Dock Totals 10/12 – 10/18: 2229 anglers aboard 101 half-day to 3-day trips out of San Diego landings over the past week caught 1289 bluefin tuna (to 180 pounds), 35 bonito, 51 calico bass, 27 dorado, 2 halibut, 3 Humboldt squid, 2 lingcod, 41 rock crab, 4561 rockfish, 63 sand bass, 652 sculpin, 87 sheephead, 1 skipjack tuna, 79 spiny lobster (139 released), 582 whitefish, 268 yellowfin tuna, and 142 yellowtail.
Saltwater: This past week featured calmer seas, tuna closer to home, and one of the top tournaments in the world. Though overall yellowfin, yellowtail, and bluefin numbers dropped from the week previous, there were bluefin caught right along the border within half-day range of Point Loma, with the Dolphin picking up two on Thursday’s morning outing. Wednesday, there were a few Humboldt squid caught on their morning run. They were hoping for a few more "squid trips," though they haven’t yet found them again. Still, bluefin tuna on a half-day run is remarkable.

That yellowtail numbers dropped by about 90% from the week previous may have something to do with the bluefin showing so close — boats were diverting time and energy toward the tuna fishing and away from paddy hopping and looking around the islands for yellowtail. And though yellowfin almost halved from the week previous, dorado doubled (even if the count was relatively low at 27 caught). Rockfish remained the most common catch, with anglers dropping deep to around 500 feet for the bottom dwellers — this part of the season is limited to 300 feet or deeper.

This weekend also featured 2025 Bisbee's Los Cabos Offshore fishing tournament. It did not disappoint, with 335 teams vying for a spot on the winner’s board and a lucrative payout. The top fish overall was a 432-pound black marlin boated by angler Brian Spicer of the No Limits Fishing team, a solid fish that barely bested team Santana and Jesse Santana Jr’s 424-pound black marlin. Other top catches of the tournament included a 294-pound yellowfin tuna caught by angler Ludovic Agassiz of team Los Caboss, and a 52-pound dorado boated by Alex Moherek of the Moherek Fishing Team.
For their efforts, No Limits took home $56,511.00 in prize money. But the real money in these tournaments is in the jackpots. Because daily jackpot pools in the 3-day tournament range from $500 to $20,000, a team can place lower than first and take home much more cash than the tourney winner. For instance, team Santana’s second place marlin wound up with a total of prize and jackpot winnings of $1,114,361.50, as they entered all the jackpots. Team No Limits entered only a couple of the low-end jackpots and won a total of $104,111.00.
All in all, there were 395 fish brought to the scales (or measured and released) throughout the tournament. Most contenders are brought in to weigh, though there is a release category. There were 6 black marlin, 99 blue marlin, 148 striped marlin, 116 sailfish, 11 dorado, and 15 yellowfin tuna weighed in or taped during this year’s event. Looking at so many large fish, you may wonder what happens to them once they're weighed. Well, for years now, the folks at Bisbee’s have set up processing and distribution of fish to the Hope for Los Cabos Foundation, where it is transformed into meals for those in need. The Foundation provides 4.5 meals from every pound of processed fish.
The weather is cooling, but it is still a beautiful fall for fishing in our awesome corner of the world here in SoCal and Baja — and they’re biting! So, whether the beach, bay, lake, or offshore, they’re out there so go out and get ‘em!
Dock Totals 10/12 – 10/18: 2229 anglers aboard 101 half-day to 3-day trips out of San Diego landings over the past week caught 1289 bluefin tuna (to 180 pounds), 35 bonito, 51 calico bass, 27 dorado, 2 halibut, 3 Humboldt squid, 2 lingcod, 41 rock crab, 4561 rockfish, 63 sand bass, 652 sculpin, 87 sheephead, 1 skipjack tuna, 79 spiny lobster (139 released), 582 whitefish, 268 yellowfin tuna, and 142 yellowtail.
Saltwater: This past week featured calmer seas, tuna closer to home, and one of the top tournaments in the world. Though overall yellowfin, yellowtail, and bluefin numbers dropped from the week previous, there were bluefin caught right along the border within half-day range of Point Loma, with the Dolphin picking up two on Thursday’s morning outing. Wednesday, there were a few Humboldt squid caught on their morning run. They were hoping for a few more "squid trips," though they haven’t yet found them again. Still, bluefin tuna on a half-day run is remarkable.

That yellowtail numbers dropped by about 90% from the week previous may have something to do with the bluefin showing so close — boats were diverting time and energy toward the tuna fishing and away from paddy hopping and looking around the islands for yellowtail. And though yellowfin almost halved from the week previous, dorado doubled (even if the count was relatively low at 27 caught). Rockfish remained the most common catch, with anglers dropping deep to around 500 feet for the bottom dwellers — this part of the season is limited to 300 feet or deeper.

This weekend also featured 2025 Bisbee's Los Cabos Offshore fishing tournament. It did not disappoint, with 335 teams vying for a spot on the winner’s board and a lucrative payout. The top fish overall was a 432-pound black marlin boated by angler Brian Spicer of the No Limits Fishing team, a solid fish that barely bested team Santana and Jesse Santana Jr’s 424-pound black marlin. Other top catches of the tournament included a 294-pound yellowfin tuna caught by angler Ludovic Agassiz of team Los Caboss, and a 52-pound dorado boated by Alex Moherek of the Moherek Fishing Team.
For their efforts, No Limits took home $56,511.00 in prize money. But the real money in these tournaments is in the jackpots. Because daily jackpot pools in the 3-day tournament range from $500 to $20,000, a team can place lower than first and take home much more cash than the tourney winner. For instance, team Santana’s second place marlin wound up with a total of prize and jackpot winnings of $1,114,361.50, as they entered all the jackpots. Team No Limits entered only a couple of the low-end jackpots and won a total of $104,111.00.
All in all, there were 395 fish brought to the scales (or measured and released) throughout the tournament. Most contenders are brought in to weigh, though there is a release category. There were 6 black marlin, 99 blue marlin, 148 striped marlin, 116 sailfish, 11 dorado, and 15 yellowfin tuna weighed in or taped during this year’s event. Looking at so many large fish, you may wonder what happens to them once they're weighed. Well, for years now, the folks at Bisbee’s have set up processing and distribution of fish to the Hope for Los Cabos Foundation, where it is transformed into meals for those in need. The Foundation provides 4.5 meals from every pound of processed fish.
The weather is cooling, but it is still a beautiful fall for fishing in our awesome corner of the world here in SoCal and Baja — and they’re biting! So, whether the beach, bay, lake, or offshore, they’re out there so go out and get ‘em!
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