Pacific Bonito — *Sarda chiliensis*

Published · Researched 2026-09-20

Pacific Bonito — Sarda chiliensis

Where in SoCal

Nearshore and offshore: the-181/the-182, nine-mile-bank, catalina, san-clemente-island, Coronado Islands, La Jolla/Point Loma kelp edges, huntington-flats, newport-harbor. A classic "bird school" fish — terns diving mark the action.

Best season / months in SoCal

• Peak: June–October
• Good: May, November
• Slow/off: December–April
• 2026 evidence: May 1 trip — "28 bluefin, 11 bonito" (prismnews/albacore piece); Aug 30 (Jason George, "SD Private Boat Fishing Reports") — ~26–30 bonito off San Diego, "limited out," departing Mission Bay 6 AM; Aug 24 — Ryan Rabang catches bonito off a Catalina pier (reel screaming, "second one"); Sep 20 fish counts — Southern Cal (Oceanside) 100 bonito, Malihini (H&M) 130 bonito, Chubasco II (Oceanside) 50 bonito; Sep 16 trip — "several baby yellowfin, a couple of bonito" mixed bag; Sep 9 fleet counts list bonito. 2026 is a strong bonito year.

Best bait / lures

• Trolling feathers and small spoons — the nearshore standard
• Megabait/iron on boiling fish; slow-trolled live sardines
• The Aug 30 trip credited two lures (blue/silver and green/yellow) for double hookups — angler-specific, not consensus

Social consensus (platform + group context)

• Facebook — "SD Private Boat Fishing Reports" (Aug 31, 2026, Jason George): four-image carousel of an Aug 30 Mission Bay bonito trip — group trophy shot of ~26 fish, blood-on-deck action shots, the two productive lures, and a deck piled with ~30 bonito ("limited out").
• Facebook — "Sport Fishing in Southern California" (Aug 24, 2026, Ryan Rabang): Catalina pier bonito video — celebrates catching two, with Tagalog/English banter.
• Fish counts (sandiegofishreports.com, Sep 20, 2026): bonito dominating half-day/¾-day bags (100–130 per trip) — the strongest 2026 signal for any species in the nearshore category.

Social validation tier

Tier A (High) — dedicated 2026 trip report plus dominant fish-count presence across landings.

Size / bag limits (California, 2026)

• VERIFIED (14 CCR §28.32, via law.cornell.edu): daily bag limit 10; minimum 24-inch fork length or 5 pounds, except 5 may be under 24 inches or under 5 pounds. Fillet rule (§27.65): no more than 10 bonito fillets, all counting toward the 5-fish undersized tolerance; 1-inch square skin patch required.

Images (6, all verified JPEG, md5-unique)

All in ../images/species/bonito/. View: catch/angler photos unless noted.

1. 01.jpg — Independence Sportfishing catch photo — fishreports.com
2. 02.jpg — Southern California's Famous Bonito Run — Coastal Angler, Jan 2024 (editorial photo)
3. 03.jpg — Independence Sportfishing catch photo (2) — fishreports.com
4. 04.jpg — Fisherman's Landing fish report — fishreports.com
5. 05.jpg — Fisherman's Landing fish report (2) — fishreports.com
6. 06.jpg — Bonito photo, 2017 — fishreports.com

UNVERIFIED / unknowns

• The Aug 30 "limited out" claim (~30 fish for 3 anglers) is the angler's own count, not verified.
• Off-season availability inferred; no winter 2026 bonito evidence collected.