Voyager Posts Day-One Bluefin Limits, San Diego Fish to 120 Pounds

The Voyager opened its 2-day trip with day-one limits of bluefin to 120 pounds, and that is the clearest early-May signal yet that San Diego’s offshore window is holding bigger fish, not just school-size leftovers. Hale checked in from the 55-foot charter boat out of 1717 Quivira Road, and the message was immediate: the boat was already in good shape before the trip had even fully played out.

That matters because a first-day limit usually means a crew has found a zone that is repeating, not a one-off stop. In this case, the grade told the bigger story. Bluefin to 120 pounds on a 2-day outing changes the conversation from whether fish are around to how crews manage the bite, the load, and the remaining time on the water. The Voyager’s next listed trip was a 1.5-day departure on May 11 at 5:00 PM, a sign the boat was leaning straight back into the same offshore cycle.

The Voyager’s result also lined up with what the rest of the San Diego fleet was seeing on May 9. Fisherman’s Landing said bluefin, yellowfin and dorado were all being caught within 1-day range, with most of the local fish coming on 25- to 30-pound flyline setups, fluorocarbon, and smaller No. 4 to 1/0 hooks. That is the kind of spread that keeps day boats busy, but the same update also said bluefin in the 80- to 130-pound range were starting to show up. That is the part that changes expectations. Crews still have a shot at easier, smaller-grade opportunities, but the bite is no longer limited to them.

Other San Diego boats backed that up. Seaforth said the Polaris Supreme returned from a 3-day trip with limits of bluefin from 40 to 90 pounds, while the El Gato Dos finished a full-day offshore trip with 3 bluefin to 75 pounds and 12 bonito. The Tribute had already checked in on May 7 with 20 bluefin on a 1.5-day trip, and Seaforth’s fish reports said the Voyager had already posted 18 bluefin on May 8 with fish still biting. Earlier that week, the Polaris Supreme had limits on its first two days, and its April 26 return with 104 bluefin tuna showed the run was already producing big numbers as well as big fish.

For San Diego anglers, the read is straightforward: the offshore window is active, the grade is improving, and the boats getting it done are not waiting on school-size expectations anymore.