Tuesday May 28th 2019
Evening Updates marked in RED
—– Weather —–
Weather inshore was pretty good today Offshore wasn’t bad either although there was a Small Craft Advisory up for the Channel Islands.
The forecast for Wednesday through next weekend looks good. No rain and winds light and variable in the AM and out of the west around 10 knots in the afternoon hours.
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
A weak and intermittent coastal eddy circulation is expected today through Wednesday.
Moderate onshore flow today will be weaker Wednesday through Saturday.
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 (5-20)
Nacho’s Bait Barge (updated when members report) – 5-7″ sardine – NO squid (5-24)
San Pedro Bait Barge (310) 365-2516 CH.11 – 4-6″ sardine (5-20)
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 (5-26)
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INSHORE & ISLANDS Section
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**** Limited Report Today ****
It was a quiet day over all. Not a lot of boats out on the water.
No doubt due to everybody being out over the holiday weekend instead. Very few offshore fishing tuna either.
The 1.5 day trips get rolling again Wednesday night.
There will be a few departing tonight but most seem to be set to depart Wednesday night.
There was also a Small Craft Advisory up for the Channel Islands and that kept boats off the water up that way.
Channel Islands
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT
TODAY
NW winds 15 to 25 kt with gusts to 30 kt. Combined seas
6 to 8 ft dominant period 8 seconds.
TONIGHT
NW winds 15 to 25 kt with gusts to 30 kt. Combined seas
7 to 8 ft dominant period 8 seconds.
WED
NW winds 15 to 25 kt with local gusts to 30 kt.
Combined seas 6 to 8 ft dominant period 9 seconds.
The vast majority of the fleet canceled trips today to Santa Rosa Island due to the forecast of rough weather and the Small Craft Advisory up today.
We had no contacts out in this area today. We do tomorrow though so stand by…..
Santa Monica Bay
Same old stuff. Rockfish on the South Bank.
Water is still cold and dirty but it is improving. With some luck maybe some of those barracuda at Catalina will wander over this way in the coming weeks. Keep your fingers and toes crossed.
LA Harbor / Long Beach Shelf / Newport Beach
Not much to talk about. Water conditions are still poor. It is green and cold. Surface action is very slow.
Boats were all piled up on the Southeast Bank for rockfish and on the 150 for sculpin. All were doing well on these fish.
There are reports of yellowtail at the Mussel Farm but these yellows are not biting. Water is to cold and to dirty. Maybe when conditions improve they will turn on. Until then they will probably remain just a tease.
Catalina Island
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
No change….
Hit and miss yellowtail action. If there is current flowing the odds of getting some yellows is pretty good. If the current is slack you have very little chance of catching one.
This has been the issue for several weeks now. Lack of current keeps shutting down an otherwise great bite on yellows from 8 to over 30lbs.
Just have to take your chances and pray it is running, preferably downhill although it isn’t totally necessary.
These yellows want the squid but will also bite the sardine and the surface iron once they get chummed up and into a biting mood.
Pyramid Cove has some squid in 90 feet of water right about the middle of the Cove and from there over towards the Caves. Lots of birds on it and there is likely a bunch of sea lions on it as well which doesn’t help trying to make bait. There are yellowtail and a small number of seabass on it too which is also scattering the squid.
The yellows are being found all around the Island right now. There are yellows in Pyramid Cove near the Caves and they are on the front in the Gold Bluff / White Rock area and up NW at the 9 and the Dunes /Runway area.
Today there was a good showing of 8-20lb yellows on the front side in the Gold Bluff / White Rock area.
Sea lions are also a major issue. When the yellows do bite the sea lions want to steal every hooked fish. Because of this and because of structure and the size of the yellowtail it is recommended that you fish with no less than 40lb and be ready to HARD and fast. You need to make short work of them or the odds of losing them go way up.
Again all of this is mute if there is no current
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
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
There continue to be a few yellowtail caught in the Upper La Jolla area and up as far as Torrey Pines but it is very hit and miss and honestly it is much more miss than hit.
They are popping up under tern birds at times and at other times they seem to be totally gone. What has been working is trolling rapalas and nomad plugs just above the MPA to out in front of the Hotel and from there out towards the Northwest Corner. When the yellows are up and you get to them before the sink out they are biting the scramble egg surface iron too.
Even though it is very hit and miss fishing this is still your best bet for a yellowtail as the Coronado’s are really slow right now.
If you want rockfish those are biting just fine. Best quality is in the Del Mar /Torrey Pines area and at the 32 Fathom spot. Guys are catching mostly reds with other red type rockfish mixed in.
Report from Brandon Hoff:
San Diego bay drifts for some halibut being that the grunion run started last night. Came up with 3 Halibut in 2 hours, second one being 27″ caught in about 18ft of water on rising tide near the channel mouth on the side.
Evening Report from John Stanley;
Not just drifting in the bay, but from the rocks in Mission Bay off the pylons of one of the bridges..
Within 30 minutes on the low tide peak with a twin tail scampi.
Around 26” released..
It’s probably the lucky hat and shirt that made it happen.
**** 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
Yellowtail fishing is very slow. You might get lucky and score on around north Island or on the ridge running through the Middle Grounds but it is a long shot.
Water conditions are just not good right now. It is cold and dirty. The boats are spending some time looking for yellowtail but are not finding much signal of them.
They then focus of rockfish which are biting good off the NE corner of North Island, down near SKR and to the SW of South Island in 300 – 400 feet of water.
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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——- MEXICAN WATERS ————
390 /371 / 425-101 / Upper Hidden Bank
Bluefin are still being found in this big area and they continue to be hard to get to bite. There is so much red crab around and the tuna are stuffed full of them.
The mass of tuna appears to be wandering a bit to the west and is now mainly east of the 390 and south of the 371 and the 425 instead of below the 101.
Best bet remains light line and a small circle hook to draw strikes. This means 30-40lb fluorocarbon and a 1/0 circle hook.
The flat-fall jigs and the colt snipers are getting a few bites sometimes too but mainly at night or grey light.
Use a 100-150lb fluoro leader and at least 80lb main line.
The tuna are being found up on top puddling and breezing and they are also being found on sonar marks from 50 to 200 feet down. There are also huge spots of red crab being found on the sonar.
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught:
32 09 x 117 33 – Bluefin
32 08 x 117 29 – Bluefin
32 02 x 117 36 – Bluefin
Double 220 to the 238 down to west of the 1140 Finger / Lower 500
Lots of boats fished down this way over the holiday weekend and they found quite a bit of bluefin and even some yellowfin but the vast majority of these tuna were not interested in biting anything with a hook in it.
Boats were driving from one school to another and another, stopping and chumming only to have the tuna ignore everything and sink out. In a few cases the tuna would rush the boat and boil on the chum but not bite anybody and in a few even rarer cases they would hook a few. One boat got luck and found a couple, 3 schools that bit but they were the exception.
As mentioned above there were a few 30lb class yellowfin caught over the weekend. These came from the general area between the 1140 Finger and the Lower 500. At least one of them came on a blind jig stop on a black/purple hex head. The few other ones were found mixed in with the bluefin.
We also got so info that there are more 30lb grade yellowfin farther down the line west of San Martin near the Tuna Hole but we have not been able to confirm this yet.
Today only a few boats made it out and at least one of them had a good stop early in the morning. The Pacific Queen scored 7 bluefin in the 50 to 80lb class by 7:30am this morning.
They were up to 11 at noon. Just like over the weekend they reported seeing a large volume of tuna around and that it was tough to get a bite even though they were in a single long drift with tuna boiling around them all day long.
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught:
31 13 x 117 12 – Bluefin
31 10 x 117 07 – Bluefin
31 08 x 116 52 – Yellowfin jig stop (5-27)
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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
Memorial Day – Monday May 27th 2019
Evening Updates marked in RED
—– Weather Alert! —–
Today was on the breezy, sloppy, choppy side in most areas.
Some areas saw even worse conditions than that. The Channel Islands had a Small Craft Advisory up for NW winds 15 to 25 kts. The tuna grounds down off Baja also saw NW winds in the 15 to 25 knot range as well.
Tomorrow looks to be about the same. Breezy and choppy.
The wind on the outer waters is forecast to stick with us through Wednesday.
After Wednesday there is no serious wind or rain in the forecast for 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
Showers will diminish this morning. Moderate onshore flow today through Tuesday will become weaker Wednesday through Friday.
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 (5-20)
Nacho’s Bait Barge (updated when members report) – 5-7″ sardine – NO squid (5-24)
San Pedro Bait Barge (310) 365-2516 CH.11 – 4-6″ sardine (5-20)
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 (5-26)
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INSHORE & ISLANDS Section
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Channel Islands
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Forecast for today through Wednesday is calling for NW winds 15 to 25 kt. Local gusts to 30 kt in the afternoon. Combined seas 6 to 8 ft dominant period 9 seconds.
Many boats canceled trips last night because of the Small Craft Advisory but a few did brave the elements and ran anyway.
They found it quite windy out at Santa Rosa Island but they were able to get on the squid and score some yellowtail and seabass anyway in spite of the less than ideal conditions.
Bite time is between 4am and 8am with very little after that
Becher’s Bay remains the “go-to” spot but there is some signal of seabass and yellowtail at Rhodes Reef and at the Eagle’s Nest
San Nicolas Island
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Forecast for today through Wednesday is calling for NW winds 15 to 25 kt. Local gusts to 30 kt in the afternoon. Combined seas 6 to 8 ft dominant period 9 seconds.
At least one boat has been coming out here over the past several days and finding the lingcod bite to be wide open.
They have also been scoring easy limits of big reds and chuckleheads.
Live sardines fished on a long leader dropper loop rig is accounting for most of the lings and a lot of the larger reds.
The action came off the north side and off the east side in water 100 to 240 feet deep. DO NOT fish deeper than 240! That is the limit as this Island is in the Cow Cod Conservation Area.
***** Reminder *****
This Island is in the Cow Cod Conservation Area so you may not fish in water deeper than 240 feet if you have rockfish, whitefish, sheephead, etc. on board your boat.
Santa Monica Bay
Sloppy unsettled conditions this morning. Water is cold and dirty. Air temps were cold too with a chilly biting wind. It was more like a mid February morning instead of late May.
Surface action was dead but the rockfish and sculpin fishing was pretty good. The rockfish are on the South Bank in 280 to 400 feet of water while the best sculpin fishing were heard about was on the deep end of the El Segundo Pipe.
LA Harbor / Long Beach Shelf / Newport Beach
There is word that there are some yellows living at the Mussel Farm but as of yet we have not heard of anybody getting any of them to bite. Cold water isn’t helping this any either.
Still no barracuda. Again cold water isn’t helping this either.
What is biting is rockfish and sculpin. Hit the Southeast Bank for rockfish and the various rockpiles on the 150 for the sculpin. BTW the quality of the sculpin lately has been really good with very few shorts under the 10″ size limit.
Catalina Island
Squid;
There is still squid in the Mills Landing area but the volume is low and it is very hard to catch.
No squid boats that we know of are at the Island making or selling squid at this time.
Fishing;
Hit and miss yellowtail action. A few score while most do not.
The bite is inconsistent probably due to cold streaky water conditions. It might be good in one area for a while and then the current pushes in new dirty water. Because of this there is really no one single area to point out as the place to go to catch yellowtail. That said over the past several days there has been some caught. The East end back side spots from Church Rock to Salta Verde has yellows and some of these have been biting the past several days. This zone is also holding quite a few big log barracuda that have a taste for live squid at night.
West End spots on both the front and back have yellowtail on them and these also have some barracuda and bonito.
On the front side boats have been flashed by yellows at Black Rock, Eagle Reef, Yellowtail Point/Empire Landing and at the Condos. These front side spots also have a chance of running into both barracuda and bonito as well as calico bass. Having squid would be a big plus but not 100% necessary as some of the yellows caught bit the sardine too.
San Clemente Island
Windy and unsettled conditions at the Island today.
There are good numbers of yellowtail at the Island right now but the bite is inconsistent. The problem is current or rather a lack of current. On the days there is some the bite is decent to good. On the days the current is slack the yellowtail bite is horrible. Friday and Sunday they bit pretty good and there was current flowing. Saturday was dead with no current running.
Just have to take your chances and pray it is running, preferably downhill although it isn’t totally necessary.
These yellows want the squid but will also bite the sardine and the surface iron once they get chummed up and into a biting mood.
Speaking of squid there is a little in Pyramid Cove in 90 feet of water right about the middle of the Cove and from there over towards the Caves. Lots of birds on it and there is likely a bunch of sea lions on it as well which doesn’t help trying to make bait. There are yellowtail and a small number of seabass on it too which is also scattering the squid.
The yellows are all around the Island right now. There are yellows in Pyramid Cove near the Caves and they are on the front in the Gold Bluff / White Rock area and up NW at the 9 and the Dunes /Runway area.
Sea lions are also a major issue. When the yellows do bite the sea lions want to steal every hooked fish. Because of this and because of structure and the size of the yellowtail it is recommended that you fish with no less than 40lb and be ready to HARD and fast. You need to make short work of them or the odds of losing them go way up.
Again all of this is mute if there is no current
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
The fishing for reds is pretty good right now at Box Canyon in 220 to 240 feet of water. Some guys are even scoring full limits of them along with some bocaccio, treefish, barber poles etc…
The 100 gram Colt Sniper with a strip of squid or mackerel is getting some of the larger reds and bocaccio. Red colored plastics are working great too.
The shallower stones in 180 feet are producing good numbers of sculpin. Limits of these great tasting fish are not hard to come by with a little effort. Squid and red plastics are working best.
Del Mar to Imperial Beach
Hit and miss yellowtail. There were quite a few boats out chasing bird schools today and most found them to be only holding dolphin. There are a few yellowtail around though. One was caught by a fishdope member today on a trolled rapala close to one of these bird blow ups just above the MPA.
There were plenty reporting nothing caught though.
Water is still chilly and off color.
Rockfish is what most are catching and for those it is the same old story. Best quality is in the Del Mar /Torrey Pines area and at the 32 Fathom spot.
To the south guys hitting the Whistler area are also catching rockfish but most are little ones well under 1lb.
**** 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
Yellowtail fishing is slow. Cold dirty water is what the guys say is slowing the bite. The boat say they are still metering them at North Island and the Middle Grounds but for what ever reason they are not responding. Of course this could all change quickly. The bite could turn back on at anytime.
Until then the boats are loading up on nice quality reds in the SKR area and spots SW of South Island in 300 to 450 feet of water.
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.
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OFFSHORE Section
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–——— US WATERS ———–
178 / 9 Mile Bank
Heard from several boats out looking around on the Bank today. They said there was plenty of bait, birds and dolphin but no gamefish. Kelps were all dry.
——- MEXICAN WATERS ————
425-101 / 475 Knuckle / Finger Bank / Upper Hidden Bank / Hidden Bank
Not as many boats fishing this area as there was a few days ago mainly because a large amount of bluefin was found down south below the 238 and that is where most of the overnight and 1.5 day and longer trips are fishing now.
The bluefin are scattered from about 32 10 down to about 31 50 which is just inside of the Hidden Bank. The East-West numbers are from about 117 15 out to about 117 25 or 26.
Many of these bluefin are not responding to chum, hook bait or jigs but a few are so it is still worth trying.
Reason for this is they are STUFFED full of red crab. There is simply tonnage of crab around. It is on the surface and it is down as deep as 150 feet. Boats continue to report seeing bluefin slurping them up off the surface like trout going after a fly.
30-40lb fluoro with a hot sardine remains the best way to get a bite but be fore warned. A lot of these bluefin are in the 80 to over 125lb class and are next to impossible to land on 30 to 40lb test.
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught:
32 11 x 117 25 – Bluefin
32 03 x 117 19 – Bluefin
31 58 x 117 17 – Bluefin
Double 220 to the 238 down to west of the 1140 Finger / Lower 500
This very large area has a lot of 40 to 150lb bluefin in it but for what ever reason they just do not want to bite. We spoke with a bunch of Capt’s who said they drove from school to school throwing a ton of chum on them with most not even reacting to it or just a few boils and then gone. A few boats got some biters but for the most part it was all show and no go.
Guys fly lined sardines on gear as light as 25lb test, They dropped Flat-fall and Colt sniper jigs.
They also tried the kite with double trouble rig, they flew the yummie flyer, they dragged plugs around and a few even slow trolled mackerel. None of it worked.
One thing is certain. There is a ton of bluefin in the area and if it ever decides to bite it is going to be incredible.
Location(s);
Pretty much the same as yesterday plus more into the Lower 500 area. The main area appears to be a large 10 plus mile block running from about 31 25 south to about 31 15 and on the west side from about 117 26 east to about 117 18.
There is also more in the general area of the Lower 500 in a 5 mile block around 31 11 x 117 00.
There is also a pretty good area of kelps holding yellowtail in the general area around and just below the 238. Most are in the 8 to 12lb class with not very many rats in the mix.
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught:
31 18 x 117 19 – Bluefin
31 17 x 117 16 – Bluefin
31 11 x 117 00 – Bluefin
31 09 x 116 56 – Bluefin
*******************************************************************
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
Sunday May 26th 2019
Evening Updates marked in RED
—– Weather —–
Light rain was scattered around in the early AM but for the most part seas were not that bad. Not perfect either as it was a bit sloppy and choppy.
Worst conditions were on the weather sides of the Channel Islands, San Nicolas, the channel between San Clemente Island and Catalina and the offshore tuna grounds.
More rain moved in in the afternoon hours.
The wind picked up too and in many areas it got to be on the rough sloppy side.
Monday and maybe Tuesday is likely going to be on the rough and sloppy side but after that it looks like we will have a 5-10 day stretch with good weather.
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
Onshore flow will strengthen this afternoon with gusts near 20 kt in the outer coastal waters as a cold front moves through.
Showers are expected today into Monday morning.
Weak to moderate onshore flow will prevail Monday through 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 – 4-6″ sardine (5-26)
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 (5-20)
Nacho’s Bait Barge (updated when members report) – 5-7″ sardine – NO squid (5-24)
San Pedro Bait Barge (310) 365-2516 CH.11 – 4-6″ sardine (5-20)
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 (5-26)
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INSHORE & ISLANDS Section
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Channel Islands
White seabass, yellowtail, some big barracuda, and few big halibut continue to bite out at Santa Rosa Island. It isn’t wide open though. You have to work for them. Most boats got a handful of each today.
They are on the squid beds at Becher’s Bay but there are also some at the Eagle’s Nest and at Rhodes Reef.
Best bite time is 4am till about 7am and then a slow pick until around mid day and then nothing in the afternoon.
It might be biting in the evening around sunset but as far as we know nobody has been there at that time of day.
If those seabass and yellows fail to show or bite you can always fall back on the lingcod and rockfish which BTW are biting full speed. Lots of limits of both being caught right now.
San Nicolas Island
This Island got looked at again and is found to have a very good lingcod bite happening along with easy limits of quality reds and chuckleheads.
The lings are hot for a sardine fished on a long 4-6 foot leader, big plastic swimbaits and the jigs.
The rockfish really want fresh dead squid although some of the biggest reds jumped on the live sardine rig meant for lingcod.
The action came off the north side and off the east side in water 100 to 240 feet deep. DO NOT fish deeper than 240! That is the limit as this Island is in the Cow Cod Conservation Area.
***** Reminder *****
This Island is in the Cow Cod Conservation Area so you may not fish in water deeper than 240 feet if you have rockfish, whitefish, sheephead, etc. on board your boat.
Santa Monica Bay
Nothing new to report….
Water is warming and cleaning up but there is still no signal of surface fish except for 1 very large white seabass reported caught Saturday morning on a live sardine down in the Rocky Point area. Hopefully today’s storm won’t set it back any farther.
Until things straighten out about all there is to catch is rockfish, whitefish and sculpin at the South Bank and other surrounding deep water spots.
LA Harbor / Long Beach Shelf / Newport Beach
Rockfish and more rockfish with a side of sculpin.
That is the story in this area. The water is cold and dirty so surface action is very slow.
Hit the Southeast Bank for rockfish and the various rockpiles on the 150 for the sculpin. BTW the quality of the sculpin lately has been really good with very few shorts under the 10″ size limit.
Evening Report from Ryan at SlayDay SoCal:
We’ve had three different boats go out over the past 24 hours and focus on inshore fishing from MDR down to Izors. The following fishing data is a summary of both days, 12 anglers, but the weather report is from today.
It was sloppy and choppy all day today. Not very many private vessels on the water, but those that are are hitting the usual shelf spots. DFG Is out on patrol everywhere, so double check and make sure your licenses are on deck, and your limits and lengths are adhered to. Wind was not much of an issue, but the swells were closer in frequency than the reports predicted.
All parties got sardines from Nacho. Lively and healthy, with no reports of squid on the horizon. Carnage didn’t answer channel 11 and didn’t answer the phone, so I’m not sure if they are lighting up this weekend. All spots were producing, but the biggest Rockfish and sculpin came from the 150 and a bit further north just outside King Harbor break wall stones. The two Long Beach Harbor shelf sculpin spots, provided by Fish dope didn’t let us down. Of course, Dbl. dropper loops with squid strips on top of 10 ounces or more was the ticket. Didn’t get picked up much on Jigs. For smaller skiffs, drifting seems like a better idea then trying to anchor in this fast current and quick chop.
I hate to be the one to report it, but there are some yellowtail at the farm. Talked to two other reliable angling parties at two different times of the day that metered them, but couldn’t chum them up much higher.
One of our boats gave them a stab using heavy yo-yos, for nothing. Definitely some yellows
there though, deep. And incredible amount of bait and dolphins in the water also.
Catalina Island
Squid;
There is some squid in the Mills Landing area but not a lot and last night it was again very tough to catch.
There just isn’t any volume of bait around right now.
No squid boats that we know of are at the Island selling bait.
Fishing;
There are yellows at the Island but the bite is very spotty due to cold, streaky water conditions. If you find good clean water you have a shot. The East end back side spots from Church Rock to Salta Verde has yellows and some of these have been biting the past several days. This zone is also holding quite a few big log barracuda that have a taste for live squid at night.
West End spots on both the front and back have yellowtail on them and these also have some barracuda and bonito.
Having squid would be a big plus but not 100% necessary.
If you want seabass the squid is required! The seabass are still running the beaches on the back side but not biting well. Water conditions are not right but they are improving. Would not be surprised if a few are caught in the coming days IF this next storm coming today and tonight doesn’t wash out the back side again like the last one did.
San Clemente Island
There is some squid in Pyramid Cove but there is not a lot of volume, at least not yet and it is hard to catch as it has sea lions and yellowtail on it.
The yellowtail bite yesterday was miserable though due to a total lack of current all around the Island.
Today however is a different day. There was some current running this morning and the boats did manage to score a decent amount of 15 to 30lb class yellowtail.
As for locations there are yellows in Pyramid Cove near the Caves and they are on the front in the Gold Bluff / White Rock area and up NW at the 9 and the Dunes /Runway area.
Sea lions are also a major issue. When the yellows do bite the sea lions want to steal every hooked fish. Because of this and because of structure and the size of the yellowtail it is recommended that you fish with no less than 40lb and be ready to HARD and fast. You need to make short work of them or the odds of losing them go way up.
Again all of this is mute if there is no current
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
Box Canyon is the place to go right now as the inshore waters are cold and dirty. The bass fishing is trying to pick up but it won’t be very good until the water gets several more degrees warmer.
At Box Canyon the rockfish bite is pretty good with guys getting really good numbers of reds. Some of these are nice big ones too. The guys are also pulling up bocaccio, whitefish, treefish, barber poles and other mixed red rockfish. These are coming from the stones in 220 to 240 feet.
In shallower around 180 feet the sculpin bite is really good.
Del Mar to Imperial Beach
No new reports of yellowtail this morning from the Upper La Jolla area. Over the past several days guys have been catching a few on slow trolled sardines or mackerel and Rapalas. Some have also scored on the surface iron when the yellows come up under tern birds.
This action has been very hit and miss though with most not finding any yellows.
Rockfish is what most are catching and for those it is the same old story. Best quality is in the Del Mar /Torrey Pines area and at the 32 Fathom spot.
To the south guys hitting the Whistler area are also catching rockfish but most are little ones well under 1lb.
**** 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
There are some yellowtail around but the bite has been very slow since the big wind storm. Water is OK at North Island but it is on the chilly side. South of North Island it gets worse. South Island, SKR and the Rockpile have cold dirty water and slow fishing except for rockfish which actually really like the cold water.
As the water warms back up and gets cleaner the yellowtail bite will likely rebound. It is probably going to take at least a few more days though before that happens.
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 ———–
178 / 9 Mile Bank
Very quiet today. The area did get looked at yesterday and was found to have cold dirty water and not much signal of life.
Kelps were all dry.
——- MEXICAN WATERS ————
9 Mile Bank / Coronado Canyon
Same story as the 9 Mile Bank in US waters. Nothing much happening due to cold, dirty water.
425-101 / 475 Knuckle / Finger Bank / Upper Hidden Bank / Hidden Bank
Not getting as much info from this area like before as 95% of the fleet is now working the areas soth of this zone around the 238 to the 1140 finger and just to the west of that.
That said this zone still has bluefin and they are scattered from about 32 10 down to about 31 50 which is just inside of the Hidden Bank. The East-West numbers are from about 117 15 out to about 117 25 or 26.
There is a good number of bluefin in this big zone but they are hard to get to bite anything with a hook in it. Reason #1 is bluefin are touchy, picky, smart fish with great eye sight and number 2 reason is they are stuffed full of red crab. There is tonnage of the stuff and the tuna are fat and lazy. At times they can even be seen slurping them up off the surface like carp getting a bubble of air.
Many of these bluefin are not responding to chum, hook bait or jigs but a few are so it is still worth trying.
30-40lb fluoro with a hot sardine remains the best way to get a bite but be fore warned. A lot of these bluefin are in the 80 to over 125lb class and are next to impossible to land on 30 to 40lb test.
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught:
32 09 x 117 23 – Bluefin foamer
32 07 x 117 20 – Bluefin
31 56 x 117 18 – 30-60lb bluefin
31 53 x 117 21 – Bluefin
Double 220 to the 238 down to west of the 1140 Finger / Lower 500
This is the new zone where most of the fleet is fishing for bluefin.
They are being found up on the surface blowing up on micro fin bait (likely mini anchovy).
Once again today there were a lot of boats working this area and they found bluefin but they did not want to bite anything with a hook it worth a darn. There were some caught but nothing close to what you would call good fishing or even close to the volume the boats are looking at.
The morning was very slow again just like yesterday but around 11 to 12 noon the boats started seeing schools pop up.
During the afternoon the boats ran from spot to spot most of the time not getting a bite or if lucky 1 or 2 bites.
As of post time the high boats had 10 to 15 bluefin. Many only a few and there were plenty with 1 or zero.
Just like up north and in general all season the best way to get a bite is with 30-40lb fluorocarbon and a 1/0 circle hook and a HOT sardine. Since these are smaller on average you might want to drop down to 25 or even 20 if they are super touchy but remember if that 150lber jumps on your sardine while you are fishing 20 or 25lb you are very likely going to get spooled.
Location(s);
Pretty much unchanged from yesterday. Maybe just a tad further east.
The main area appears to be a large 10 plus mile block running from about 31 25 south to about 31 15 and on the west side from about 117 26 east to about 117 18.
There is also
It should also be noted that there is a pretty good area of kelps holding yellowtail in the general area around and just below the 238. Most are in the 8 to 15lb class with not very many rats in the mix.
The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught:
31 31 x 117 13 – Kelp paddy yellowtail
31 27 x 117 15 – Kelp paddy yellowtail
31 18 x 117 24 – Bluefin
31 18 x 117 23 – Bluefin
31 17 x 117 17 – Bluefin
31 16 x 117 20 – 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