The BFT Answered |The Bite Index | June 18, 2026

Issue #13 closed with a question: where did the bluefin go? We got the answer on Sunday June 14 -- 314 bluefin tuna in a single day, the largest BFT fleet total of the 2026 season. The New Moon didn't fire the Coronados day-trip bite the way we predicted. It lit up the offshore BFT fleet like a switch instead. Meanwhile the Coronados yellowtail kept rolling -- brief soft patch on the exact New Moon days, then immediate recovery to 85 Monday and 54 Wednesday. Fleet-wide this week: 593 BFT and ~3,200 yellowtail. Dawn windows return this weekend after last week's midday setup. Summer Solstice and First Quarter Moon both land Sunday. Conditions are 9/10 all weekend -- thirteen consecutive clean weekends. The fishing is exceptional.

Weekend Score: 9/10 🟢

The New Moon burned us on the Call. It also delivered the most remarkable single-day tuna count of 2026.

Sunday June 14 -- New Moon day, exact lunar peak at 7:54 PM PDT -- the multi-day fleet came back with 314 bluefin tuna. Legend: 76 BFT. Pacific Queen: 65 BFT. Polaris Supreme: 46 BFT. Highliner: 40 BFT. Fortune: 33 BFT. Multiple boats, multiple trips, all returning from offshore on the same day with the same story: the BFT school found and the water dialed in.

Two weeks ago in Issue #13's Data Angle we noted that BFT prefer the 64-67°F band and that "if temperatures pull back toward 64°F, the BFT corridor could reactivate." It reactivated at the New Moon. Then on Wednesday June 17 -- three days later -- the fleet went back and found 112 more: Pegasus 37, Pacific Queen 34, Polaris Supreme 30, Constitution 8, Voyager 3.

The BFT are not incidental. They're in a focused school at multi-day range and the fleet has found it.

Meanwhile, the Coronados yellowtail posted one of their best weeks of the season despite the New Moon soft patch. San Diego went 83, 39, 29, 85, 62, 54 across six consecutive days. The 39 and 29 on Saturday and Sunday -- the exact New Moon days -- are the outliers. Every other day hit 54 or better. Fleet-wide yellowtail finished the week at ~3,200, up from 1,841 last week. Two species, two fisheries, both running. The question for this weekend is whether dawn windows + First Quarter Moon shift the Coronados back toward triple digits.

Offshore BFT -- EXCEPTIONAL (5/5)
314 BFT on New Moon Sunday confirmed the school is there. The follow-up 112 on Wednesday confirmed it didn't scatter. Constitution returned June 17 with 8 BFT + 74 YT on 19 anglers -- the mixed-bag offshore experience the fleet has been chasing all season. Pacific Queen continues to be the lead BFT boat: 65 June 14, 34 June 17.

Coronado Islands -- VERY GOOD (4/5)
The brief New Moon dip (39 Saturday, 29 Sunday) resolved fast. Eighty-five YT Monday, steady output through mid-week. San Diego remains the bellwether. Grande and Mission Belle both running 40-77 YT on full-day Coronados trips. The Friday June 12 data was quietly excellent -- San Diego 65 YT on just 13 anglers (5.0 F/A, best of the week). Fish are there and stacked; it was the New Moon tidal dynamic that softened the bite, not a population shift.

La Jolla / Nearshore -- HOT (4/5)
The New Seaforth half-day program quietly had one of the best weeks in recent memory. June 16 AM: 73 yellowtail on 55 anglers -- 1.33 F/A on a nearshore half-day boat. June 14 PM: 170 barracuda in a single half-day trip. June 13 Twilight: 312 calico on 51 anglers. The New Moon weekend lit up the nearshore zone in a way that didn't show up in the Coronados numbers -- the barracuda and calico bite especially responded to the gravitational peak. WSB quiet this week (4 spread across the week vs. 23 last week), but the overall nearshore output was exceptional. The New Seaforth is the sleeper boat of the week.

Offshore Mixed Bag -- BUILDING (4/5)
Dorado making more appearances: Apollo posted 2 Dorado June 17, Pacific Queen 1 Dorado. This is the same warm-water signal we noted in Issue #13. The BFT-plus-YT-plus-dorado triple is the offshore story as summer builds.

Dana Point / Oceanside -- FAIR (2/5)
Quiet this week relative to the San Diego fleet.

Last week's midday windows were unusual for the time of year. The New Moon pulls the lunar overhead transit toward solar noon, which is what gave us that 10:21 AM Saturday / 11:28 AM Sunday setup. As the moon waxes toward First Quarter, those windows rotate rapidly. By this weekend, the peak windows are at first light -- Underfoot Major at 4:47 AM Saturday and 5:31 AM Sunday.

For private boaters running to the Coronados: the most productive window hits when most overnight skippers are already dropping bait. If you're launching from Shelter Island or H&M at 4:00 AM, you're on the grounds right at the solunar peak. That's the move. Don't sleep in this weekend.

The evening Overhead Major (4:24-6:24 PM Saturday, 5:10-7:10 PM Sunday) is a bonus window that private boaters rarely talk about but sport boats absolutely benefit from -- full-day CI boats still on the water at 4-5 PM have a legitimate late bite window on both days. Don't run the grounds hard and then leave at 3 PM. Stay through the evening window.

For BFT: the offshore school is at multi-day range. Private sportfishers with a 24-hour window have a shot at the same fish the Constitution and Voyager are finding -- but you need to be willing to run the distance and fish the dawn Underfoot window when you arrive. The June 14 and June 17 data suggest the school is holding in a consistent area. Reach out to your landing for the current coordinates before you go.

Summer Solstice Sunday means the longest day of the year -- maximum surface warming throughout the afternoon. Fish that have been holding deeper during midday heat will be more active in extended dusk conditions.

Forecast: Excellent all weekend. Thirteen consecutive clean weekends.

Source: NOAA PZZ750, San Mateo Pt to Mexican Border, out 30nm.

Barometric Pressure: Stable at 30.000 inHg. No pressure signal.

SST:

Four factors -- one of them is new and hasn't fired yet this season.

1. First Quarter Moon Sunday June 21 at 2:55 PM PDT. Between New Moon and First Moon Quarter, the tidal range moderates. The extreme current swings that softened the Coronados CI bite on the exact New Moon days (June 13-14) ease off. The fish that held tight on structure come off the rocks and feed more actively across the grounds. Every New Moon soft patch at the CI in our dataset has been followed by a strong First Quarter window.

2. Dawn Underfoot Major -- total reversal from last week. Saturday 4:47-6:47 AM. Sunday 5:31-7:31 AM. The Underfoot Major is when the moon is directly below at its lowest point -- maximum gravitational pull. Near New Moon the moon rises and sets close to the sun, creating these first-light underfoot windows. Last week's midday setup required staying through lunch. This week's setup rewards the early boat.

3. Evening Overhead Major near sunset. Saturday 4:24-6:24 PM. Sunday 5:10-7:10 PM. Two windows per day -- dawn AND dusk. This is the most complete solunar weekend since the April peak.

4. Summer Solstice. Sunday June 21 is the longest day of 2026. Maximum surface light. Extended dusk feeding window. The late evening Overhead Major (5:10-7:10 PM Sunday) extends into golden hour -- exactly when YT and WSB move up from structure to feed. The Solstice plus the First Quarter Moon plus the evening solunar window makes Sunday evening the most interesting single fishing period in weeks.

Weekend of June 20-21, 2026 -- San Diego

First Quarter Moon (Sunday June 21, exact 2:55 PM PDT). Also: Summer Solstice Sunday June 21. Saturday 38% illumination / Sunday 48% illumination.

The picks: Saturday dawn 4:47-6:47 AM and Saturday evening 4:24-6:24 PM. Sunday dawn 5:31-7:31 AM and Sunday evening 5:10-7:10 PM.

Two major windows per day is unusual. For full-day CI boats: hit the grounds before first light Saturday and stay for the early morning window, then fish hard again starting at 4 PM. The dawn Underfoot Major is the stronger of the two (moon at maximum gravitational pull) but the evening Overhead Major near sunset shouldn't be abandoned -- especially Sunday evening when the Solstice extends twilight into the 7 PM window.

For overnight boats: the Underfoot Majors come at dawn both days -- you're fishing peak when you arrive at the grounds. That's the best timing alignment for overnight departures we've had in three weeks.

The midday Sunday Moonrise minor (12:21-1:21 PM) sits right when the First Quarter moon peaks -- a bonus window worth staying for if you're already out.

The BFT call. Pacific Queen leads the fleet in BFT output: 65 on New Moon Sunday June 14, 34 on Wednesday June 17 -- two of the top three BFT days in the fleet this week. They know where the school is. A three-day trip departing Thursday puts you at the BFT grounds for the Saturday dawn Underfoot Major window -- the highest-probability BFT window of the weekend. If you can do one trip this month to chase bluefin, this is the time.

The Coronados call. First Quarter + dawn Underfoot Major + bounce-back from the New Moon soft patch -- this is the setup for the San Diego to put up a big Saturday number. The call was 100 last week and they came up short; the conditions this week are actually better for a day-trip CI bite. Get on the boat. Get there early. Fish the 4:47 AM window.

The evening window pick. Saturday's Overhead Major (4:24-6:24 PM) lands exactly in their departure and early fishing window. Last week the WSB spread consolidated -- but the evening Major window is when WSB move off structure to feed. If the bite comes back, Twilight trips in an evening solunar window are where it happens first. Calico and barracuda also in the mix.

BLUEFIN TUNA -- New Moon Explosion

CORONADOS YELLOWTAIL

MULTI-DAY YELLOWTAIL

WHITE SEABASS

NEARSHORE -- New Seaforth Half-Day Program

San Diego tops 80 yellowtail on Saturday.
Dawn Underfoot Major fires at 4:47 AM -- First Quarter building away from the New Moon softness that hurt last week's call. The fish are at the Coronados. The window just shifted back to first light.

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.

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