Exotic pelagic species moving up the line

Inshore: The yellowtail numbers are still good locally along with a few white seabass and halibut for the inshore anglers. The calico bass fishing is very good along the kelp and even off the jetties, while sand bass are biting well on the flats. Half-day boats have been reporting mostly rockfish and calico bass, along with a few sheephead, lingcod, bonito and barracuda. There are still bluefin tuna around in ¾-day range, though most of the trips hunting them are overnight runs while the ¾ day boats are concentrating on the good yellowtail bite at the Coronado Islands.

Outside: Though the fishing this June seems a bit slower than this time during the phenomenal season we had last year for the San Diego offshore fleet, it is about the same. Late June, 2015, the boats were getting mostly yellowtail, a scratch of yellowfin, some bluefin (though, not over 200 pounds, as are some of the fish this year) and the first dorado were caught within overnight range. We have had our first opah, dorado and striped marlin in the counts already this year and as the water warms, I’m getting the feeling that more of the same will move up the line and we will see another season of remarkable catches within a few hours of Point Loma. By August 2015 we were seeing blue marlin, wahoo and shortbill spearfish in our local waters and the eastern Pacific was going into a strong El Niño. This year, a cooler La Niña is predicted through 2017, though the water is at 71 degrees, which is above normal for the first week of July.

6/26 – 7/2 Dock Totals: 3,904 anglers aboard 151 boats out of San Diego landings this past week caught 1 mako shark, 2 dorado, 2 white seabass, 90 bluefin tuna, 35 yellowfin tuna, 1,420 yellowtail, 1,214 calico bass, 135 sand bass, 5,914 rockfish, 57 lingcod, 32 sculpin, 121 bonito, 19 barracuda, 33 sheephead, 9 whitefish, 20 halibut, 11 bocaccio, 2 cabezon, 4 halfmoon, 4 rubberlip seaperch and 170 mackerel. 1 striped marlin was caught and released.

Notable: The season for blue whales in the San Diego area has begun and the world’s largest mammals are here in force. With flukes 25 feet wide and larger than a school bus, these animals are a striking shade of blue when up close, thus their name. A good spot to head to if on a private boat is along the Nine-Mile Bank, which runs north/south along a line about 10 miles west of Point Loma and extending down to the border. There are also lots of bottlenose dolphins and even some mola, or giant sunfish, out there right now to add to the adventure.

Scheduled fish plants (lbs): 7/4 Jennings, catfish (1000), 7/8 Santee Lakes, catfish (1000)