THE VERDICT: GO ✅ 10/10 | Bluefin Are Here
The Polaris Supreme came back Wednesday with 92 bluefin tuna and 3 dorado. The day before, the Pacific Voyager returned with 56 bluefin tuna and 21 yellowtail on a 2-day trip. That is 148 bluefin in two consecutive days from two boats. The offshore season just announced itself.
Rockfish are still crushing in Week 3. Premier posted 8.9 F/A (fish per angler) Tuesday. Chubasco II matched that number Wednesday with 160 fish on 18 anglers. Conditions this weekend are clean and the bite is active across every category.
Weekend Score: 10/10 🟢
WEEKEND CONDITIONS AT A GLANCE
Saturday 4/18 | Sunday 4/19 | |
|---|---|---|
Wind | Variable <10 kt | Variable <10 kt |
Seas | 3-4 ft | 3-4 ft |
Swell Period | 15s | 14s |
Conditions Score | 🟢 9/10 | 🟢 9/10 |
Water Temp (offshore) | ~65.1°F | ~65.1°F |
Moon | Waxing Crescent 1.6% | Waxing Crescent 6.0% |
NOAA PZZ750 | San Mateo Point to Mexican Border, out 30nm | Buoy 46086
WHY THIS WEEKEND WORKS
The conditions story is straightforward. Variable winds under 10 knots, 3-4 foot seas with a 14-15 second period. Five consecutive weekends of this setup. Every boat runs comfortable regardless of which landing you depart from.
The lunar story has shifted. New moon arrived Thursday April 17. Saturday and Sunday are the first two days of the waxing crescent phase: 1.6% Saturday, 6.0% Sunday. Post-new moon is a transition phase. Tidal differentials begin rebuilding from their lowest point of the cycle, which historically triggers increasing feeding activity as the week progresses. Solunar windows this weekend are modest, but the trajectory is upward. Mid-to-late next week should see accelerating yellowtail and pelagic feeding activity as the crescent builds.
The bluefin story is the real headline. Pacific Voyager returned Tuesday with 56 bluefin and 21 yellowtail. The following day, Polaris Supreme came back with 92 bluefin plus 3 dorado. Both were 2-day trips out of Seaforth Landing. The fish appear to be staging on the southern offshore banks, and the bait is there with them.
The 3 dorado alongside the Polaris Supreme count are more notable than they appear. Dorado typically need 68°F+ to establish in Southern California. Current Buoy 46086 reads 65.1°F. Either there is a warm patch offshore that the coastal buoy does not capture, or we are looking at scout fish ahead of a broader warm water push. We will know which it is by next week.
Rockfish remain the bread-and-butter call for day-trip anglers. Week 3 has not moderated the way typical seasons do. Premier put up 8.9 F/A Tuesday. Chubasco II posted the exact same number Wednesday with 160 fish on 18 anglers out of Oceanside. The fish are still stacked on structure.
Two things are lining up at once this weekend that don't always coincide: conditions are as clean as San Diego gets, and the offshore bite just opened.
BAROMETRIC SIGNAL | ⚪ STABLE
Current pressure at KSAN: 30.00 inHg
12-hour change: essentially flat
Five straight stable readings. No pressure signal this week. Stable conditions favor consistent, methodical feeding over the blitz-feeding a pressure drop creates. For rockfish on structure that is more than enough. For pelagics offshore, stable baro puts the focus on biology: bait presence and water temperature rather than pressure cues.
THIS WEEK'S FLEET COUNTS
Note: fleet data reflects the most recent full reporting days available at time of publish. We pull data on Thursdays before each issue goes out.
Tuesday, April 14
Boat | Landing | Anglers | Trip | Top Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Premier | H&M | 14 | 1/2 Day AM | 125 Rockfish -- 8.9 F/A |
Daily Double | Point Loma | 11 | 1/2 Day AM | 85 Rockfish -- 7.7 F/A |
New Seaforth | Seaforth | 18 | 1/2 Day AM | 111 Rockfish -- 6.2 F/A |
Pacific Voyager | Seaforth | 14 | 2-Day | 56 Bluefin Tuna + 21 Yellowtail |
San Diego | Seaforth | 23 | Full Day Coronado | 9 Yellowtail + 50 Rockfish |
Dolphin | Fisherman's | 35 | 1/2 Day PM | 39 Rockfish |
Fleet totals Tue: ~56 bluefin tuna, ~30 yellowtail
Wednesday, April 15
Boat | Landing | Anglers | Trip | Top Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Chubasco II | Oceanside | 18 | 1/2 Day AM | 160 Rockfish -- 8.9 F/A |
Polaris Supreme | Seaforth | 23 | 2-Day | 92 Bluefin Tuna + 3 Dorado |
Mission Belle | Point Loma | 11 | Full Day Coronado | 26 Yellowtail -- 2.4 F/A |
Vendetta 2 | H&M | 15 | Full Day | 29 Yellowtail -- 1.9 F/A |
New Seaforth | Seaforth | 22 | 1/2 Day AM | 10 Yellowtail + 44 Vermilion + 7 Rockfish |
San Diego | Seaforth | 14 | Full Day Coronado | 22 Yellowtail -- 1.6 F/A |
Fleet totals Wed: ~92 bluefin tuna, ~87 yellowtail, 3 dorado
WHAT'S BITING: SPORT BOATS
Bluefin Tuna: This week's lead story. Pacific Voyager returned Tuesday with 56 on 14 anglers. Polaris Supreme came back Wednesday with 92 on 23 anglers plus 3 dorado. Both were 2-day trips out of Seaforth. If you can swing a 2-day departure this weekend, the offshore bite is active.
Rockfish: Still the primary call for day-trip anglers. Premier and Chubasco II both posted 8.9 F/A on opposite ends of the county this week. Half-day AM is the format producing the best numbers. The bite has not moderated entering Week 3.
Vermilion Rockfish: New Seaforth continues posting Vermilion counts, with 44 on a half-day Wednesday. If premium table fare is the goal, the Seaforth half-day AM is the pick.
Yellowtail: Multiple boats posting solid Coronado Islands numbers: Mission Belle 2.4 F/A, Vendetta 2 at 1.9 F/A, San Diego at 1.6 F/A on Wednesday. Not the blitz numbers from the pre-full moon peak, but consistent full-day production. The post-new moon phase should strengthen the YT bite as the week progresses.
Dorado: 3 fish on the Polaris Supreme Wednesday alongside the bluefin. Notable given the water temp. Watch for this to develop over the next two weeks.
Bonito: A handful caught this week. Surface iron and live bait along kelp lines remain the approach when they show.
White Seabass: Very few reported this week, but they are around. The April window is narrowing. Pre-dawn near structure remains the method if you are hunting them.
WHAT'S BITING: PRIVATE BOATERS
Rocky structure 100-250 ft: Three straight weeks of sport boat data confirm the fish are stacked and not thinning. Same zones: La Jolla, Del Mar, Torrey Pines, Coronado Islands/Rockpile. Launch early for the half-day AM window.
Coronado Islands: Yellowtail are consistent. Work kelp edges and rocky structure along the north end of the islands. Mission Belle and San Diego both produced in this corridor Wednesday.
Offshore banks: If you have the range, the bluefin signal is there. The 2-day boats are fishing the southern offshore banks. Look for temp breaks and bait marks, and check the weather before running out. This is not a casual run.
Kelp lines nearshore: Watch for bird activity marking bait. Yellowtail and bonito are the primary target. Possible dorado scouts if the warm patch offshore extends closer to the coast.
Bottom line for private boaters: Saturday morning is green for anything. If you have the offshore range, the bluefin bite is worth exploring. If not, the structure fishing is as strong as it has been all month.
SOLUNAR PICKS: BEST WINDOWS THIS WEEKEND
Day | Peak Window | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, Apr 18 | 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM | ⭐⭐ | First day post-new moon, lunar pull rebuilding from minimum |
Saturday, Apr 18 | 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM | ⭐⭐ | Afternoon minor window |
Sunday, Apr 19 | 7:30 AM - 9:30 AM | ⭐⭐+ | Moon building to 6%, tidal differentials increasing |
Sunday, Apr 19 | 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM | ⭐⭐ | Afternoon minor window |
New moon just passed Thursday. Solunar intensity is at its seasonal floor Saturday and begins rebuilding Sunday. Rockfish on structure are not moon-dependent and will feed regardless. For yellowtail and pelagics, this weekend favors covering water and finding bait over sitting on a spot and waiting for a feeding window. The best solunar days of the next 10 days will be mid-week next week as the waxing crescent builds.
REGS TO KNOW THIS WEEKEND
✅ Rockfish: OPEN in California waters. General bag limit: 10 rockfish per person. Vermilion/sunset rockfish sublimit: 2 fish within the 10-fish bag (Southern California). Confirm current species sublimits at CDFW before departure.
Yellowtail: 10 fish bag limit. Minimum size 24" fork length, with exception: up to 5 fish under 24" may be kept per day.
Lingcod: 2 fish, 22" minimum. Legal in California waters.
White Seabass: 1 fish, 28" minimum through June 15 (spawning protection). Handle carefully and release undersized fish.
Halibut: 5 fish, 22" minimum.
Bonito: 10 fish daily limit. Up to 5 undersized fish (under 24" fork length or 5 lbs) may be kept per day.
BOAT PICKS THIS WEEKEND
1. Premier | 1/2 Day AM (H&M Landing)
125 rockfish on 14 anglers Tuesday: 8.9 F/A. Premier has been the most consistent rockfish boat in the fleet through three weeks of the season. Week 1 posted 7.6 F/A. Week 2 maintained. Week 3 matches. That is not variance -- that is location knowledge. If rockfish is your target, this is the boat.
How to book: H&M Landing | hmlanding.com
2. Polaris Supreme | 2-Day (Seaforth Landing)
92 bluefin tuna on 23 anglers Wednesday plus 3 dorado. If you can get away for a 2-day trip departing this weekend, the offshore bite is on. Check Seaforth for available departures and current availability.
How to book: Seaforth Landing | seaforthlanding.com
3. Mission Belle | Full Day (Point Loma Sportfishing)
26 yellowtail on 11 anglers Wednesday: 2.4 F/A. Mission Belle has been the most consistent yellowtail boat through April, working the Coronado Islands corridor every run. If the Islands are your target, this is your boat.
How to book: Point Loma Sportfishing | pointlomasportfishing.com
THE DATA ANGLE
148 bluefin tuna in two consecutive days. That number deserves some framing.
Bluefin at this scale, this early in April, is unusual for San Diego. The typical offshore season opens later: May through July is when the fleet makes consistent bluefin runs. What we are seeing now appears to be an early aggregation related to bait concentration on the southern offshore banks. Whether this holds, expands, or dissipates over the next two weeks is the key question. Two consecutive data points is a pattern. Three confirms the bite is established.
The 3 dorado alongside the Polaris Supreme bluefin count is the sleeper data point of the week. Dorado are a warm-water pelagic. Their threshold for establishing in Southern California is typically 68°F surface temperature. Current Buoy 46086 readings: 65.1°F. The math is off by 3 degrees. That means either there is a warm patch further offshore that the coastal buoy does not capture, or we are looking at early scouts ahead of a broader surface warming event. If dorado counts appear again next week, the warm water push is real and accelerating ahead of schedule. Historically, early dorado in San Diego correlates with strong yellowfin and possibly bluefin tuna counts through June.
The rockfish data tells a separate story. Three consecutive weeks of 8-9 F/A from multiple boats at multiple landings is exceptional sustained production. The typical season pattern has not materialized: fish the first weekend, pressure builds, counts moderate by week 2-3. Our read is that the winter closure allowed fish to stack on structure at density well above typical levels. The depletion curve is flatter than normal. We may be looking at 2-3 more weeks of strong half-day AM production before counts normalize.
BOTTOM LINE
It's a 10/10 weekend. Conditions are clean, the bluefin bite just opened offshore, and rockfish are still producing at Week 1 levels heading into Week 4. For day-trip anglers, Premier and Chubasco II are the rockfish calls. For yellowtail, Mission Belle is the Islands pick. For anyone who can commit to a 2-day departure, the offshore bite is worth the investment.
Solunar windows are weak this weekend, but the fishing this week runs on biology, not the moon. Focus on boat selection and getting out for the AM window. The solunar setup improves significantly mid-week next week as the crescent builds.
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT WEEK
Bluefin confirmation: Does the offshore bite hold? If Polaris Supreme and Pacific Voyager post back-to-back bluefin counts again next week, the bite is established for the season. One week of data is a signal. Two weeks is a pattern.
Dorado: Three fish Wednesday is a signal, not a pattern. The next confirmed dorado report tells us whether the warm water push is real and whether we are looking at an early dorado season.
Water temp: Currently 65.1°F. Dorado threshold is 68°F+. Watch for temp trend in next issue. A 2-3 degree rise over the next 10 days would be significant.
Post-new moon solunar build: Wednesday and Thursday next week should see the strongest feeding windows of the next 10 days as the waxing crescent builds. Yellowtail counts mid-week will be the data signal.
Rockfish week 4: Will the production curve finally flatten? Premier and Daily Double are the key bellwether boats to watch.
White seabass: Window closing as April progresses. Any report next week would be the last early-season signal before the May pattern sets.
IN THE TACKLE BOX
Tools and resources worth knowing about. We'll highlight one each issue.
Fish City -- fishcity.app
A free mobile app built specifically for Southern California offshore anglers. Pulls together real-time weather, live fish counts, community reports, boat availability, and AI-driven fishing predictions in one place. Covers San Diego, Long Beach, Newport Beach, Dana Point, and Oceanside.
I don’t have any affiliation with Fish City, but it looks like it would be worth having on your phone if you fish San Diego regularly. Free on iOS and Android.
ONE QUICK THING
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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.