Bight & BiteSoCal sportfishing desk

Nine Mile Bank

Published · Researched 2026-09-20

  • Type: Offshore bank/ridge (~9 miles off San Diego)
  • County: San Diego County (offshore waters)
  • Nearest city: San Diego (Point Loma landings)
  • Target species: yellowtail, bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, dorado, calico/kelp bass, rockfish/lingcod (deep structure)
  • Best season / months: Summer–fall for the pelagic game (yellowtail, dorado, tuna around paddies, birds and sonar marks); winter–spring for deep rockfish on the high spots
  • Access / parking: Boat-only — private boats from Mission Bay/San Diego Bay ramps or sportboats from Point Loma landings (Seaforth, H&M, Fisherman's Landing). One source describes the bank as stretching ~10 miles and rising to ~330 feet; community rockfish advice points to the southern high spots around 300–350 feet.
  • Bait / lure tips: Summer: paddy-hopping — live sardines/mackerel, surface iron (Tady 45, Salas 6X), yo-yo iron 150–200 g, trolling X-Raps around kelp paddies; watch birds and sonar. Winter/spring: deep rockfish rigs (shrimp flies, heavy jigs) on the 300–350 ft high spots. The Log's early-December report lists the bank among areas holding bluefin, yellowtail and swordfish in late season.

Social consensus (platform + group context)

  • Facebook: zero on-topic hits. Recorded as a gap.
  • The Log — "Fish Report: Early December Offshore Fishing" (thelog.com): names Nine Mile Bank among areas still offering bluefin tuna, yellowtail and swordfish in early December.
  • The Log — San Diego fish report (summer): the 181/182 and Nine Mile Bank area context for kelp-paddy dorado/yellowtail with occasional tuna.
  • Bloodydecks — "Rock fishing the nine mile" thread: community discussion of deep-structure rockfish tactics on the bank's high spots.
  • blog.sandiegotunafishing.com (Aug 2022): yellowtail and dorado at the inner banks — area pattern context.
  • Threads: searched; results were Inter Miami/MLS and Target-puzzle posts (numeric term collision) — no fishing evidence. Recorded honestly.
  • Instagram: no on-topic results. Recorded as a gap.

Validation tier

Tier B — community-corroborated. No Facebook evidence; The Log's professional reports plus Bloodydecks community discussion give genuine area consensus. Offshore conditions are transient — species presence is seasonal pattern, not guaranteed.

UNVERIFIED points

  • UNVERIFIED: Exact bank boundaries and the Mexico maritime-border proximity: jurisdiction details were not verified — confirm on charts before fishing the southern end.
  • UNVERIFIED: Depth figures (~330 ft high spots, 300–350 ft rockfish zone) come from community sources, not survey data.
  • UNVERIFIED: No 2026 bite reports specific to the bank were found.

Images

All six images verified as real JPEG photographs (checked with file), minimum 480 px, and globally unique by MD5 across the project. Descriptions below are from manual visual review. Original publication dates are not available from the manifests — listed as unknown with the retrieval date.

Angler holding a calico bass on a boat (nearby-substitute: San Diego offshore angling)
Angler holding a calico bass on a boat (nearby-substitute: San Diego offshore angling)
Angler holding a calico bass on a boat (nearby-substitute: San Diego offshore angling)
Angler holding a calico bass on a boat (nearby-substitute: San Diego offshore angling)
Three anglers holding dorado and tuna on a boat (nearby-substitute: San Diego offshore angling)
Three anglers holding dorado and tuna on a boat (nearby-substitute: San Diego offshore angling)
Angler holding a yellowfin tuna at dusk (nearby-substitute: San Diego offshore angling)
Angler holding a yellowfin tuna at dusk (nearby-substitute: San Diego offshore angling)
Angler holding a yellowfin tuna (nearby-substitute: San Diego offshore angling)
Angler holding a yellowfin tuna (nearby-substitute: San Diego offshore angling)
Anglers holding a yellowfin tuna on a sportboat (nearby-substitute: San Diego offshore angling)
Anglers holding a yellowfin tuna on a sportboat (nearby-substitute: San Diego offshore angling)

Sources