 Giant bluefin, trophy yellowtail and once-in-a-season white seabass — watch the catches below, then come make your own (310) 622-2830
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The catches that make Southern California famous — giant bluefin tuna off San Diego, yellowtail at Catalina, trophy white seabass and barn-door halibut — gathered from the public YouTube channels of the anglers and crews who caught them. Watch a few. Then let’s go make yours.
Curated, not ours. These videos belong to the channels credited under each one — we embed them here because this is the fishing our coast is famous for, and it’s the fishing our partner captains run every week. Every species below is one we plan trips for: check the fishing calendar for when each one bites, and the species guide for how we target them.
When the bluefin show up off San Diego, the whole coast talks about it — hundred-pound fish on the kite, foamers as far as you can see. Add fall yellowfin and El Niño dorado and you have the offshore season at its best.
The Grande out of San Diego chases the big grade of bluefin — screaming drags, bent rods, and fish that do not come easy.
Watch on YouTube · Channel: Cousin Jim
Two giant bluefin on day one, then a striped marlin to close the trip — the offshore grand finale every San Diego angler dreams about.
Watch on YouTube · Channel: Captain James Mullen
Two days aboard the Pacific Voyager, one of San Diego’s best-known long-range boats, in the middle of a wide-open bluefin bite.
Watch on YouTube · Channel: Fishing with Nesto
Yellowfin boiling around the boat in local waters — the kind of fall bite that makes Southern California offshore fishing famous.
Watch on YouTube · Channel: SoCal Fish
An overnight trip out of San Diego that hit the jackpot: yellowfin tuna, yellowtail and dorado all in one run.
Out of Long Beach in El Niño water: a bull dorado starts it, then every rod on the boat is bent on yellowfin and skipjack.
Watch on YouTube · Channel: Fishing With Faline
Catalina and San Clemente are our home water: yellowtail that pull like freight trains, kelp-line calicos, grey-light white seabass and halibut in the shallows. This is the fishing a half-day or full-day trip from the mainland is all about.
Seven Catalina yellowtail on a small private boat — the run across the channel, live sardines, and a deck full of fish.
Watch on YouTube · Channel: We Fish SoCal
Dan Hernandez fishes the Gail Force to Catalina for quality yellowtail — a master class from one of SoCal’s longest-running fishing shows.
Watch on YouTube · Channel: sport-fishing.com
Spring at the Catalina kelp beds: calicos on every cast. This is the island bass fishing our local trips are built around.
A 50-plus-pound white seabass — the grey ghost itself — landed from a paddleboard. The catch of a lifetime, full stop.
Watch on YouTube · Channel: Bum Fishing
Make squid at night, fish it at grey light: white seabass and California halibut off the beach at Catalina, the classic island playbook.
Watch on YouTube · Channel: West Coast Fishing Adventures
Aboard the Thunderbird out of Newport Beach to San Clemente Island — big yellowtail, halibut and white seabass on one trip.
Watch on YouTube · Channel: Splashton’s Fishing Channel
The captains, hosts and media crews who document this fishery week in and week out. We watch them; you should too. Listings are a tip of the hat, not an endorsement — and they don’t endorse us. Just good watching from people who know these waters.
San Diego–based fishing media — the BD Weekly Rundown covers what’s biting up and down the Southern California coast, plus tackle and technique.
Visit the channelSan Diego’s Ali Hussainy — president of BD Outdoors — co-hosts with Florida Keys guide Capt. Rush Maltz: fishing culture and how-to, from SoCal bluefin setups to destinations worldwide.
Visit the channelPhil Friedman’s Southern California institution — live fishing reports, captains’ audio updates and landing fish counts, plus catch videos from the boats.
Visit the channelOne of Los Angeles fishing’s longest-running TV hosts — how-to and catch videos aboard SoCal sportboats, usually ending with how to cook the catch.
Visit the channelShea McIntee and crew film TV and YouTube episodes on sportboats out of Long Beach and San Diego — local trips, offshore runs, and a six-pack bluefin charter of their own.
Visit the channelNo — the videos are embedded from the public YouTube channels credited on each card, and the boats in them are those channels’ own. Spirit Sportfishing™ is a concierge: we match you with vetted partner captains running the same waters and the same species, and we plan the trip around what you want to catch.
It depends on the species and the year — bluefin and yellowfin are warm-water visitors, yellowtail and calico bass are island staples, and white seabass and halibut have their own seasons. Our Southern California fishing calendar and seasons guide break it down month by month, and we’ll always confirm what’s biting before we book your trip.
Your turn at the rail: Plan a Trip — or call (310) 622-2830.
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