The Coronados Are Back |The Bite Index | July 2, 2026

The recovery we called in Issue #15 arrived -- just not in time for the weekend. San Diego posted 52 yellowtail at the Coronados on Sunday June 28, Mission Belle followed with 48 on Monday, and the Islands have been producing steady numbers through midweek. The Call on Polaris Supreme missed by one day: they didn't run Saturday, they returned Sunday with 91 bluefin -- the highest single-boat BFT count of the 2026 season. Offshore the BFT school hasn't moved, and this week's fish are getting bigger: 160 lbs, 195 lbs, 200 lbs. This weekend is 4th of July, boats will be full, weather is 9/10. The one thing that's different from the last three weekends: the solunar windows shift to late afternoon. Underfoot Major fires 4:37 PM Saturday and 5:20 PM Sunday. Stay late. The best bite window of the day is the last two hours.

Weekend Score: 8/10 🟢

Two things happened this week that deserve equal billing.

The Polaris Supreme went and got 91 bluefin tuna on Sunday June 28. That's the highest single-boat BFT return of the 2026 season, by a wide margin. 91 fish on 24 anglers -- 3.79 fish per angler on a 3-day trip targeting tuna. The school that Polaris Supreme has been finding all month (52 BFT June 20, 54 BFT June 22, 91 BFT June 28) is not scattered. It's a holding school and multiple boats are finding it every run.

Meanwhile, the fish getting caught are getting bigger. Pacific Queen returned June 30 with BFT up to 160 lbs. Pacific Dawn came in July 1 with 17 bluefin up to 195 lbs on 5 anglers. New Lo-An returned July 1 with 10 BFT up to 200 lbs. These are not the same fish as the schoolie BFT that dominated April and May. The school has grown up -- or a different, larger school has arrived.

The Coronados bounced back. The collapse we documented over the last two issues resolved in 10 days, exactly as the historical bounce-back window suggested (3-10 days). San Diego went from 0 yellowtail on June 23 to 52 yellowtail at the Coronados on June 28 -- a full reset in 5 days. Mission Belle followed with 48 YT on 16 anglers (3.0 F/A) on June 29, Full Moon Monday. The CI is not back to the triple-digit days of June 8-10, but the trajectory is right and the timing into 4th of July weekend is good.

And one more: New Seaforth PM posted 8 white seabass on June 28 -- the Sunset moonrise-at-sunset overlap we flagged in Issue #15 produced exactly as described.

Offshore BFT -- EXCEPTIONAL (5/5)
Polaris Supreme 91 BFT June 28 is the number. Add Pacific Voyager 14 BFT, Spirit of Adventure 15 BFT, Pacific Queen 3 BFT on the same Sunday and you're looking at 129 BFT in a single day. Through midweek the big fish kept coming: Pacific Queen 11 BFT up to 160 lbs, Pacific Voyager 12 BFT up to 120 lbs (June 30), Pacific Dawn 17 BFT up to 195 lbs, New Lo-An 10 BFT up to 200 lbs (July 1). The BFT school is holding and the fish are growing.

Coronado Islands -- RECOVERING (3/5)
The bounce-back is real but not yet back to peak form. San Diego: 52 YT June 28, 27 June 29, 18 June 30, 10 July 1 -- the numbers are declining off the initial bounce. Mission Belle 48 June 29 was the high-water mark of the recovery. Grande has been steady at 14-29 YT. The CI is producing; it's just not yet back to the 80-100+ days from earlier in June. The 4th of July weekend with full boats and the afternoon Underfoot Major window is the setup for a bigger number.

La Jolla / Nearshore -- GOOD (4/5)
New Seaforth PM posted 8 WSB on June 28 -- best single-trip WSB count in two weeks. New Seaforth Twilight had 2 more WSB on June 29. Dolphin PM ran 26 barracuda on June 29 alongside 52 calico and 3 halibut -- the nearshore mixed bag is as strong as it's been all season. Calico bass counts across the half-day fleet are exceptional (New Seaforth PM regularly posting 50-87 calico). Voyager came in June 30 with 55 YT on 11 anglers (5.0 F/A) on a 1.5-day -- the nearshore and short-trip YT bite is quietly running when the conditions line up.

Sand Bass -- STILL RUNNING (ongoing)
The sand bass replacement event that defined last week hasn't fully cleared. Sea Watch, Dolphin, Premier, New Seaforth, and Point Loma boats are still posting 20-140 sand bass on trips through the week. The CI YT bounce has pulled some attention back to the islands, but the sand bass are still a significant part of the nearshore picture.

Every weekend since the New Moon (June 14) has had a different timing story. Issue #13: midday windows. Issue #14: dawn windows. Issue #15: midday windows again (Full Moon). This weekend: the Underfoot Major shifts to late afternoon -- 4:37 PM Saturday and 5:20 PM Sunday.

This is the waning gibbous pattern. The moon rises well after midnight, transits overhead in the pre-dawn hours, and reaches its underfoot maximum in the late afternoon. For private boaters on a full-day run to the Coronados, you're building toward the prime window as the day goes on. The worst thing you can do this weekend is leave early.

Plan for it: have live bait in the tank, be set up on the best mark you found during the morning, and be actively fishing from 3 PM through 6 PM. The Underfoot Major window is 3:37-5:37 PM Saturday and 4:20-6:20 PM Sunday. That's also when the sun angle drops and late-afternoon bait schools come up -- the solunar window and the natural feeding window are stacking.

For overnight boats targeting BFT: the Overhead Major is in the pre-dawn hours -- 3:16-5:16 AM Saturday and 3:59-5:59 AM Sunday. Multi-day boats arriving at the tuna grounds in the dark have the best BFT window of the weekend at first light. The school that produced 91 fish on Sunday is still out there.

Holiday weekend note: 4th of July brings extra boat traffic, especially Saturday. Give yourself extra time at the dock and expect the launch ramp to be busier than usual. Sunrise Saturday is approximately 5:53 AM -- plan your departure accordingly if you're running to the islands.

Forecast: Excellent all weekend. Fifteen consecutive clean weekends.

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

Barometric Pressure: Stable at 30.000 inHg. No signal.

SST:

1. The Coronados are coming back and 4th of July boats run full. The CI recovery trajectory -- 0 YT June 23 to 52 YT June 28 to steady production since -- points toward a good holiday weekend. Full boats at the Coronados with the fish turned back on is a straightforward recipe.

2. Late afternoon Underfoot Major on both days. 4:37 PM Saturday. 5:20 PM Sunday. The gravitational pull peaks as the sun drops and bait activity naturally increases. For CI full-day boats, the afternoon window is perfectly timed for the return-trip bite. For private boaters, it's the stay-late signal.

3. BFT school is confirmed holding. 91 BFT Sunday, 23 BFT Monday, 38 BFT Tuesday. Three consecutive days of multi-day boats finding the same school. The Overhead Major fires at 3:16-5:16 AM Saturday -- overnight boats hitting the grounds before first light are in the best window.

4. WSB bite is live. 8 WSB on June 28, 2 more on June 29, scattered fish through midweek. The afternoon-into-evening window (Underfoot Major plus natural sunset feeding) is prime WSB timing for the half-day and twilight trips.

5. 4th of July weekend energy. This is the biggest sport fishing weekend of the summer. Anglers who've been watching reports all month show up this weekend. That means full boats, more data, and typically strong effort across all landings.

Weekend of July 4-5, 2026 -- San Diego

Last Quarter Moon arrives Tuesday July 7 at 12:28 PM PDT. Saturday 80% illumination (waning) / Sunday 71% illumination (waning).

The picks: Saturday 3:37-5:37 PM and Sunday 4:20-6:20 PM.

This is the fourth consecutive weekend with a completely different window timing. New Moon: midday. First Quarter: dawn. Full Moon: midday. Now waning gibbous: afternoon. The pattern is a direct function of the moon's position relative to the sun -- and understanding it is exactly the kind of edge the app will eventually deliver automatically.

The Moonset Minor (9:02-11:02 AM Saturday, 10:01 AM-12:01 PM Sunday) is a secondary mid-morning window worth noting -- particularly for boats that launch early and are on the grounds by 9 AM. Don't overlook the morning entirely, but plan your hardest fishing for the afternoon.

The CI call. The bounce-back is established and the trajectory into 4th of July is positive. The afternoon Underfoot Major (3:37-5:37 PM) hits right when a full-day CI boat is making its last drift before running in. If the San Diego is back at the Coronados (they ran offshore June 27, CI June 28-29), this is the window to be on the grounds hard.

The BFT call. 91 BFT on June 28, school confirmed. Pre-dawn Overhead Major at 3:16-5:16 AM Saturday is the window the multi-day fleet has been fishing. A 3-day departing Thursday puts them on the grounds overnight for exactly that window. If you want the shot at 50+ bluefin, this remains the boat to be on.

The afternoon/evening window pick. The Twilight format runs right into the Underfoot Major window -- you're on the water fishing from roughly 4 PM through 7 PM, which overlaps perfectly with the 4:37 PM Saturday peak. New Seaforth PM got 8 WSB on June 28 in the sunset overlap window and 2 more on June 29. The calico bass bite is outstanding. WSB, calico, and bonito are all in play.

BLUEFIN TUNA

MULTI-DAY YELLOWTAIL

CORONADOS YELLOWTAIL -- THE BOUNCE-BACK

WHITE SEABASS

NEARSHORE MIXED BAG

San Diego tops 50 yellowtail on Saturday.
The Coronados bounce-back is confirmed. Afternoon Underfoot Major fires 3:37-5:37 PM -- full-day CI boats are still on the grounds at the prime window. 4th of July boats run full. We know what the fish do when conditions are right; this is the setup.

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.

thebiteindex.com