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Fish Report: Excel-lent tuna certified as world record
Big bones biting, second place derby halibut caught
A fish so big, you'll have to scroll down to see the whole thing.
Dock Totals 4/13 – 4/19: 1247 anglers aboard 58 half-day to 3-day trips out of San Diego landings over the past week caught 46 bluefin tuna, 566 bonito, 1 cabezon, 3 calico bass, 4 halibut (16 released), 6 lingcod, 2704 rockfish, 111 sand bass, 219 sanddab, 733 sculpin, 14 sheephead, 209 whitefish, and 213 yellowtail.
Saltwater: Last November, while fishing off the southern coast of the Baja Peninsula aboard the Excel out of Fisherman’s Landing, Earl Gill landed a 443-pound yellowfin tuna. The fish, which bit on a chunk bait and fought for an impressive hour and 45 minutes, was submitted as the new IGFA all-tackle world record. Now that record, along with the 60-kilogram (130-pound) line class record, is official, as the catch was certified this week by the IGFA. Out of all the long-range boats and local boats working the area, there has been only one larger yellowfin caught, and that was John Petruescu’s 445-pounder — which was disqualified as a world record because a crew member had to take the rod and unwrap the fish from the anchor rope. (Petruescu’s fish was also caught aboard the Excel, back in 2012.)
Earl Gill with his now official IGFA record yellowfin tuna caught aboard the Excel on November 11, 2024.
Following the short-lived bluefin bite off the northern Baja coast the previous week, the fish started hitting the deck for several boats working the area. The Tribute, Pacific Queen, American Angler, and Polaris Supreme, notably, all had good success on bluefin, with most of the fish caught weighing in from 40 to 190 pounds. (Most of these trips have not yet returned to the dock, so the count this week does not quite represent all the action concerning bluefin. The Tribute just called in as I am writing with a 210-pounder on the deck.) Most of that bite was during the night, especially for the larger units, though the fish did bite sporadically through the day. As this news gets out and more boats begin targeting bluefin within 1.5-day range, we should start seeing many more in the counts going forward this season.
A solid bluefin tuna pushing 200 pounds caught aboard the Tribute this week as the bite turns on.
That bluefin action bit into the rockfish and lingcod counts, even though a couple hundred more anglers went out this past week than the week previous. The 1.5-day to 3-day trips are now concentrating more on the schools of bluefin, some of which are within 75 miles of Point Loma. The boats are also finding some action on yellowtail in the 10 to 20 pound range on offshore kelp paddies. It's been a few months of low numbers for each species, but I expect to see those numbers climb quite a bit — we are just beginning the season for offshore pelagic action.
Another chunky bluefin tuna caught aboard the American Angler.
Full day offshore trips are catching lots of large bonito to 12 pounds or so (plus a scratch of yellowtail) near the Coronado Islands. As part of that mix, folks dropping deep have been getting a steady bite on rockfish, though lingcod numbers are way down. Boats have started targeting surface species in areas where the lings aren’t prevalent the way they are on those more near-shore high spots just south of the line in Mexican water. Those bonito are being caught from San Diego Bay and on out to the local banks, as seen on last Wednesday’s Halibut Derby trip aboard the Dolphin.
While halibut fishing was a bit on the slow side this past Wednesday, the Dolphin reported a total of 3 legal halibut and 20 bonito caught, with 16 short halibut released. One of the halibut caught is now second place in the Dolphin Halibut Derby at a whopping 30 pounds and 42 inches long. The top three fish in the derby are now 34 pounds, 30 pounds, and 29 pounds. There are only two more chances to catch a winning halibut for this year’s derby, the 23rd and the 30th of April.
The second-place 30-pound halibut in the Dolphin Halibut Derby, caught this past Wednesday in San Diego Bay
Working down the Pacific coast of Baja: lingcod, rockfish, and yellowtail are biting out of Colinet and south toward San Quintin. Further south along the Vizcaino Peninsula, the yellowtail bite slows along the cool water zone off Tortugas south to La Bocana, where counter-intuitively, the pelagic season normally starts about 3 months later in the year than off San Diego. When living in the Bahia Asunción area about halfway between Cedros and Bocana, I found the yellowtail and tuna bite was usually non-existent from April through July, with the fish finally showing late in July or early August. This is due to the point of the peninsula creating a cool-water eddy effect along the southern edge, to the point where the last kelp beds fade to a more tropical marine environment.
That’s not to say yellowtail fishing is not good there — quite the contrary. I have caught multitudes of yellows within a mile of the launch on the kayak, and several smaller units to 15 pounds from shore. It’s just that the season starts later and runs later than we are used to in this neck of the woods. Surf fishing that area can be off the hook: when surf fishing in Asunción, I caught lots of California corbina and found plenty of sand crabs on the beach. Yellowfin croaker were also abundant at times in the surf zone. However, I have never caught a barred surf perch there in hundreds of surf fishing trips down the beach.
Though it may be slow season along the southern Vizcaino coast for pelagics, this is prime time to seek halibut, shortfin corvina, and California corbina from the beach, with awesome weather and beautiful camping spots where you can spend a few days and never see another soul. That stretch, at least along the coast, is usually cool when compared to the interior of Baja and the Sea of Cortez. Over my three years of living there, i Found daytime highs in the hottest part of the year rarely got above 90 degrees, nor did it often get below 60 degrees in the dead of winter. And the area, especially near Isla San Roque just offshore and 8 miles north of Bahia Asunción, was the best calico bass fishery I had ever had the pleasure to fish. Large calicos to 10 pounds were not uncommon, and catching calicos averaging 5 pounds or so back-to-back was the norm. Never forget that we San Diegans are lucky to have such an awesome live-bait sportfishing fleet and the world of fishing wonder that is found along both coasts of the Baja Peninsula within easy reach to the south. Whether the beach, bay, lake, or offshore, they’re out there so go out and get ‘em!
Here's something you might be interested in.
Fish Report: Excel-lent tuna certified as world record
Big bones biting, second place derby halibut caught
Fish Report: Excel-lent tuna certified as world record
Big bones biting, second place derby halibut caught
A fish so big, you'll have to scroll down to see the whole thing.
Dock Totals 4/13 – 4/19: 1247 anglers aboard 58 half-day to 3-day trips out of San Diego landings over the past week caught 46 bluefin tuna, 566 bonito, 1 cabezon, 3 calico bass, 4 halibut (16 released), 6 lingcod, 2704 rockfish, 111 sand bass, 219 sanddab, 733 sculpin, 14 sheephead, 209 whitefish, and 213 yellowtail.
Saltwater: Last November, while fishing off the southern coast of the Baja Peninsula aboard the Excel out of Fisherman’s Landing, Earl Gill landed a 443-pound yellowfin tuna. The fish, which bit on a chunk bait and fought for an impressive hour and 45 minutes, was submitted as the new IGFA all-tackle world record. Now that record, along with the 60-kilogram (130-pound) line class record, is official, as the catch was certified this week by the IGFA. Out of all the long-range boats and local boats working the area, there has been only one larger yellowfin caught, and that was John Petruescu’s 445-pounder — which was disqualified as a world record because a crew member had to take the rod and unwrap the fish from the anchor rope. (Petruescu’s fish was also caught aboard the Excel, back in 2012.)
Earl Gill with his now official IGFA record yellowfin tuna caught aboard the Excel on November 11, 2024.
Following the short-lived bluefin bite off the northern Baja coast the previous week, the fish started hitting the deck for several boats working the area. The Tribute, Pacific Queen, American Angler, and Polaris Supreme, notably, all had good success on bluefin, with most of the fish caught weighing in from 40 to 190 pounds. (Most of these trips have not yet returned to the dock, so the count this week does not quite represent all the action concerning bluefin. The Tribute just called in as I am writing with a 210-pounder on the deck.) Most of that bite was during the night, especially for the larger units, though the fish did bite sporadically through the day. As this news gets out and more boats begin targeting bluefin within 1.5-day range, we should start seeing many more in the counts going forward this season.
A solid bluefin tuna pushing 200 pounds caught aboard the Tribute this week as the bite turns on.
That bluefin action bit into the rockfish and lingcod counts, even though a couple hundred more anglers went out this past week than the week previous. The 1.5-day to 3-day trips are now concentrating more on the schools of bluefin, some of which are within 75 miles of Point Loma. The boats are also finding some action on yellowtail in the 10 to 20 pound range on offshore kelp paddies. It's been a few months of low numbers for each species, but I expect to see those numbers climb quite a bit — we are just beginning the season for offshore pelagic action.
Another chunky bluefin tuna caught aboard the American Angler.
Full day offshore trips are catching lots of large bonito to 12 pounds or so (plus a scratch of yellowtail) near the Coronado Islands. As part of that mix, folks dropping deep have been getting a steady bite on rockfish, though lingcod numbers are way down. Boats have started targeting surface species in areas where the lings aren’t prevalent the way they are on those more near-shore high spots just south of the line in Mexican water. Those bonito are being caught from San Diego Bay and on out to the local banks, as seen on last Wednesday’s Halibut Derby trip aboard the Dolphin.
While halibut fishing was a bit on the slow side this past Wednesday, the Dolphin reported a total of 3 legal halibut and 20 bonito caught, with 16 short halibut released. One of the halibut caught is now second place in the Dolphin Halibut Derby at a whopping 30 pounds and 42 inches long. The top three fish in the derby are now 34 pounds, 30 pounds, and 29 pounds. There are only two more chances to catch a winning halibut for this year’s derby, the 23rd and the 30th of April.
The second-place 30-pound halibut in the Dolphin Halibut Derby, caught this past Wednesday in San Diego Bay
Working down the Pacific coast of Baja: lingcod, rockfish, and yellowtail are biting out of Colinet and south toward San Quintin. Further south along the Vizcaino Peninsula, the yellowtail bite slows along the cool water zone off Tortugas south to La Bocana, where counter-intuitively, the pelagic season normally starts about 3 months later in the year than off San Diego. When living in the Bahia Asunción area about halfway between Cedros and Bocana, I found the yellowtail and tuna bite was usually non-existent from April through July, with the fish finally showing late in July or early August. This is due to the point of the peninsula creating a cool-water eddy effect along the southern edge, to the point where the last kelp beds fade to a more tropical marine environment.
That’s not to say yellowtail fishing is not good there — quite the contrary. I have caught multitudes of yellows within a mile of the launch on the kayak, and several smaller units to 15 pounds from shore. It’s just that the season starts later and runs later than we are used to in this neck of the woods. Surf fishing that area can be off the hook: when surf fishing in Asunción, I caught lots of California corbina and found plenty of sand crabs on the beach. Yellowfin croaker were also abundant at times in the surf zone. However, I have never caught a barred surf perch there in hundreds of surf fishing trips down the beach.
Though it may be slow season along the southern Vizcaino coast for pelagics, this is prime time to seek halibut, shortfin corvina, and California corbina from the beach, with awesome weather and beautiful camping spots where you can spend a few days and never see another soul. That stretch, at least along the coast, is usually cool when compared to the interior of Baja and the Sea of Cortez. Over my three years of living there, i Found daytime highs in the hottest part of the year rarely got above 90 degrees, nor did it often get below 60 degrees in the dead of winter. And the area, especially near Isla San Roque just offshore and 8 miles north of Bahia Asunción, was the best calico bass fishery I had ever had the pleasure to fish. Large calicos to 10 pounds were not uncommon, and catching calicos averaging 5 pounds or so back-to-back was the norm. Never forget that we San Diegans are lucky to have such an awesome live-bait sportfishing fleet and the world of fishing wonder that is found along both coasts of the Baja Peninsula within easy reach to the south. Whether the beach, bay, lake, or offshore, they’re out there so go out and get ‘em!
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