Tips for catching Yellowtail on a San Diego Sportfishing Trip

Updated Tuesday, May 13, 2008 by Rob Mailly of Sportfish San Diego

Yellowtail is by far my favorite local target game fish catch and eat. This fishing article is a collection of  tips I have put together after catching and observing other San Diego fisherman catching this beautiful and couragous fighter. My apologies in advance on my writing style as I am a much better fisherman than writer. My goal is to help fisherman of all levels and ages coming to San Diego land one the most explosive and legendary poumd-for-pound popular fighting fish in San Diego's local fishery - not to mention one of the best tasting both cooked and Sashimi.

Yellowtail or "Mossbacks as some call the lunkers" are epic fighters and pound for pound the best fighting local San Diego target specie of gamefish, Yellowtail on a line are explosive fighters and never fail to excite anglers and skippers. This is hands down my favorite local fish when eaten fresh (best within the first 3 days of being caught) otherwise it can turn "gamey" imo. They are also excellent when served fresh as Hamachi (Sashimi with a cocktail sauce).

Contrary to popular belief the California Yellowtail is in the Jack family of fish and is NOT a tuna. The East Coast and Gulf of Mexico Amber Jack is a close cousin.

Most years the YT's caught in Baja are more plentiful and they are not as wise. They are bigger, easier to catch and you can use chunk bait (strips of bait). Baja fishing is done in about 80 to 300 feet of water with heavy as 14-ounce sinkers on the bottom and heavy tackle rigged with about 80-pound line. That isn't overkill because big yellows hang around structure and the heavier tackle makes it easier to "turn" the fish and keep it away from or power through structure thus less chance of breaking a fisherman off.

Southern California fish are more seasonal and require more technique and can be elusive and more finiky to get to bite (a popular local phrase is "line shy"). Most yellowtail fishing locally is done by fly lining [live bait fishing with no sinker] using small hooks and light line to get bit because the fish are so touchy. Yellowtail season in Southern California is usually April to September. However, a "second" season develops during the winter when larger fish are found within areas of spawning squid and at the Clam Beds near Coronado Islands.

*Update - North end of La Jolla Kelp Beds this past March 2008 saw an excellent week of YT's, Halibut and White Seabass when the squid spawn turned the bite wide open for those lucky enough to catch the bite as did Alexes Sportfishing with Owner/Captain Gary Abbamonte)

November 2006 brought some of the biggest fish and best YT fishing  since the 1950's some old timers say. The picture below is a fish taken by angler Justin Ryan of San Diego while fishing from the 3/4 day Mission Belle at the Coronado's (Island chain just south of the San Diego/Baja border. His fish weighed in at a whopping 55lbs:

One week later, according to San Diego's popular local newspaper, "The Log" and even bigger - using only 30-lb. test line, Patrick Mitchell landed this 61-lb. mossback yellow at South Island at the Coronados.
(Read the entire story here at "The Log" website.)

Both of these lunkers were taken on Salas 6x jigs on "yo, yo" (technique where you let a usually heavy iron sink to the bottom, reel in as fast as you can about half way then let it drop "yo,yo" to the bottom repeatedly) No matter where you fish for yellowtail, they can be tricky. At times, they can be amazingly easy too: "When they are biting, everything works. When they're not, nothing seems to work.

Figuring out big "mossback" yellowtail often comes down to experience, and no one's more experienced than the veteran skippers who guide both long-range and local anglers to fish, year in and year out,

Fishing the Right Conditions
Current ranks as a major consideration. Yellowtail have a reputation of being fussy eaters, and the most successfull anglers have a good understanding of the species' environment and know what signs to look for they are close or feeding. I have had great success constantly scanning the water for signs of feeding like working birds (birds feeding on the surface) from ait being pushed up to the surface many times by feeding fish, Seals or Sea lions, Dolphin or Porpoise and quite possibly a feeding Yellowtail. Yellowtail and a lot of other fish that live around structure such as islands or seamounts need some sort of water movement to get the bite going.

Current is one of the main factors that coincides with biting fish - most often over the years I have noticed that the most sucessfull days out are when the current is running strong around the changing tides - most fisherman including myself agree that without a good current the bite usually shuts down or the fish that do bite are more fussy. As far as moon phase and bite success, I lean more on the current and changing tide as more important factors for biting 'tails. I've caught yellowtail in all moon phases. Sometimes its easier to catch bait when it's not so bright. To recap year after year and countless trips I have had best success when all these factors are combined - good current, warm water (above 65 degrees is the consensus), good water clarity and as I mentioned working birds suggests there may be yellowtail in the area pushing the bait up and are feeding.

Tackle and Techniques
You can't fish yellowtail with one rod, On a slow bite most fisherman prefer to use small anchovies for bait, go as light as 12- to 15-pound line on a small conventional reel with a light rod as the fish can be fussy or "line-shy". As the bite comes on a little more aggressively, go to 20-pound line on a medium reel, similar in size to a Penn Jigmaster and a medium-action rod ( I like and use a CalStar 870 Fibreglass medium action rod with a lot of "butt" for turning the bigger fish). When using bigger baits like mackerel and sardines, go to 25-, 40- or even 50-pound line, depending on the conditions.

Use a "jig stick" or rod of at least 8 feet to throw surface iron (metal lures). For yoyo-ing (deep jigging heavy lures), the standard is a 4/0-size reel on a 7- to 7 1/2-foot rod with a fast taper and 40- to 50-pound line for abrasion resistance. You need this heavier gear when yoyo-ing to force fish away from bottom structure where they can quickly cut you off.

Live Bait and Lures
I also love fishing surface iron because you can see the fish charging the lure. Lure color doesn't seem to make much difference. Just a dull lead color is good. The jig in your tackle box that's been there for years with all the paint rubbed off could be hot, and it's probably the last one most anglers would pick up.

I like working a surface "light" jig when fish are under diving birds. The Tady 45 and color usually doens't matter much. Action is most important and most local jig fisherman will agree a fast retrieve with and ocassional kick is a popular and effective technique when the surface bite is on.

The deep-jigging or yoyo technique with heavy metal lures outproduces lighter surface jigs on a daily basis, especially farther south along the Baja Coast. Salas 6x Junior, Ironman 3 and 5's and Tady AA or 9, among bottom jigs that works well when the bite is deep as a lot of times off Baja. Trolling swimming plugs, like the Rapala CD 18, is effective during the spring near the Coronado Islands when the yellows are "breezing" and haven't settled around structure. When working offshore kelp paddies, most skippers troll.

Most local half and three-quarter day trips out, I like and have had best results time after time on live bait casted in the area of working birds. The fun of Yellowtail fishing asid from catching them is the hunt  The most high tech and fancy electronics in my opinion can never replace the most important aspect of fishing for yellowtail - visual signs on the water like working birds from fish pusing the bait up or into a bait ball, a good current and just keeping your eyes open for anyhitng on the surface out of the ordinary. This kind of fishing can take a lot of patience and local knowledge which is where I hope I have provided some helpful information to help land that first or nextYellowtail.

Well I sincerely hope you learned something from this article. Feel free to email me anytime for more info, tips, recommended tackle or boats I like. I'm here to give local advice for fisherman planning a San Diego sportfishing trip. Good luck and tight line,

Rob Mailly
latitude32rob@msn.com
www.sportfishsandiego.com