The bluefin took a breath. The cuda showed up. The rockfish kept grinding.
Here's what's actually happening on the SoCal fleet in early June 2026 — and what to expect as the month progresses.
This is the first installment of what I'm going to do every month: a forecast pulled from real data across the 21 landings FYNC tracks, not gut feel or seasonal generalizations. The fishing has its own opinion on what's happening. We're going to listen to it.
What's Biting Right Now
Over the last two weeks (May 19 – June 1), the SoCal fleet has logged catches across 21 landings and roughly 175 vessels. The picture is clear: inshore is firing, the bluefin volume has dropped but the fish that remain are bigger, and a few species have made dramatic moves.
Top species by volume across the fleet:
| Rank | Species | Total Fish | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rockfish | 88,320 | +25% |
| 2 | Whitefish | 26,872 | +29% |
| 3 | Sculpin | 19,216 | +169% |
| 4 | Calico Bass | 8,802 | +72% |
| 5 | Bonito | 5,567 | +154% |
| 6 | Rockcod | 3,658 | +162% |
| 7 | Bluefin Tuna | 3,449 | −42% |
| 8 | Sheephead | 3,025 | +80% |
Rockfish dominates the volume column as always — it's the backbone of SoCal sportfishing. But the story isn't in the volume leaders. The story is in the percentage moves: sculpin up 169%, bonito up 154%, calico bass up 72%. Inshore is waking up hard. The water's warmed, the bait is in close, and the schooling fish are responding.
See live fish counts updated nightly from every landing FYNC tracks at findyournextcatch.com/intel.
The Bluefin Story
The headline number — bluefin down 42% — sounds bad. It isn't.
What the data actually shows is that the total bluefin count dropped, but the size of the fish caught went up. San Diego landings are now logging dedicated weight-class entries for bluefin in the 150-pound, 180-pound, and 200-pound brackets. Roughly 780 fish across those weight categories were landed in the last two weeks. That's the cow-class bluefin you read about in fishing reports — the fish that turn a 1.5-day trip into a story you tell for years.
So the read is: fewer bluefin, but bigger ones. The volume has shifted from the schooling-grade fish that fill the deck on a 1.5-day to genuine trophy-class fish that get weighed at the landing.
If you're chasing a personal-best bluefin, this is your window. The fish are around. They're just spread out and harder to find — which is exactly when the right boat with the right captain pays off.
Hot Boats This Week
The boats that produced the biggest hauls across the last two weeks:
- Ranger 85 (Channel Islands Sportfishing) — 1,541 fish across 3 trips, mostly rockfish and whitefish with a strong supporting cast of sheephead and lingcod
- Horizon (H&M Landing) — 783 fish on a single 3-day trip: 504 rockfish, 126 reds, 120 whitefish, plus 33 bluefin tuna. The H&M long-range fleet finding bottom structure that's producing.
- Pride (22nd Street Landing) — 766 fish across 2 trips, leading with whitefish (349), rockfish, and red snapper
- Indicator (Channel Islands Sportfishing) — consistent multi-trip rockfish grinder, with 758 rockfish and 502 whitefish through the period
- New Hustler (Hook's Landing) — over 1,100 rockfish and 600+ whitefish across multiple trips out of Ventura
The Channel Islands and Ventura fleet dominated the volume column this period — the rockfish and whitefish bite at the islands has been the most consistent producer on the coast. Pride is the standout on the LA side, putting up serious counts on shorter trips out of 22nd Street.
See the full Hot Boats list ranked across the fleet at findyournextcatch.com/intel — updated nightly.
Regional Outlook
The SoCal coast fishes differently from one end to the other. Here's what each region is doing in early June.
San Diego
The pelagic engine room. Top species over the last two weeks:
- Rockfish — 5,231
- Bluefin Tuna — 2,302
- Bonito — 1,838
- Calico Bass — 1,038
- Whitefish — 858
San Diego is your headquarters for bluefin. The boats out of Seaforth, H&M, Fisherman's, and Point Loma are reaching the offshore grounds where the cow-class fish live. If you want a real shot at a 100-pound-plus bluefin, this is where you book.
The bonito numbers (1,838) are also worth noting — surface iron action close to home, accessible on full days and overnights when conditions cooperate.
Compare available San Diego trips at findyournextcatch.com/trips — filter by landing or trip length.
LA Harbor (22nd Street, Pierpoint, Long Beach)
The LA region has been the sculpin epicenter this period. Of the 19,216 sculpin caught across SoCal, 3,572 came from LA Harbor — almost 20% of the sculpin volume from one region. Top species:
- Rockfish — 3,901
- Sculpin — 3,572
- Whitefish — 2,129
- Calico Bass — 1,182
- Bonito — 679
If you're after a half-day or 3/4-day inshore trip producing limit bags, LA is where to look. The Pride out of 22nd Street has been on this bite hard.
Browse Long Beach and LA Harbor trips at findyournextcatch.com/trips.
Orange County (Davey's Locker, Newport, Dana Wharf)
OC mirrors the LA pattern — strong inshore mixed bag, sculpin and calico picking up significantly. Top species:
- Rockfish — 3,175
- Sculpin — 2,512
- Whitefish — 1,637
- Calico Bass — 1,289
- Bonito — 336
OC is the sweet spot for accessibility — drives are short, parking is easy, and the half-day and 3/4-day boats are putting up solid mixed-bag counts. Good water for first-timers and weekend warriors.
Find Orange County trips at findyournextcatch.com/trips.
Channel Islands (CI Sportfishing, Hook's, Ventura Harbor, Stardust)
The rockfish kingdom. The Channel Islands fleet accounted for 24% of all SoCal rockfish volume in this period:
- Rockfish — 20,846
- Whitefish — 9,078
- Sheephead — 603
- Lingcod — 375
- Calico Bass — 316
Notably absent from the top five at the Channel Islands: bluefin and yellowtail. Those bites are concentrated in San Diego right now. The Channel Islands are pure bottom-fishing variety — and they're doing it at scale.
If you want consistent limits on rockfish, lingcod, sheephead, and whitefish, this is the fishery. Ranger 85, Indicator, and New Hustler have all been grinding good trips.
See all Channel Islands trips and Hot Boats at findyournextcatch.com/trips — filter by landing or trip length.
Central Coast (Morro Bay, Virg's, Patriot Sportfishing)
The Central Coast is pure rockfish variety right now — no pelagics in the picture. Top species:
- Rockfish — 3,351
- Rockcod — 1,886
- Red Rockfish — 562
- Bocaccio — 534
- Sculpin — 490
If you want big rockfish from deeper structure — the kind of fish that take a real bend out of a 30-pound outfit — the Central Coast is producing. Morro Bay Landing has been the volume leader.
Browse Central Coast trips at findyournextcatch.com/trips.
What's Heating Up, What's Cooling Off
The honest read on this period:
Heating up:
- Barracuda — up 345%. This is the wildest stat in the dataset. Two weeks ago there were 308 barracuda landed. The last two weeks logged 1,372 across 34 distinct vessels. Cuda season has arrived hard.
- Sculpin — up 169%. Heavily concentrated in LA Harbor and OC. Schooling fish moving inshore as water warms.
- Bonito — up 154%. Surface iron action getting easier to find.
- Rockcod — up 162%. Deep-water trips on the Central Coast producing.
Cooling off:
- Yellowtail — down 48%. A noticeable pullback after a strong prior window. The fish may have moved offshore or deeper. Worth watching — yellowtail bite is what it is, but historically June-July is peak SoCal yellowtail. We'll see if it bounces.
- Bluefin Tuna — down 42% in raw count. But as covered above, the size of the fish that ARE being caught has gone up. Don't read this as a bad sign.
If you're chasing yellowtail, the data says be patient. The bigger story is the inshore explosion and the cow bluefin behind it.
Set up trip alerts at findyournextcatch.com and we'll email you when boats start putting up numbers on the species you're chasing — yellowtail included.
The June Outlook
Looking ahead at the month:
Bluefin season matures. The schooling-grade fish that produced big counts in mid-May should be replaced (or supplemented) by larger-class fish as June progresses. Expect more 100+ pound entries, with the peak of cow bluefin season typically hitting late June through July. The 1.5-day and 2-day boats out of San Diego are the play.
Yellowtail comes back. Historically yellowtail bite peaks in June and July in SoCal. The current dip doesn't change that — the fish are likely in transit or holding at depth between the islands. By mid-to-late June expect the kelp lines at Catalina, the Coronados, and the front side of Santa Cruz to start producing.
Inshore stays hot. Calico, sculpin, sheephead, and bonito should all stay strong through June. Half-day and 3/4-day boats up and down the coast will keep filling sacks. This is the most accessible fishing of the year.
White seabass tails off. Peak WSB action runs March through early June. Late June typically sees the bite move offshore or wind down for the summer. If you've been waiting to chase WSB, the next two weeks are it.
Channel Islands rockfish continues. No reason to expect any change here — the fleet is grinding consistent limits and that should hold through summer.
There are 1,525 trips currently scheduled across SoCal in June. Half-day and 3/4-day trips account for 55% of bookings. Multi-day (overnight and 1.5+ day) trips are 22% — well represented for this time of year, almost certainly driven by bluefin demand pulling boats further offshore.
Where to Start in June
A few specific recommendations based on the data and the outlook:
For your first or second trip: A 3/4-day or full-day inshore trip out of Long Beach, OC, or Channel Islands. Mixed bag of rockfish, whitefish, calico, sculpin. Easy entry to the action, high catch rate, sets up future trips.
Find a half-day or 3/4-day trip at findyournextcatch.com/trips.
For the weekend warrior: A full-day out of San Diego or LA targeting bonito and yellowtail when they return, with backup rockfish and calicos. June is the month where surface iron starts producing reliably and the half-day formula starts feeling thin.
Compare full-day and overnight trips at findyournextcatch.com/trips.
For the offshore-curious: A 1.5-day or 2-day out of San Diego targeting bluefin. The cow-class fish are there. The trip is a significant time and dollar commitment, but if you want a personal-best bluefin, the next 6-8 weeks are the window.
Browse 1.5-day and longer trips at findyournextcatch.com/trips.
For the rockfish hunter: A full-day out of the Channel Islands or a Central Coast overnight. Big variety, big fish, no pelagic chase.
The Bottom Line
June 2026 is shaping up as a transitional month. Late spring inshore action is at full burn while the offshore bluefin scene matures into trophy-class territory. The yellowtail bite is paused but historically reliable. The Channel Islands and Central Coast are producing rockfish at scale.
Get out there. The fish don't care about your schedule.
I'll be doing this forecast every month. Check back early July for the July outlook.
Want the data working for you between now and then? Create a free account at findyournextcatch.com to set trip alerts on your favorite species and landings, log your own catches in the journal, and get the weekly digest in your inbox. No credit card. Just the data.
Tight lines this month.
Keith Leonard is the founder of Find Your Next Catch and an avid SoCal angler. FYNC tracks fish counts, hot boats, and trip availability across all 21 SoCal sportfishing landings. Data in this post pulled from FYNC's database covering May 19 – June 1, 2026.