.
There are spots of tuna as far north as the 226-302 and down through the 371, west to nearly the 390 and east in almost to the 425. This stuff extends to at least the Upper Hidden Bank.
The location is a big wide 10-15 mile wide strip running from about 32 28 x 117 38 running SSE to about 32 00 x 117 18
See the chlorophyll image below. The big black circle is where these bluefin are all spread out in.
Take note….. The image also shows that the Coronados are still in very dirty water. Best looks to be on the weather side of North Island.
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught:
32 29 x 117 36 – Kelp paddy yellowtail
32 19 x 117 27 – Bluefin
32 13 x 117 26 – Bluefin sonar school
Evening Email Report from Roger Dodger;
Went to the 302 and didn’t find anything. The water was blue. Turned to the 371. Found BF jumpers, foamers and puddlers between 371 and 425. We found them at about 0830 and pursued them til 1330. Landed one. Almost all small finbait in it’s belly and a little bit of red crab. No other boats around for the most part.
Hidden Bank / West of Ensenada
Currently this appears to be the best bet for finding biting bluefin. While there is plenty north in the 371 / 425 zone those bluefin are stuffed full of red crab and micro bait and are not all that willing to bite.
These bluefin not nearly so much. The past couple of days the boats have been finding schools that do respond to chum and are sticking with the boat for a long time.
90% of these bluefin are in the 60-90lb class with some bigger units up to about 150lbs around.
40lb fluorocarbon and a 1/0 circle hook with a HOT sardine that swims away from the boat remains the best way to draw a strike.
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught:
32 00 x 117 21 – Bluefin
31 57 x 117 22 – Bluefin
31 53 x 117 20 – Bluefin
31 53 x 117 23 – Bluefin
31 52 x 117 25 – Bluefin
31 52 x 117 17 – Bluefin
31 50 x 117 16 – Bluefin
Double 220 to the 238 down to west of the 1140 Finger / Lower 500
No report from this area today. We do expect this zone will get looked at this weekend though.
Please refer back to yesterdays report for the latest info
Thursday’s Report
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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
Thursday May 30th 2019
Evening Updates marked in RED
—– Weather —–
Heavy overcast this morning but otherwise it was great inshore with flat seas and little to no wind.
The exception was the outer Channel Islands where it was blowing 15 to 25 at Santa Rosa and San Miguel Islands.
There is still a Small Craft Advisory up for that area through tonight.
The extended forecast looks great. Very little wind, flat seas and no rain in the next 5-10 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 Monday.
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 – 4-6″ sardine (5-25)
Mission Bay – 4-6″ sardine/anchovy mix (5-30)
Oceanside Bait Barge Recording (760) 434-1183 – 5″ sardine. New hours for bait dock. Starting 5/27/19. 5 am-5pm.(5-25).
Dana Point – 5-7″ sardine (5-10).
Newport Bait Barge (310) 461-5370 – 4-6″ sardine (5-29)
Nacho’s Bait Barge (updated when members report) – 5-7″ sardine – NO squid (5-30)
San Pedro Bait Barge (310) 365-2516 CH.11 – 4-6″ sardine (5-29)
Redondo Bait Report (310) 372-2111 – sardines – Available most mornings. Call 909 721-5849 for Mike at the bait barge (5-24)
Marina Del Rey (updated when members report) – Sardines. $30/scoop, half scoops not available (5-6)
CISCOS Bait Barge – sardine (5-30)
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INSHORE & ISLANDS Section
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Channel Islands
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING
TODAY
Northwestern portion, NW winds 15 to 25 kt. Elsewhere, NW
winds 10 to 20 kt. Combined seas 7 to 9 ft dominant period 9 seconds.
TONIGHT
NW winds 10 to 20 kt with gusts to 25 kt, becoming 10 to
20 kt after midnight. Combined seas 5 to 7 ft dominant period
8 seconds.
FRI
NW winds 10 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. Mixed swell NW
4 ft at 8 seconds and S 3 ft at 15 seconds.
Blown out today but tomorrow is looking much better. In fact the next 5 to 10 days is looking a lot better.
A few boats did get out but they didn’t get into any seabass, yellowtail or halibut. Just rockfish and some lingcod.
Evening Update; Well there were a few yellows caught after all but no seabass or big halibut. Hopefully the bite will re-bound with better weather.
Santa Monica Bay
Same old stuff. Winter will just not let go.
Surface fishing is very slow. Just a few short barracuda at Rocky Point.
Rockfish are biting at the South Bank in 240 to 400 feet of water. Sculpin are on the hard bottom west of Rocky Point and on the deep end of the El Segundo Pipe. Fresh dead squid is by far the bait of choice for both.
LA Harbor / Long Beach Shelf / Newport Beach
There are a few bass willing to bite on the various wrecks and at Izor’s but the water is still cold and dirty so the bite isn’t really all that good.
As reported yesterday fishdope member Jesse from Lingcodjigs.com scored a big 30lb halibut in 80′ feet of water on hard bottom near Izor’s but that is it for anything exciting.
There are reports of yellowtail being metered at the Mussel Farm but with the water at 58 degrees and a dirty green to brown the odds of them biting are near zero.
What is biting is rockfish and sculpin. They love the cold water.
Hit the Southeast Bank for the rockfish and hit the various stones on the 150 for the sculpin.
Catalina Island
Best bet still appears to be back side east in the Silver Canyon / Salta Verde area. This area has a fairly good number of legal size barracuda and bonito with a good sample of yellowtail mixed in. Maybe best of all if they do bite they are willing to bite the sardine. The live squid works but you don’t absolutely have to have it.
There is still some squid in the Mills Landing area but the amount there isn’t very good and it is very hard to catch. We really need for some new squid to move in before anything will change.
Some yellows along with some barracuda and bonito are being found on the front side although it is much more hit and miss with streaky water conditions. You need to find clean water with current to have any chance at all. Over the past few days boats have seen these fish at Black Rock, Eagle Reef, Yellowtail Point/Empire Landing and at the Condos when conditions are good. If the water isn’t clean or there is no current keep going.
Rockfish at the West End Humps and off the East End are biting good and the quality is good as well. Well worth the effort if the surface fish fail you.
Evening Email Report from Mike:
Made it over to Back side East today, Things are recovering, water was low 61-62 and clean. Bass and Cuda were biting at Orange Rocks, Salta Verde and Fence Rock, Steady action on fly line sardines. Weather was really nice, flat run out and smooth an the way back. Starting to feel like spring now. Even stopped at several kelps on the way back but nobody home.
Most of the bass action were shorts, there were also quite a few Rat Yellows on Kelp at Salta Verde
San Clemente Island
Squid;
There is squid in Pyramid Cove near the Caves. It is a bit tough to catch though as there are sea lions, yellowtail and seabass on it.
The Long Beach Carnage is there in Pyramid Cove with some squid for sale. They plan to stay there tonight to try and make more for tomorrow.
Pacific Carnage – contact them on VHF channel 11 or call them at (562) 714-8103.
Fishing;
As reported, yesterday was a big day for yellowtail fishing.
At least one sportboat topped the 100 yellowtail mark and a number of other scored 60 to 90 yellows.
The “hot” bite happened on the front side in the Gold Bluff / White Rock area. The yellows here are mixed grade with most in the 8 to 15lb class with some a little bigger and some a little smaller. What is also good about these yellows is they will bite the sardine just fine. They are not spoiled on the live squid like those bigger models in Pyramid Cove and at the 9 to the Dunes / Runway yellows are.
These front side yellows were also jumping all over the surface iron! Mint and scrambled egg 7X and 45’s were hot!
It should also be noted that there was a perfect downhill current running yesterday. Exactly what you want to find to get those yellowtail into a biting mood.
This morning some of those 20+lb yellowtail and a few seabass were caught in Pyramid Cove on the squid beds near the Caves spot. This bite lasted until about 8am and then died off like is often the case for yellows and seabass on a squid bed.
After that most moved around to the front and found the current still running and the yellows still biting although not as nearly as wide open as it was yesterday.
In addition the boats also caught bonito, a few calico bass and some of them also got some legal size barracuda.
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 improving quite a bit but the vast majority of them are shorts under the 14″ size limit. Still great fun catch and release fishing. Pretty much any kelp spot will produce.
Sculpin fishing at Box Canyon is good right now. Lots of limits being caught on the hard bottom in 180 to 200 feet of water.
Reds are biting good too at Box Canyon on the stone piles in 220 to 240 feet.
Del Mar to Imperial Beach
Water has turned ugly. Red Tide? Sure looks like it.
No new reports of any yellowtail.
Just the usual rockfish at the usual locations
**** 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 ñ An Angler’s Guide To Baja
by That Baja Guy-Gary Graham
Coronado Islands / Rockpile
Dirty water but it is warming up pretty good. It is said to be improving but it isn’t what it needs to be quite yet.
The Mission Belle did manage to score 1 yellowtail yesterday and we heard that 1 private boater got 1 too.
Best water is on the weather side of North Island and in the Middle Grounds. Maybe in a day or 2??
We will just have to wait and see.
If we get word of any change we’ll be sure and update the report.
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.
Ensenada
Yellowtail are showing and biting good at the south end of Todo Santos Island These yellows are running in the 8-15lb class and are mixed in with some legal sized barracuda. Trolled rapalas and surface iron cast to puddlers/breezers is accounting for much of the catch.
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OFFSHORE Section
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–——— US WATERS ———–
178 / 9 Mile Bank / 182
Our spotter plane found bluefin yesterday just above the 178 and to the west of the Upper 9 Mile Bank. He also found a kelp holding yellowtail.
As far as we know nobody has hit this stuff yet.
Darin found these without another boat in sight for MILES.
Today we have not heard of anybody checking it out.
For reference the numbers where he found these are listed below.
32 47 x 117 33 – Bluefin
32 41 x 117 33 – Yellowtail on Paddy
32 37 x 117 34 – Bluefin
——- MEXICAN WATERS ————
226-302 / 371 / 390 / 425-101 / Upper Hidden Bank
This very large zone still has plenty of bluefin in it. The early morning hours have been on the slow side but beginning in the mid to late morning and then again late in the afternoon from about 3;30 until dark these bluefin are showing pretty good.
There are foamers on micro bait, they are breezing and puddling and they are also slurping up red crab which there is still tonnage around. On top of that boats are finding them on sonar marks down from 50 to 200 feet.
It does not bite well. It does not respond well to chum. What bites that do happen are mainly on the light line and a red hot sardine that swims hard and fast away from the boat. 30 to no more than 40lb fluoro with a size 1 or 1/0 circle hook is the rig. There have been a few flat-fall fish too mostly early and late and these are the only ones biting the heavy tackle.
There was also a couple of schools that showed interest in the poppers although the tuna that bit these were lost.
The kite / double trouble rig might well be worth the trouble of setting up if you can locate an area with a lot of schools of bluefin around.
As noted by our spotter plane yesterday these bluefin are in the clean water running parallel to the dirty off color water in to the east. There are spots of tuna as far north as the 226-302 and down through the 371, west to nearly the 390 and east in almost to the 425. This stuff extends to at least the Upper Hidden Bank.
The location is a big wide 10-15 mile wide strip running from about 32 28 x 117 38 running SSE to about 32 00 x 117 18
See the chlorophyll image below. The big black circle is where these bluefin are all spread out in.
Take note….. The image also shows that the Coronados are still in very dirty water. Best looks to be on the weather side of North Island.
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught:
32 20 x 117 31 – Bluefin
32 17 x 117 27 – Bluefin
32 11 x 117 27 – Bluefin
32 04 x 117 21 – Bluefin
Hidden Bank / West of Ensenada
This area is also holding quite a few bluefin and is actually just an extension of the area(s) listed above.
Boats found willing biters around 9am this morning out almost due west of Ensenada. Most boats in the area did well over-all today. Some scored limits
These were mixed in size from 50 to 100lbs just like the tuna up to the north.
40lb fluorocarbon and a 1/0 circle hook remains the best way to draw a strike although the double trouble rig is likely worth a shot.
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught:
31 56 x 117 17 – 50-80lb Bluefin.
31 55 x 117 16 – 50-80lb Bluefin
31 54 x 117 15 – Bluefin
31 51 x 117 22 – Bluefin
Double 220 to the 238 down to west of the 1140 Finger / Lower 500
We did not get a report from this area today. That said we do expect there will be plenty of boats coming down to look at this area over the weekend. Until then this re-posting of yesterdays report is the most current info we have.
Wednesday 5-29-2019;
There is a lot of bluefin down in this large area right now. Yesterday with very few boats fishing them they decided to bite a little better. The Pacific Queen ended up with 32 bluefin for 24 passengers.
When the whole fleet was down there over the weekend they were far more show than go. Was it all the boat pressure? Possibly.
In any event the best tactic is still a 40lb fly line setup with a size 1 to 1/0 circle hook followed by the sinker rig fished with 50lb gear and the Flat-fall jig fished on 80 to 100lb gear.
We also hear the kite with the double trouble rig was very effective as well.
Best zone lately has been in the Lower 500 area where there are both bluefin and yellowfin being found and caught.
The 238 area has some signal of bluefin but not as good as to the south but there are some good kelps holding 8-12lb yellowtail.
Check out the Chlorophyll Image below. It clearly shows where the bulk of both bluefin and yellowfin are stacking up
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught:
31 10 x 117 10 – Bluefin
31 05 x 117 00 – Bluefin
31 07 x 116 47 – Breezer of 30lb yellowfin
31 06 x 116 58 – Bluefin
30 54 x 116 42 – Mixed bluefin and yellowfin
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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
Wednesday May 29th 2019
Evening Updates marked in RED
—– Weather —–
There is a Small Craft Advisory up for the Channel Islands but from what were heard the weather was actually pretty nice up there.
Down south of the the inshore waters saw very good conditions with only light winds and generally flat seas.
We heard it was a bit on the lumpy bumpy side at San Clemente Island and down south on the tuna grounds early in the day but it got nice as the day wore on.
The next 5 to 10 days look awesome. No rain and very little wind. If you have been waiting for an ideal weather window this is it!
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 Sunday, with a brief and weak coastal eddy expected tonight into Thursday.
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 – 4-6″ sardine (5-25)
Mission Bay – 4-7″ sardine (5-27)
Oceanside Bait Barge Recording (760) 434-1183 – 5″ sardine. New hours for bait dock. Starting 5/27/19. 5 am-5pm.(5-25).
Dana Point – 5-7″ sardine (5-10).
Newport Bait Barge (310) 461-5370 – 4-6″ sardine (5-29)
Nacho’s Bait Barge (updated when members report) – 5-7″ sardine – NO squid (5-29)
San Pedro Bait Barge (310) 365-2516 CH.11 – 4-6″ sardine (5-29)
Redondo Bait Report (310) 372-2111 – sardines – Available most mornings. Call 909 721-5849 for Mike at the bait barge (5-24)
Marina Del Rey (updated when members report) – Sardines. $30/scoop, half scoops not available (5-6)
CISCOS Bait Barge – sardine (5-29)
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INSHORE & ISLANDS Section
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Channel Islands
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING
Today and Thursday;
NW winds 15 to 25 kt with local gusts to 30 kt.
on. Combined seas 7 to 9 ft dominant period 9 seconds.
In spite of the Small Craft Advisory up today there were a number of boats out chasing seabass, yellowtail and halibut at Santa Rosa Island.
That said the only word we have got so far today is the bite was slow.
If we hear anything different this evening we’ll be sure and post an update.
Santa Monica Bay
Rockfish and sculpin. Or is it sculpin and rockfish?
Surface action is dead. Water is still cold and dirty.
Rockfish are biting at the South Bank in 240 to 400 feet of water. Sculpin are on the hard bottom west of Rocky Point and on the deep end of the El Segundo Pipe. Fresh dead squid is by far the bait of choice for both.
LA Harbor / Long Beach Shelf / Newport Beach
Just rockfish and sculpin since all the wind last week that rolled the water over and dropped water temps nearly 10 degrees.
There are reports of yellowtail being metered at the Mussel Farm but with the water at 58 degrees and a dirty green to brown the odds of them biting are near zero.
What is biting is rockfish and sculpin. They love the cold water.
Hit the Southeast Bank for the rockfish and hit the various stones on the 150 for the sculpin.
Evening Email Report from Jesse at Lingcodjigs.com
Fished local out of San Pedro. Water was cold and dirty but with lots of bait around. Fished sardines out front in 85’ -100 of water. Hit a a few rockpiles for some nice 2-3# calico bass and a handful of sculpin. Did a few drifts around 80’ for some halibut and it paid off big with a nice 30# fish.
Catalina Island
The following report is a re-post from yesterday as there is nothing new to add. It is still all good valid dope….
Squid;
No report. It has now been several days since we got any squid dope. At last word there was still some squid at Mills Landing but the volume was low and it was hard to catch.
We do not know of any squid boats selling squid at the Island right now. The Long Beach Carnage and the Kinely Marie are not currently out on the water.
Fishing;
Best fishing at the Island right now is around on the back side in the Silver Canyon / Salta Verde area. Boats working this zone are finding a pretty good number of barracuda from just legal up to a few big 8-9lb logs. There is also a few yellowtail mixed in with these.
Some yellows along with some barracuda and bonito are being found on the front side although it is much more hit and miss with streaky water conditions. You need to find clean water with current to have any chance at all. Over the past few days boats have seen these fish at Black Rock, Eagle Reef, Yellowtail Point/Empire Landing and at the Condos when conditions are good. If the water isn’t clean or there is no current keep going. Don’t bother stopping.
San Clemente Island
Good yellowtail fishing today.
There are yellowtail in a number of areas right now and getting them to bite is extremely dependent on current running. No current = no yellowtail.
There are some very nice 20-30lb grade yellowtail in Pyramid Cove. There is also some squid in the cove and that is what is holding these yellowtail.
On the front side there are yellowtail in the Gold Bluff / White Rock area. These yellows are smaller than the fish in the Cove. Most are running in the 8-15lb class with a few rats and a few a little bigger. None of those big ones though.
Lastly there are some mixed grade yellows at the 9 and the Dunes / Runway area(s). Some are the same grade as the front side fish but some are the larger 20-30lb stuff.
Today’s “hot spot” was the Gold Bluff / White Rock area but really any of the other areas were worth hitting as well.
As for bait…. The stuff in the Cove and the Dunes area want the live squid mostly. They are spoiled on the stuff but we heard there were some sardine fish caught today.
The front side fish will bite the sardine and the surface iron as well as the squid.
Sea Lions are a major problem in the Cove and on the front side. They are stealing a lot of fish. Because of this and because the yellows are living near some serious structure the boats are strongly suggesting you fish with 40lb and be ready to fish with a very heavy drag and pull hard and fast.
Also biting at the Island is a fair amount of legal size barracuda and some 3-4lb class bonito. Calico bass are trying to turn on but the vast majority are shorts under the 14″ size limit.
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
Status Quo;
Box Canyon rockfish and sculpin continue to be the best bet as water conditions along the beach are still not good. Water is still cold and dirty. That is good for the kelp though and should help getting it growing back good.
Del Mar to Imperial Beach
It was a quiet day. Not sure if anybody found or caught any yellowtail. For the past week there has been a few caught mostly by trolling rapalas just above the MPA in upper La Jolla.
Again not sure if anyone scored today though.
The boats fishing rockfish did ok. Typical stuff. Best fishing for reds was Del Mar. Southern areas saw plenty of rockfish although most of it was that little stuff.
Of note. We hear some red tide is beginning to develop in the Del Mar area and it is spreading south toward La Jolla. This certainly will not help matters.
**** 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 ñ An Angler’s Guide To Baja
by That Baja Guy-Gary Graham
Coronado Islands / Rockpile
No report yet today.
That said the yellowtail bite has been very slow and that is still likely the case today.
If we hear something different this evening we will be sure to post an update.
Post Time Update; The water at the Coronados is still dirty but it’s warmed up to 63 degrees and that’s gotten the bass active. They’re biting really well along the shallow structure spots around the north end of South Island and in the Middle Grounds with a little chum to get them going. There are also some nice big log barracuda mixed in.
There are only a few quick scattered yellowtail schools that aren’t biting well, but as soon as some clean water pushes in to the islands they should start biting better.
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.
Ensenada
Evening Email Report from Louie at It’s 4 Reels:
There are a lot of yellowtail inside the south end of Todos Santos Island but it has been an early morning bite. Sunday in the wind and rain and an army of boats we managed 1 yellow and all the barracuda you could want. Yellows are in the 8-15lb. range and the barries were on the smaller size. Today we got to the spot a little earlier and we went 3 for 4 on the yellows. Salas 7x jr. in the blue and white has been working well. We also caught some nice calicos, sand bass and rockfish fishing the Hookup Baits in the red crab color. San Miguel Reef and the spot known as El Farito which is a hi spot a couple of miles outside the Marina Coral are the spots we worked for bass and rockfish. Also caught bonefish, spotted bay bass and I lost a nice halibut inside Cruiseport Village Marina on the Hookup Baits as well.
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OFFSHORE Section
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Spotter Plane Report – May 29th 2019
The marine layer burned off just long enough today to get airborne and scout around the 371/425 zone. Here’s the scoop! The water along the coast extending offshore up to 20 miles is dirty and green. There is a ton of bait and mammals all around the West side of the Coronado Islands. Once you cross over into the cleaner off color water keep an eye out for birds working giant bait schools. There are a mixed grade of BFT on the color break on the East side of the 371. Some of the jumbo models are puddling up in schools of 30-40 fish. The larger fish tended to stay up on the surface longer than the 40-50# models. In addition to mixed schools of BFT, there are a lot of paddy’s on the color break running N and S from the 371 up to 178. A lot of them were holding YT.
GPS #’s
32 47 x 117 33 – Bluefin
32 41 x 117 33 – Yellowtail on Paddy
32 37 x 117 34 – Bluefin
32 37 x 117 34 – Paddy’s on color break
32 33 x 117 30 – Bluefin
32 19 x 117 30 – Bluefin /Birds
32 15 x 117 26 – Jumbo Bluefin
32 16 x 117 27 – Bluefin crashing bait
——- MEXICAN WATERS ————
9 Mile Bank / Coronado Canyon / 226-302
Got looked at today for not much signal of anything. Our contact saw no tuna and all the kelps he found were dry.
He did get a jig stop though. Turned out to be a 10lb bonito at 32 25 x 117 28.
He also said the water was dirty everywhere until he got roughly 1/2 out between the Coronados and the 302 where he said it began to clean up.
390 /371 / 425-101 / Upper Hidden Bank
For the private boater and for the day boat fleet this is the zone with the best chance of catching bluefin is.
There is quite a bit of tuna here but it is touchy and stuffed with red crab. It does not bite well. It does not respond well to chum. What bites that do happen are mainly on the light line and a red hot sardine that swims hard and fast away from the boat. 30 to no more than 40lb fluoro with a size 1 or 1/0 circle hook is the rig. There have been a few flat-fall fish too mostly early and late and these are the only ones biting the heavy tackle.
The kite / double trouble rig might well be worth the trouble of setting up if you can locate an area with a lot of schools of bluefin around.
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught:
32 12 x 117 25 – Bluefin
32 05 x 117 34 – Bluefin
32 04 x 117 29 – Bluefin
Double 220 to the 238 down to west of the 1140 Finger / Lower 500
There is a lot of bluefin down in this large area right now. Yesterday with very few boats fishing them they decided to bite a little better. The Pacific Queen ended up with 32 bluefin for 24 passengers.
When the whole fleet was down there over the weekend they were far more show than go. Was it all the boat pressure? Possibly.
In any event the best tactic is still a 40lb fly line setup with a size 1 to 1/0 circle hook followed by the sinker rig fished with 50lb gear and the Flat-fall jig fished on 80 to 100lb gear.
We also hear the kite with the double trouble rig was very effective as well.
Best zone lately has been in the Lower 500 area where there are both bluefin and yellowfin being found and caught.
The 238 area has some signal of bluefin but not as good as to the south but there are some good kelps holding 8-12lb yellowtail.
Check out the Chlorophyll Image below. It clearly shows where the bulk of both bluefin and yellowfin are stacking up
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught:
31 10 x 117 10 – Bluefin
31 05 x 117 00 – Bluefin
31 07 x 116 47 – Breezer of 30lb yellowfin
31 06 x 116 58 – Bluefin
30 54 x 116 42 – Mixed bluefin and yellowfin
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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