San Diego long-range fleet keeps searching for elusive bluefin tuna

The bluefin are there, but they are not staying put. Tim Ekstrom’s boat got teased when spots came up crashing around the vessel, then the fish vanished almost as quickly as they showed, which is about as clear a sign as San Diego anglers need that this is a hunt, not a bite.

Searcher Sportfishing’s June 5 to June 8 run told the same story from a different deck. The crew came back Monday morning feeling like the signs were trending in the right direction, but the June 7 note was blunt about the bigger picture: bluefin had eluded the fleet’s best efforts. Searcher said the past week had been rough because of choppy weather, the boat had been off the bluefin for a few days, and finding them had been difficult. After a big overnight move, the payoff was a solid day of yellowtail, the kind of replacement action that keeps a trip from going home empty.

That is what “showing in the hunt” looks like right now. The fish are popping just long enough to make boats think they have found the window, then they slide out before anyone can settle in and work them properly. Positioning matters, but so does timing, because a boat can be on the right piece of water and still miss the only stretch when the bluefin are up, aggressive, and reachable. When the spots crash and disappear that fast, every angler on deck has to be ready before the first chummed fish or tangle of foam even appears.

The broader Fisherman’s Landing picture backs that up. On June 11, the Constitution came back with 40 yellowtail, 1 yellowfin tuna, and 5 bonita for 21 anglers on a 2-day trip, while the Pacific Queen returned with 112 yellowtail up to 40 pounds for 22 anglers on a 3-day run. That same boat had shown what the upside still looks like on May 26, when it reported up to 18 bluefin for 15 anglers, including 12 fish in the 120- to 180-pound class.

Even with the fleet calling it a slow stretch, there is still enough promise to keep boats moving. Fisherman’s Landing at 2838 Garrison Street in San Diego kept offshore trips on the board with Fortune, Islander, Pacific Dawn, and Poseidon listed for 1.5- to 2-day freelance tuna, yellowtail, and dorado trips on June 9 and June 10. The yellowtail have offered the clearest daylight, the anchovies are still there in good numbers, and the bluefin remain exactly what the fleet keeps chasing: real, present, and just slippery enough to turn every opening into a race against the clock.