Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Bluefin from the bass boat

Local angler slays 'em from his Ranger

Kevin Mattson with one of his bluefin tuna
Kevin Mattson with one of his bluefin tuna

Inshore: The half-day boats are getting a good mix of calico bass, sheephead, rockfish, and sculpin with occasional top-water activity on barracuda, bonito and yellowtail. Bluefin tuna are back in ¾-day range and the boats heading south are getting a slow pick on them. On May 5, San Diego angler Kevin Mattson caught his limit of two bluefin tuna around 60 pounds each fishing solo on his 17-foot Ranger Bass Boat on the 9 Mile Bank towards the border. He said that the fish were “basically all up and down the 9, with lots of activity.” Kevin is the angler that caught the 315-pound blue marlin last year on the bass boat, also off the 9 mile bank outside of Mission Bay. The northern edge of 9 Mile Bank is roughly 12-14 miles out on a 220-degree heading from the Mission Bay channel. From there the high spot spreads out and runs SSE toward the Coronado Islands.

Outside: Overnight trips and longer are heading south and fishing off the coast for bluefin tuna, yellowtail, lingcod, and rockfish with most of the activity on the banks near Colonet and San Quintin. The fish are there but it is usually the weather that makes the difference in the springtime along the northern Baja coast. On the days the seas are calm enough for the pangeros to get out. The fishing has been very productive on the high spots for yellowtail, big lings, and reds. The yellowtail are fat-plugged with pelagic crab and, assuming they are getting “fed up” with the crustaceans, are crashing any baitfish they find in fast-moving frenzied explosions that the surface iron works well on.

Sponsored
Sponsored

5/1 – 5/7 Dock Totals: 1950 anglers aboard 90 boats out of San Diego landings this past week caught 68 bluefin tuna, 959 yellowtail, 301 calico bass, 40 sand bass, 3,709 rockfish, 48 lingcod, 243 sculpin, 82 bonito, 5 barracuda, 1 halfmoon, 25 sheephead, 184 whitefish, 10 mackerel, 13 bocaccio, 3 halibut, 3 finescale triggerfish, 10 treefish and 1 rubberlip seaperch.

Whale Watch: Though we are between seasons here in southern California, there are whales everywhere out there. Maybe it’s the plethora of pelagic crab off the coast from midpeninsula Baja waters to north of San Diego County that is keeping the leviathans around more than usual for this time of year, but regardless of why, it’s always cool to see them breaching just off shore. Last week, while heading out of San Quintin Bay, we came across no less than 50 fin whales feeding just off the sand bars in 10 to 30 feet of water. Though the seas were calm, the whales were so thick that we had to slow down and cut across the kelp beds to avoid them.

Scheduled fish plants (lbs): There are no scheduled plants this week. Last plant 5/10, Cuyamaca (1000), next plant 5/24 Cuyamaca (1100)

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Made Holiday Market, Veterans Day Parade & VetFest

Events November 10-November 11, 2024
Kevin Mattson with one of his bluefin tuna
Kevin Mattson with one of his bluefin tuna

Inshore: The half-day boats are getting a good mix of calico bass, sheephead, rockfish, and sculpin with occasional top-water activity on barracuda, bonito and yellowtail. Bluefin tuna are back in ¾-day range and the boats heading south are getting a slow pick on them. On May 5, San Diego angler Kevin Mattson caught his limit of two bluefin tuna around 60 pounds each fishing solo on his 17-foot Ranger Bass Boat on the 9 Mile Bank towards the border. He said that the fish were “basically all up and down the 9, with lots of activity.” Kevin is the angler that caught the 315-pound blue marlin last year on the bass boat, also off the 9 mile bank outside of Mission Bay. The northern edge of 9 Mile Bank is roughly 12-14 miles out on a 220-degree heading from the Mission Bay channel. From there the high spot spreads out and runs SSE toward the Coronado Islands.

Outside: Overnight trips and longer are heading south and fishing off the coast for bluefin tuna, yellowtail, lingcod, and rockfish with most of the activity on the banks near Colonet and San Quintin. The fish are there but it is usually the weather that makes the difference in the springtime along the northern Baja coast. On the days the seas are calm enough for the pangeros to get out. The fishing has been very productive on the high spots for yellowtail, big lings, and reds. The yellowtail are fat-plugged with pelagic crab and, assuming they are getting “fed up” with the crustaceans, are crashing any baitfish they find in fast-moving frenzied explosions that the surface iron works well on.

Sponsored
Sponsored

5/1 – 5/7 Dock Totals: 1950 anglers aboard 90 boats out of San Diego landings this past week caught 68 bluefin tuna, 959 yellowtail, 301 calico bass, 40 sand bass, 3,709 rockfish, 48 lingcod, 243 sculpin, 82 bonito, 5 barracuda, 1 halfmoon, 25 sheephead, 184 whitefish, 10 mackerel, 13 bocaccio, 3 halibut, 3 finescale triggerfish, 10 treefish and 1 rubberlip seaperch.

Whale Watch: Though we are between seasons here in southern California, there are whales everywhere out there. Maybe it’s the plethora of pelagic crab off the coast from midpeninsula Baja waters to north of San Diego County that is keeping the leviathans around more than usual for this time of year, but regardless of why, it’s always cool to see them breaching just off shore. Last week, while heading out of San Quintin Bay, we came across no less than 50 fin whales feeding just off the sand bars in 10 to 30 feet of water. Though the seas were calm, the whales were so thick that we had to slow down and cut across the kelp beds to avoid them.

Scheduled fish plants (lbs): There are no scheduled plants this week. Last plant 5/10, Cuyamaca (1000), next plant 5/24 Cuyamaca (1100)

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Filmora 14’s AI Tools Streamline Content Creation for Marketers

Next Article

Wild Wild Wets, Todo Mundo, Creepy Creeps, Laura Cantrell, Graham Nancarrow

Rock, Latin reggae, and country music in Little Italy, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Harbor Island
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader