• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Forums
  • Classifieds
  • Fishdope
  • Local Knowledge
  • Shop
  • Support
Login
x

Facebook

Twitter

Not registered yet? Signup here Lost your password?
BDoutdoors
  • Home
  • Boats
    • Boat Accessories
    • Boat Maintenance
    • Marine Electronics
    • Boat Motors
    • Boat Reviews
    • Boating Tips
      • Boating Safety
  • Fishing
    • Women Fishing
    • Fishing Reports
      • Hot Spot Charts
    • Saltwater Fishing
    • Freshwater Fishing
    • How to Fish
    • Fishing Gear
      • Fishing Clothes
      • Fishing Line
      • Fishing Lures
      • Fishing Reels
      • Fishing Rods
      • Fishing Tackle
    • Fishing Videos
    • Spearfishing
    • Conservation
  • Hunting
  • Recipes
    • Fish Recipes
    • Seafood Recipes
    • Wild Game Recipes
  • Columns
    • Artist Spotlight
    • Capt. Ali Hussainy – Ali’s Corner
    • Gary Graham – Baja Bytes
    • Erik Landesfeind – SoCal Scene
    • Capt. Scott Goodwin – Offshore Academy
    • Capt. Mark Wisch – Pacific Edge
    • Derek Redwine – Put Me Outside
    • Chef Steve Black
    • Dr. Brad Genovese – Doctor’s Orders
    • Lenny Rudow – Stem to Stern
    • Joe Sarmiento – Sharing the Rail
    • Robert “Fly” Navarro – The Fly Zone
Home / Fishing / Giant Bluefin Bite in Local Waters

Giant Bluefin Bite in Local Waters

Jun 3, 2016 by Erik Landesfeind

Summer came to Southern California with a bang over Memorial Day weekend with an unprecedented bite on big bluefin tuna. The fish were so big that by Monday afternoon the guys who fishing the zone were referring to fifty to sixty class fish as small, 80 to 120-pounders were good ones and those over 150-pounds were big. With multiple 200-plus-pound fish making it to the docks since Sunday, unprecedented truly is the only way to define it.

13331072_10208468342240086_8494254780022514803_nWhile the bite was off a bit on Wednesday, it was pretty good during the rest of the week. A friend of mine, who will remain nameless because he left work early to go to a “dentist appointment” launched out of Shelter Island at 1 PM on Tuesday and was done with limits of 60 to 80-pound fish for him and his brother before 4 PM. It’s just been that good.

So, what should we expect this weekend? Well, I’d imagine the local banks are going to get pretty crowded and you’re going to need to work to find an area of fish you can have to yourself. There was quite a bit of boat traffic last weekend as well, but there was a big enough spread of fish that you could get away from the fleet.

13331038_10204880762578897_4842576480066336635_nDuring the trip I took on Sunday we ended up having a couple of boats trying to run on the same schools we were fishing and had to leave. It was tough to drive away from the first fish we’d seen in hours, but we certainly weren’t going to catch anything with the other boats chopping us up. That ended up working out pretty well because we found more biting fish just a couple miles away.

While yachts are getting some of the really big fish on slow trolled mackerel or on the kite, most of the big ones are coming on jigs and poppers. On Sunday, I had a 200-pound class fish eat my Tady 45 ten feet from the boat. Luckily it came off and I didn’t have to fight a lopsided battle that I probably would have lost.

There were a lot of those lopsided battles fought over the weekend and most were lost, but some of the more experienced anglers ended up winning.

13310350_10207500140596221_6079649859941442933_nRick Maxa got a 205 on his 10′ jig stick Monday, Justin Cardenas got a 200 and Dave Pfeiffer landed another jumbo on surprisingly light tackle. There aren’t too many odds you can stack in your favor if you hook a big one, but having new line, heavy hooks and a properly set drag are mandatory. And like I said in my previous article, you need to pull hard and don’t be afraid to lose the fish.

13322040_848187411992129_8792899033970984462_nSportboat anglers also have an opportunity to get on these fish, by jumping on a 3/4-day trip. The San Diego out of Seaforth Landing got on them Tuesday, but couldn’t repeat on Wednesday despite seeing lots of fish. If you want a better shot at getting a tuna, I’d recommend jumping on a 1 1/2-day trip. The Pacific Queen had 15 bluefin and limits of yellowtail on their last trip. These trips are making the run down to Colonet and spending part of the day fishing tuna and the rest fishing yellows. It’s actually a good bet because if you strike out on one you have the other to fall back on.

Other than that, the yellowtail are still biting at Catalina and San Clemente Islands. Fishing along the coast remains slow for everything except bass and rockfish. There are still some seabass biting in the Channel Islands and that bite should hold up through the new moon, but boat traffic is making it tough to catch anything on the weekends.

Advertisement
Erik Landesfeind

Erik Landesfeind

Erik Landesfeind is BD's Southern California Editor and has over 30 years of experience saltwater fishing for a range of species in both California and Mexican waters. Erik is also an active freelance writer and the author of the weekly column So Cal Scene, which BD publishes every Friday. In So Cal Scene, Erik keeps all of the BD readers up to date on what's biting in Southern California. Erik divides his fishing time on local boats, long-range trips and Mexico excursions. For the past eight years, Erik has been competing in the SWBA (Saltwater Bass Anglers) tournament series and has multiple tournament victories to his credit. His sponsors include Batson Enterprises / Rainshadow Rods, Robalo Boats, Tilly's Marine, Abu/Garcia, Penn Reels, Navionics, Raymarine, MC Swimbaits, Uni-Butter Fishing Scent and Bladerunner Tackle.

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Rain, Rain, Go Away – SoCal Fishing Options Despite

Identifying & Tracking Offshore Fishing Patterns

SoCal Tuna & Swordfish Bite Between Storms

natural art

Artist Spotlight – Paul Marcellini

Related Posts

post image

Big Bluefin Bite South Of The Border

The big bluefin that had gone MIA about a month ago where recently relocated by boats making the run south to

post image

Seabass, Yellows and Bluefin Bite

Seabass Yellows - Yellow Bass Fishing Tips "Right place at the right time today" was what the Aloha Spirit

post image

Top 5 Must Have Items For SUP Fishing

Sup Fishing Setup 1. The Right Board In our opinion, selecting the proper board will be the most impor

post image

Baja Bytes Weekly Overview 1/27/17

Que Pasa Had several calls about road conditions again this week -- roads seem to be in good condition and

post image

Check Out How He Gets the Shot!

For more than 20 years, photographer Scott Kerrigan has traveled the globe, capturing tack-sharp images of big

post image

Grundens & Sportfish Panama Contest

Enter to win the FISHING TRIP OF A LIFETIME with Captain “Wild Bill” Wichrowski! You and the guest of your cho

post image

Artist Spotlight – Kevin Pack

We would like to introduce Kevin Pack, our featured artist who has been heavily involved in the fishing world

post image

Casa Vieja Lodge Gives Thanks

Casa Vieja Lodge would like to wish all of our friends and family a Happy Thanksgiving and we wish you wer

post image

This one’s for you Pop

The corner of the store with my line-winding bench is a working hangout for me. It's complete with my essenti

post image

Student Of Slay – An Epic Keys Odyssea

There are likely hundreds of quotes and variations of that follow the same general philosophy; The journey mak

Subscribe for Updates

The latest in fishing right to your inbox

About Us

BD Outdoors is a growing, passionate online fishing community providing in-depth fishing reports, fishing gear reviews, fishing videos, fishing recipes, bass fishing and deer hunting focusing on all facts of sport fishing, boating, and hunting. Join in and ask “where is the fishing near me?” on our fishing discussion forums.

Photo Gallery

gallery
gallery
gallery
gallery
gallery
gallery
gallery
gallery

Web Links

  • About BD Outdoors
  • Advertising
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy
Copyright @ 2019 BDOutdoors | All Right Reserved.
  • Home
  • Boats
    ▼
    • Boat Accessories
    • Boat Maintenance
    • Marine Electronics
    • Boat Motors
    • Boat Reviews
    • Boating Tips
      ▼
      • Boating Safety
  • Fishing
    ▼
    • Women Fishing
    • Fishing Reports
      ▼
      • Hot Spot Charts
    • Saltwater Fishing
    • Freshwater Fishing
    • How to Fish
    • Fishing Gear
      ▼
      • Fishing Clothes
      • Fishing Line
      • Fishing Lures
      • Fishing Reels
      • Fishing Rods
      • Fishing Tackle
    • Fishing Videos
    • Spearfishing
    • Conservation
  • Hunting
  • Recipes
    ▼
    • Fish Recipes
    • Seafood Recipes
    • Wild Game Recipes
  • Columns
    ▼
    • Artist Spotlight
    • Capt. Ali Hussainy – Ali’s Corner
    • Gary Graham – Baja Bytes
    • Erik Landesfeind – SoCal Scene
    • Capt. Scott Goodwin – Offshore Academy
    • Capt. Mark Wisch – Pacific Edge
    • Derek Redwine – Put Me Outside
    • Chef Steve Black
    • Dr. Brad Genovese – Doctor’s Orders
    • Lenny Rudow – Stem to Stern
    • Joe Sarmiento – Sharing the Rail
    • Robert “Fly” Navarro – The Fly Zone