THE VERDICT: GO 🔵 7/10 | Bluefin Have Taken Over
This weekend: 🔵 7/10
Polaris Supreme came back Monday with 138 bluefin tuna on 23 anglers. That's 6.0 fish per angler, the best single-day tuna ratio the fleet has posted this season. The near-shore yellowtail bite cooled after the Full Moon transition, but the offshore bite is legitimately hot right now. Conditions go clean Friday through Sunday. This weekend is for the boaters willing to make the run.
THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS
Polaris Supreme: 138 bluefin / 23 anglers Monday -- 6.0 F/A, best tuna day of the season
Pacific Voyager: 80 BFT + 3 dorado on the prior trip; fleet logged roughly 677 bluefin total May 1-4
Yellowtail cooling at Coronados -- water dropped from 66°F to 62°F post-full moon; San Diego went 0 YT and 145 whitefish on Monday
Barracuda showing hard: 43 fish on a single Seaforth PM trip and 17 on the twilight, the biggest barracuda day the dock has seen this year
Private boat reports stacking up between 31°26N and 31°48N all week, consistent BFT on 65.4-65.8°F water; night bite active
CONDITIONS
Variable under 10 knots, 3-4 ft seas, 14-16s period all weekend. Clean run after mid-week Small Craft Advisories lift Thursday.
PRIVATE BOAT THIS WEEK
Multiple reports have been stacking up between 31°26N and 31°48N, every one on BFT in 65.4-65.8°F water. The fish are concentrated, not scattered. Hidden Bank and the Upper 500 zone are the targets. Overnight runs from San Diego are putting anglers on fish at first light. The night bite has been consistent all week.
WHY IT WORKS THIS WEEKEND
Conditions are about as clean as May gets. The bluefin bite that was producing on Monday should carry through the weekend with stable weather and a stable barometer (30.03 inHg, no drop). The night bite has been consistent all week. The one variable is the run -- this is offshore territory, not a Coronados day trip.
SOLUNAR PICK
Saturday morning, 5:53-7:53 AM. The moon transits overhead at 6:53 AM, the strongest solunar window of the weekend. A midnight departure from San Diego puts private boaters on the fish right as it opens. Saturday evening also has a major window from 6:18-8:18 PM that coincides with sunset -- prime conditions for topwater bluefin action if you're already in the zone.
BOAT OF THE WEEK
Polaris Supreme (Seaforth Landing) -- 138 bluefin on 23 anglers Monday. 6.0 F/A. The prior 3-day was 122 on 24 (5.1 F/A). They've found the zone and they keep going back.
THE DATA ANGLE
Sixty barracuda on a single Seaforth evening isn't a random catch -- it's a temperature signal. Barracuda showing simultaneously at La Jolla, Catalina, and Salsipuedes points to a migration front moving north, not a local school. The nearshore warm water push is running about 2-3 weeks ahead of a typical year. Worth watching.
The Bite Index publishes every Thursday. Built on marine weather data, offshore buoy readings, fleet fish counts, and our own in-depth fishing data analysis.