Fish the Dark |The Bite Index | July 10, 2026

Publishing Friday this week -- your editor was out fishing Thursday. The data waited.

New Moon arrives Tuesday July 14 at 2:43 AM. This weekend is the dark-moon build -- 10% illumination Saturday, 4% Sunday -- and the fleet is already showing you what that means. Two boats broke 100 bluefin on the same day Monday: Pacific Queen with 142 (new 2026 season high) and Polaris Supreme with 103. The Seaforth Landing reports "several fish over 200 lbs in the last few days, with steady nighttime action on the 80-170 lb grade" -- and nighttime is exactly what a dark moon delivers more of. The Coronados wobbled through the holiday week, then flipped back on Wednesday: San Diego 55 yellowtail, Grande 47. Nearshore is flat-out absurd -- 9,696 calico bass fleet-wide this week. Weather is 9/10 for the sixteenth consecutive clean weekend. The windows this weekend: mid-morning majors and a nighttime underfoot that lands right on the after-dark bluefin bite.

Weekend Score: 8/10 🟢

That's 0-for-5 on The Call. The streak ends when the process improves, not when we get lucky -- this week's call is built differently. See below.

Monday July 6 was the best single day of the 2026 bluefin season. Pacific Queen returned with 142 bluefin on 24 anglers (5.92 F/A on a 3-day) -- the new season-high single-boat return, blowing past the 91 that Polaris Supreme set just eight days earlier. The Polaris Supreme itself docked the same morning with 103 BFT on 24 anglers off a 4-day. Two boats, one day, 245 bluefin. Add Legend's 43 on Tuesday and New Lo-An's 30 on Wednesday and the school is not just holding -- it's the most productive it's been all season.

The grade is holding too. Seaforth Landing reported multiple fish over 200 lbs in the first week of July, with the steady night bite on the 80-170 lb class. Polaris Supreme took 23 fish to 180 lbs in a single night on July 2. This is trophy-class fishing with volume -- the two things that almost never arrive together.

And the kicker: the Polaris Supreme is on the water right now. As of Friday morning, Seaforth reports them going into day two of the current trip with 73 bluefin already on board, 50 of them on the big grade. Keep that number in mind when you get to The Call.

The Coronados took the scenic route back. After the July 4 weekend fade that killed our call (single digits for the San Diego through the weekend), the islands rebuilt through the week -- Grande 32 on Sunday, then both boats surged Wednesday: San Diego 55 YT + 100 barracuda, Grande 47 YT. Thursday brought a pullback (10 yellows, and the captain called the conditions adverse), so the CI is volatile -- but the fish are there, and the New Moon build historically favors the islands.

One more season marker: the first striped marlin of the year showed up -- tailers spotted off Catalina's east end midweek. Summer's next act is loading.

Offshore BFT -- EXCEPTIONAL (5/5)
560 bluefin fleet-wide this week, more than double last week's ~242. Pacific Queen 142 and Polaris Supreme 103 on the same Monday is the headline, but the depth is what matters: Legend 43, Pegasus 32, Pacific Voyager 31, New Lo-An 30, Fortune 25, Pacific Dawn 25 (on just 7 anglers -- 3.57 F/A). One caution flag: the outer waters got rough midweek -- Pacific Voyager's Penn trip came back short after weather kept them off the best zone. The forecast has cleaned up since.

Coronado Islands -- VOLATILE, TRENDING UP (3/5)
The full arc this week: 2-5 YT/day through July 4 weekend, Grande 32 on July 5, midweek grind, then the Wednesday surge -- San Diego 55, Grande 47. Thursday pulled back to 10 on adverse conditions. The barracuda at the islands are wide open (San Diego had 100 on Wednesday, plus 200-fish days from the half-day fleet). The New Moon window building into next week is historically the CI's best lunar setup.

La Jolla / Nearshore -- ON FIRE (5/5)
9,696 calico bass this week. That is not a typo -- the half-day and 3/4-day fleet is posting 150-270 calico per trip (New Seaforth Twilight 271 on July 4 and 255 on July 5, Dolphin PM 252, Premier AM 218). Barracuda went wide open late week: 2,000 fleet-wide, with 200-fish trips on the New Seaforth PM two days running. Bonito surged Monday onward -- Dolphin 140 and 125 in a day, New Seaforth AM 165, Premier PM 150. WSB stayed alive: Dolphin AM had 6 on Tuesday, scattered singles every day.

Kelp Paddies / Offshore Surface -- BUILDING
Paddy yellowtail and early dorado marks are showing on the offshore intel between the Coronados corridor and Catalina. Multi-day YT stayed strong: Pacific Queen 82 on a 2-day (July 3), Voyager 24 on 7 anglers (3.43 F/A).

This is the fifth consecutive weekend with a different window structure -- and this one belongs to the night crew.

The BFT zone: the school that produced the 142 and the 103 is holding in the San Clemente Basin corridor, roughly 32°10'-32°29'N / 118°37'-118°58'W, in 65.5-67°F water. That's a 60-70 nm run 250°-260° from Point Loma. Night marks have been consistent in the same corridor. The fish have been biting best after dark on the flat-fall/knife-jig program, and the moon is about to hand the night bite its best week of the month: 10% illumination Saturday, 4% Sunday, dead dark by Tuesday.

The windows: the Overhead Major runs mid-morning this weekend -- 9:06-11:06 AM Saturday (peak 10:06), 10:13 AM-12:13 PM Sunday (peak 11:13). For a day run to the Coronados, that's a normal-departure morning where the prime window hits after you've settled on your spot -- no 4 AM heroics required. The Underfoot Major lands at night: 9:39-11:39 PM Saturday, 10:46 PM-12:46 AM Sunday -- if you're doing an overnight BFT run, that's your dark-water major stacked on the nighttime grade bite.

The twilight overlap returns Sunday: moonset at 6:52 PM runs into the 7:58 PM sunset -- the Minor window (5:52-7:52 PM) overlaps the natural sunset feed. The last time this stack showed up, New Seaforth PM posted 8 white seabass. WSB and big barracuda on the twilight trips are the play.

Paddy watch: yellowtail-loaded paddies and a few dorado marks are being reported along the Catalina east-end line (roughly 33°17'-33°19'N / 118°00'-118°10'W), with marlin tailers in the same water. If you're running north or coming back from the islands, put a lookout on anything floating.

Forecast: Excellent through Monday. Sixteen consecutive clean weekends.

Source: NOAA PZZ750, San Mateo Pt to Mexican Border, out 30nm. Note: the midweek roughness that hurt the outer-water trips has settled -- Buoy 46086 is reading 4 ft at 15 seconds.

Barometric Pressure: 29.94 inHg, stable-to-rising. No signal.

SST:

1. The New Moon build is the best lunar stretch of the month for bluefin. Dark nights concentrate the after-dark bite, and the grade fish (80-200+ lbs) have been eating at night for two weeks. Saturday 10% / Sunday 4% illumination, dead dark Tuesday.

2. The school is proven at volume. 142 and 103 on the same day. 560 for the week. The boat currently on the grounds has 73 through one day. This is not a "find the fish" weekend; it's a "be there" weekend.

3. Mid-morning majors suit the day fleet. 9:06-11:06 AM Saturday and 10:13 AM-12:13 PM Sunday hit when full-day CI boats are anchored and fishing -- not running.

4. The nearshore floor is exceptionally high. Even if the yellowtail play stalls, 200-calico / 200-barracuda / 150-bonito days mean a half-day ticket is the best value it's been all season. Sunday's twilight moonset-sunset overlap is the WSB bonus window.

5. Sixteen straight clean weekends. Variable under 10 knots, long-period swell. The ocean keeps saying yes.

Weekend of July 11-12, 2026 -- San Diego

New Moon arrives Tuesday July 14 at 2:43 AM PDT. Saturday 10% illumination (waning crescent) / Sunday 4% illumination (waning crescent).

The picks: Saturday 9:06-11:06 AM at the islands, and the night Underfoot Majors offshore.

Five weekends, five different structures: midday, dawn, midday, afternoon, and now a mid-morning/night split. The waning crescent puts the overhead transit in mid-morning daylight and the underfoot in the heart of the night -- which is why the dark-moon week is the night fisherman's week. This is the lunar mechanics lesson the app will eventually surface automatically.

Not a booking pick this weekend -- a watch pick. They're into day two with 73 bluefin, 50 on the big grade. For your next open date: this boat has now posted 91, 103, and a 73-and-counting in three consecutive trips. The 2027 schedule just opened and Seaforth says it's filling.

The islands are volatile but loaded -- 55 YT Wednesday with 100 barracuda alongside. The mid-morning Overhead Major (9:06-11:06 AM Saturday) fires while a full-day boat is on the anchor. Yo-yo jigs have been out-fishing bait on the recent good days; bring a 40-lb yo-yo setup alongside the 25-lb bait rod.

Sunday is the pick within the pick: the moonset Minor (5:52-7:52 PM) overlaps the sunset feed. Last time this stack appeared it produced the best WSB trip in a month. Giant-grade barracuda and 100+ bonito days are already on this trip's recent scorecard.

BLUEFIN TUNA

MULTI-DAY / OVERNIGHT YELLOWTAIL

CORONADOS YELLOWTAIL -- THE MIDWEEK FLIP

WHITE SEABASS

NEARSHORE -- THE CALICO AVALANCHE

Polaris Supreme returns with 100+ bluefin this trip.
They're at 73 through day one, on a proven school, with the dark-moon night bite building toward Tuesday's New Moon. Boat confirmed on the water -- no scheduling risk this time.

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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