Another opah caught

Yellowfin tuna have moved into the overnight range within 80 miles of Point Loma. Though they just caught a scratch, a few good sized schools were sighted and metered. The bluefin tuna bite picked up dramatically as many boats got near limits or limits (2 fish per angler) of the hard-fighting tuna. Also in the offshore counts, another opah was caught, this time aboard the Oceanside 95 and again within overnight range. Large schools of smaller yellowtail are still out there, though the average size is going up, especially near the Coronado Islands and along the Baja coast. For those fishing closer in, the calico bass are turning on in the kelp as the water warms up while sand bass and halibut are biting well in the flats near structure in 40-80 feet of water. Inside the bays, spotted bay bass are being caught in double-digit numbers per hour. They are biting a little better in San Diego Bay than Mission, especially along the eelgrass off Coronado, from the old seaplane ramps around to just south of Tidelands Park. Halibut are also biting well in the bays, usually along the channel edges near structure.

Plastic swimbaits and grubs are working best for both the bass and halibut.

Dock Totals 4/30 – 5/6:

2,133 anglers aboard 92 boats out of San Diego landings this past week caught 601 bluefin tuna, 2 yellowfin tuna, 922 yellowtail, 52 calico bass, 23 sand bass, 2,207 rockfish, 73 sanddab, 8 lingcod, 4 bonito, 125 sculpin, 3 barracuda, 2 bocaccio, 2 mako shark, 216 mackerel, 54 whitefish, 3 sheephead and 1 opah.

Top performing boats of the week:

5/5: The Pacific Queen reported 53 bluefin tuna caught by the 33 anglers aboard an overnight run.

5/4: 14 anglers aboard the Tribute overnight trip put 27 bluefin tuna, 2 yellowfin tuna and 16 yellowtail in the hold. The Pacific Voyager called in with 132 yellowtail and 21 bluefin tuna for the 20 anglers aboard a 2 day trip. The Malihini reported 20 bluefin tuna for 14 anglers aboard their ¾ day run. 35 bluefin tuna were caught by 30 anglers during a ¾ day run aboard Liberty.

5/3: The San Diego returned to the dock with 91 yellowtail and 56 bluefin tuna for the 31 anglers aboard their ¾ day run.

4/30: 14 anglers aboard the Legend overnight trip caught limits of 70 yellowtail.

Fish Plants: None this coming week. Last plant: 5/9 lake Cuyamaca, trout (1,200)