Attention WON Fishing Reports Online readers:
You are only seeing a portion of our reports. Subscribers to our digital and print newspaper enjoy the full spectrum of fishing reports. Print and online subscribers receive the new issue via email on the Tuesday morning of issue weeks, before we post these reports online.

Subscribe to the online edition today using code “5OFFWON” to save $5 on the annual digital subscription, only $14.99 for the year!

Click here to see all the reports and sign up at a discounted rate

UPDATED: July 2, 2026

ORANGE COUNTY — Offshore of “The O.C.” good grade yellowtail were being encountered on kelp paddies. Local bass fishing remained hot with most fish being released. Newport Bay partyboats fishing local had the better rockfish and sculpin snap going out west. Both Newport Landing and Dana Wharf Sportfishing overnight boats again fished San Clemente where there continues to be good shots for yellowtail and the best big-bass calico bite in the Bight. Here’s Capt. Brian Woolley’s update. Local bass scene has been good for the ½-day anglers. Fly-lined baits both sardine and anchovy have been catching some nice bass. Calico bass have been all over the artificial stuff hard baits and rubber lures. Seeing some yellowtail 15- to 25-pound fish in this local zone too. Fly-lined sardines and a surface iron caught some of that fish this week. The ¾-day has been taking a little look off the the beach fishing yellowtail on kelps – same grade of yellows on the kelps. There was some bonito in the mix too a day or two off the beach as well – smaller 2- to 4-pound fish. After the morning kelp and offshore look it’s been a bass game either in the kelp or over the hard bottom. Same deal with the fly-lined baits and artificials. Catalina this week had a nice go on the yellowtail as well. Anywhere from quarry zone to east end and then up that east back side towards Salta Verde has had some schools you can catch on. Also on the anchor fishing bass there’s been some moments the fish find your chum and you hang a few and catch and lose a few to the reef. At San Clemente island for the Fury more of that solid calico bass fishing continues. Fly-lined baits fished well as did the rubber and hardbaits. Some yellows in their counts too primarily on the AM anchor-job-gray-morning deal and then maybe a fish or two during the day on the spots.

OCEANSIDE — The Oceanside SEA Center had local ½- and ¾-day trips out recently. The focus was on rockfish over the weekend, but in days previous the bass bite in the local kelp beds kept anglers hopping. Most bass were released here. There were a few yellows swimming through but for private boaters and the 6-pack boat Effishency, the kelp paddy yellowtail just offshore were the draw. That boat ran a 4-hour trip with 3 anglers and put them on a pair of yellowtail in that short time! The rockfish catches averaged around 7 fish per angler.

SAN DIEGO — Sand bass show at the border for the ½-day boats! In the past few days big schools of sand bass ventured north across the border chasing huge schools of pin-head anchovies. The bite was on as the ½-day boats put on numbers into triple digits. The Sportfishing Association’s first tagging trip of the season aboard the boat Pt. Loma resulted in 14 anglers bringing aboard 377 sandies to be tagged and released. In all that bait there were quite a few yellowtail schools but getting them to bite was nearly impossible. Meanwhile the local calico bite continued to provide fast action as well. Roughly ¾ of the calico caught were released but that still meant 30 to 45 keepers per trip aboard the New Seaforth. In addition, there were a few white seabass lurking in the local weeds as well, even a yellowtail or two.

The offshore fleet has been targeting those kelp paddies in recent days and getting teens to 20-pound grade yellowtail off them. Bluefin tuna seemed to have vanished as the numbers being seem and taken off Morro Bay, Halfmoon Bay and points north have boomed. However, hitting the dock at Seaforth Sportfishing Sunday morning was the Polaris Supreme, back from a 3 dayer with 24 anglers accounting for 91 bluefin tuna and 10 yellows. Their report was most fish in the 30- to 100-pound range with some larger, including one at near 200 pounds. Night jigging produced the bite.

Subscribe to the online edition today using code “5OFFWON” to save $5 on the annual digital subscription, only $14.99 for the year!

Click here to see all the reports and sign up at a discounted rate