Blackfin tuna lands on drift off Riviera Beach in clear water

Crystal-clear water and a blackfin tuna on the first drift gave Palm Beach anglers a simple read on the bite off Riviera Beach: stay in clean water, keep the boat moving, and fish the edge where bait is sliding. Ashwin put the day’s first fish in the boat on May 16 at Riviera Beach Municipal Marina, and the fish was a blackfin tuna.

The update came from charter captain Rich Adler and was framed as a Palm Beach sportfishing trip focused on tuna, wahoo and more. The report said visibility was over 12 feet, the water was crystal clear, and there were no other anglers on the water, a sign this was a charter-style drift rather than a crowded fleet scene. That matters because blackfin often show best when anglers can work a clean current line without a lot of boat traffic or churn.

For anglers looking at a short-notice run out of West Palm Beach or Riviera Beach, the takeaway is straightforward. The blackfin landed on the drift fits the spring pattern off South Florida, where clean blue water, current edges and moving bait usually set the table. Sport Fishing magazine says blackfin bite best from May into July from Miami to Palm Beach, often in 100- to 200-foot depths near wrecks or reefs, with anglers drifting or anchoring in clear water and often using live pilchards and chum. This report lines up with that playbook.

There is also a regulatory piece to keep straight before heading offshore. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission guidance says blackfin tuna do not require the federal HMS Angling Permit, unlike federally managed tuna such as bluefin, bigeye, albacore, yellowfin and skipjack. FWC also says the default recreational limit for unregulated species is two fish or 100 pounds per day, whichever is more, and landed HMS fish generally must be reported to NOAA Fisheries within 24 hours.

The Riviera Beach fish also fits the wider Palm Beach spring picture. The West Palm Beach Fishing Club’s 2026 Palm Beach Tuna Tournament ran April 25 through May 9, with weekly cash prizes for the three heaviest blackfins and a guaranteed $10,000 prize for registered boats catching a qualifying tuna, with total prize money reaching $20,000. A 2025 Coastal Star report said blackfin are plentiful off Palm Beach County in May, with some of the best tuna water from Boca Raton Inlet to Boynton Beach Inlet.

For now, the clearest signal is the simplest one: a blackfin on the first drift in over 12 feet of visibility means the clean edge is worth following, and Palm Beach tuna season still has room to run.