Yellowfin Tuna — *Thunnus albacares*

Published · Researched 2026-09-20

Yellowfin Tuna — Thunnus albacares

Where in SoCal

Offshore: the-181, the-182, nine-mile-bank, san-clemente-island, catalina (kelp-paddy zone), Coronado Islands (Mexico); San Diego landings (Point Loma, Seaforth, H&M) and Dana Point / Newport / Long Beach landings run summer tuna trips.

Best season / months in SoCal

• Peak: July–September (warm-water season)
• Good: June, October
• Slow/off: November–May (generally absent from local fish counts)
• 2026 social evidence: Aug 2 cedar-plug yellowfin post; Sep 16 trip with yellowfin in the cooler; Sep 9 fish counts list yellowfin across landings

Best bait / lures

• Live sardine flylined (daylight standard); mackerel for bigger fish
• Cedar plugs / daisy-chain trolling rigs — multiple group members praise old-school cedar plugs for yellowfin
• Trolling feathers and small lures around kelp paddies
• Paddy-hopping: yellowfin under kelp paddies mixed with yellowtail and dorado

Social consensus (platform + group context)

• Facebook — "San Diego Fishing" (Sep 16, 2026 trip report, Shelter Island launch): crew trolled IB pipe → islands → Pukey Point route; cooler held several baby yellowfin plus a larger one alongside yellowtail and bonito — classic mixed warm-water bag.
• Facebook — "San Diego Fishing" (Aug 2, 2026): angler celebrates a yellowfin caught on a cedar plug ("piece of wood with a hook in it"); comment thread full of cedar-plug praise, daisy-chain rigging tips, and Coronados success stories — strong community consensus that cedar plugs are a go-to yellowfin trolling bait.
• Facebook — "San Diego Fishing" (Jul 1, 2026): 3-day trip aboard Searcher, Jun 26–28 — Saturday spent paddy-hopping south of Ensenada for yellowtail, first dorado of the season; Sunday continued paddies, surprise 8-lb bluefin. Illustrates the summer mixed-bag pattern yellowfin swim in.
• Facebook — "Sport Fishing in Southern California" (Sep 9, 2026 fish-count graphic): yellowfin listed among landings' catches Dana Point → San Diego.

Social validation tier

Tier B (Moderate) — solid trip reports and a lively cedar-plug technique thread, but fewer dedicated yellowfin posts than bluefin; often caught as part of mixed offshore bags.

Size / bag limits (California, 2026)

• VERIFIED (14 CCR §28.38, CDFW Marine Region blog Sep 17 2026): 10 yellowfin per day, counted within the 20-fish general daily bag limit. No minimum size.

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

All in ../images/species/yellowfin-tuna/. View: catch/angler photos unless noted.

1. 01.jpg — Red Rooster 3 sportfishing catch photo, May 2026 (angler hold-up)
2. 02.jpg — Yellowfin tuna catch — inthespread.com "How to Catch Yellowfin Tuna" (angler photo)
3. 03.jpg — Yellowfin tuna catch — inthespread.com videos page (angler photo)
4. 04.jpg — Charter catch photo — fishingbooker.com listing (angler photo)
5. 05.jpg — Excel long-range sportfishing photo — fishdatabase.com (deck photo)
6. 06.jpg — Yellowfin tuna catch on boat — wallpapers.com (boat/deck photo; source is a wallpaper aggregator, lowest-provenance of the six)

UNVERIFIED / unknowns

• No direct social confirmation of peak yellowfin timing beyond summer fish counts; seasonality partly inferred from the warm-water pattern (CDFW marine heatwave note, Sep 2026, documents warm-water visitors off California in 2026).
• Image #6 is from a wallpaper aggregator rather than a fishing report — accepted only as a clearly labeled substitute.