The big news of the winter fishing season has been the showing of large yellowtail at the Coronado Islands during the months of January and February. The bite has been up and down but there have been some very good days of fishing that have seen yellowtail counts on three quarter day trips go up into the 60’s on fish that have mostly been in the 20 to 35 pound range.
The best bet for the yellowtail has been using yo-yoed iron but there have been times when surface iron and sardines have also been effective.
Fishing for rockfish has also been productive around the Coronado Islands but the annual 2 month rockfish/groundfish closure has rockfish off limits for those fishing on the United States side of the Mexican border until March 1, 2014. Boats fishing coastal areas have been focusing on species that remain open to fishing and have been catching some fair numbers of calico bass, sand bass and sculpin along with an occasional halibut or yellowtail..