Albacore Fishing in California: Where the Longfins Are in 2026

Where albacore are being caught right now

The 2026 season opened on Monday, July 20, when Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing ran south from Shelter Cove to about 30 miles southwest of Fort Bragg, found 61-degree water, and boxed 22 albacore: 14 small "peanuts" and eight fish in the 20- to 30-pound class. Kenny Priest's Fishing the North Coast, which has tracked the fleet since, called it the kickoff of the 2026 tuna season, and the Eureka boats were on the fish within days.

The bite has moved around since then, which is normal for albacore. Eureka's early August trips scored five or six tuna a boat with a few Pacific bluefin mixed in. By Labor Day week the Shelter Cove boats were averaging 50 fish a trip at a 23- to 25-pound average, fishing straight out about 30 miles, with three bigeye landed on the Wednesday after. The same week a North Bay Fishing Charters boat moved up to Fort Bragg and reported 165 albacore in its first four days. And on Saturday, September 12, the Eureka fleet made a 30- to 35-mile run south to a hard temperature break where the water jumped six degrees, and came home with fish that were mostly 25 pounds or better, some pushing 40.

CDFW's Marine Region summed up the year on September 17: yellowfin, bluefin and albacore "have all shown up off the California coast in large numbers in 2026," pulled north by a marine heatwave that has also brought wahoo, striped marlin and dorado into state waters.

Why the albacore left Southern California

If you learned California tuna fishing from an older angler, you heard about the San Diego albacore run. Sport Fishing Magazine put it plainly: for decades the San Diego passenger fleet "depended on the annual albacore run for its very livelihood." That run is gone. Even in 2014, the magazine was reporting that longfin schools had proved "nonexistent, or perhaps too deep to catch" along the Southern California and northern Baja coasts, and the San Diego boats replaced them with the bluefin and yellowfin fishery they run today.

The mechanism is temperature. NOAA Fisheries describes juvenile albacore, two to four years old, starting their migration off Japan in spring and reaching inshore waters off the U.S. Pacific coast by late summer, and says temperature is a major factor in where they live, with the schools holding near oceanic fronts. Sport Fishing Magazine puts the sweet spot around 59 to 62 degrees. North Bay Fishing Charters, which runs tuna out of Bodega Bay and Fort Bragg, watches for offshore water above 58 degrees before it starts looking. Those are Mendocino and Humboldt numbers in August, not San Diego numbers.

The commercial fleet feels the same swings. In December 2024 Governor Newsom asked for a federal fishery disaster declaration after the California albacore fishery declined 71 percent in volume and 65 percent in value, the worst season for the West Coast troll and pole-and-line fishery in more than 30 years. That was 2024. The 2026 reports above are the other side of the same coin: when the water lines up, the fish come inside the range of a day boat. Plan a California albacore trip around the North Coast, and treat a Central Coast or Southern California albacore as a bonus, not a target.

Season and timing, port by port

There is no CDFW season on albacore; the season is whenever warm water carries the schools within reach of a port. That makes it late summer through fall, and it makes the dates soft. Here is what the operators themselves publish.

• Shelter Cove: Sea Hawk Sport Fishing lists tuna June through October. In 2026 the first fish came July 20.
• Fort Bragg: All Aboard Adventures says the season is typically the end of August through September, and only "if they move in close enough to shore, and ocean conditions are safe." North Bay Fishing Charters runs its Fort Bragg albacore and bigeye trips in September and says the peak is around mid-September, with the grounds 15 to 45 miles out.
• Eureka: Northwind Charters gives a July through November window. The 2026 fish have been 30 to 35 miles south of the harbor since August.
• Crescent City: Sport Fishing Magazine lists it as a July through October port with fish sometimes as close as 20 miles. In September 2026 the tuna water was about 35 miles south.
• Bodega Bay: North Bay Fishing Charters says mid-July through October, "highly variable," with a good year running into December. Its Bodega Bay albacore and bluefin trips are typically scheduled October through November, after the Fort Bragg run.
• Central Coast: Sport Fishing Magazine lists Morro Bay (June through September) and Santa Cruz (July through October) as albacore ports, 20 to 70 miles out. They have not featured in the 2026 reports we have seen. If a Morro Bay or Monterey boat posts a tuna trip, it is because fish have shown within range that week.

What an albacore trip costs

Tuna is the most expensive day trip on the North Coast, and the reason is fuel and hours. Full Throttle Sportfishing in Eureka describes its tuna charter as an all-day run leaving at daybreak, with "travel distances range out to 50+ miles, for a total of over 100+ miles." Loads are small, too. Coastline Charters caps tuna trips at four anglers "with few exceptions," Sea Hawk takes six, and North Bay runs its Bodega Bay tuna open trips with a five-angler maximum.

What the day looks like

Expect a dark departure and two to three hours of running before anyone touches a rod. The boat is looking for a temperature break, a color change, birds, or the numbers another boat radioed in the day before. Northwind Charters is honest about the format: "These are usually long days and are not really for the person whom has little experience." If a 12-hour day on a 28-foot boat 30 miles offshore sounds like a lot, it is, and our seasickness guide is worth reading before you commit.

The fishing itself comes in two phases. First is the troll. Northwind runs "tuna clones, feathers, cedar plugs, and divers"; Sport Fishing Magazine puts the trolling speed around 7 knots. When a fish hits, the boat stops, and this is the second phase: the jig stop. Anglers drop lighter gear with lures or live anchovies while the crew chums to hold the school beside the boat. North Bay describes it as surface trolling clones, "with jigging and surface irons during a good bite." A stop that holds is where 5 fish becomes 25.

The fish are built for it. NOAA Fisheries puts the maximum near 80 pounds and 47 inches, with a swimming speed over 50 miles per hour and an appetite of up to a quarter of their body weight a day. What comes over the rail on a North Coast trip is more modest and still plenty: North Bay's range is 20 to 36 inches and 5 to 50 pounds, and the 2026 Eureka fish have run 25 to 40 pounds. North Bay calls 30 to 50 fish a boat a successful outing, and Full Throttle says a trip's take "can exceed 300 lbs." Bring the cooler for that, not for a rockfish limit.

Limits, licenses and the fillet rule

Albacore have their own limit under Title 14, section 28.38, and it sits outside the general bag. North of a line running due west from 34°27' N latitude at Point Conception, "the special limit for albacore is 25, which may be taken or possessed in addition to the overall general daily bag limit of 20 finfish." South of that line the special limit is 10, also in addition to the 20. Every North Coast port in this guide is north of the line, so the number that matters is 25.

The other tunas have their own rules under the same section, and they matter because bluefin and bigeye are mixing with the albacore this year. Bluefin is 2 fish, in addition to the general 20. Yellowfin, bigeye and other tunas are 10, and those count toward the 20. Skipjack has no limit. CDFW confirms there are no size limits on any recreationally caught tuna off California.

Filleting: south of Point Conception, CDFW requires every tuna filleted aboard to be cut into six pieces with the skin on, the four loins, the belly with pelvic fins and the collar with pectoral fins, bagged separately and labeled by species. North of the line that rule does not apply, and the operators handle it differently. Sea Hawk includes filleting and ice in the trip price, North Bay includes bleeding, icing and filleting, and Coastline includes cleaning on every trip except tuna. Ask before you book.

Licenses: everyone 16 and older needs a California sport fishing license, and a one-day license is $21.09 on CDFW's 2026 fee schedule. The Ocean Enhancement Validation is only required south of Point Arguello, so a Shelter Cove, Fort Bragg, Eureka or Crescent City tuna trip does not need it. Telstar notes licenses are available at Noyo Harbor.

Getting a seat, and the last-minute angle

Tuna trips do not run on a fixed schedule the way a rockfish trip does. Coastline tells anglers to call or text to get on its "tuna list," and North Bay has a "Join Our Tuna List" signup, because the boat goes when the water and the weather say so, and the captain fills it from the list. That is the same perishable-seat problem Mixed Bag exists for: a captain with a green weather window on Thursday and two open seats has a day to fill them.

Read the money terms before you commit, because they are stricter than a half-day. North Bay requires a deposit on every trip, charges 50 percent for cancellations inside 7 days and the full fare inside 48 hours, and refunds in full when the company cancels for weather. Coastline holds a spot on a credit card number, refunds the deposit if you cancel more than 10 days out, and takes the balance in cash or check on the day. Sea Hawk takes Venmo, cash or checks only. North Bay calls a 15 to 25 percent gratuity customary, which on a $600 seat is real money to have on hand.

Minimums cut both ways. Sea Hawk's four-person minimum and Full Throttle's two-person minimum mean a small group can be the difference between a trip that sails and one that scrubs, and it is why open seats on a tuna trip show up at short notice.

What to bring that a rockfish trip does not need

• Cooler capacity. Twenty-five albacore at 20 pounds each is not a joke; ask the operator whether fish come home whole, bled and iced, or filleted, and size the cooler for it.
• Seasickness medication taken the night before, per the guidance in our seasickness guide. The run is long and the boat is small.
• Layers for a 5 a.m. departure in Humboldt or Mendocino County, then sun protection for the afternoon. Both happen on the same day.
• Cash for the balance, the tip and the cleaning, since several of these operators do not take cards on the day.
• A valid license. No Ocean Enhancement Validation is needed north of Point Arguello.
• Realistic expectations. Northwind caps how far it will run; All Aboard only goes if the fish are close and the ocean is safe. A scrubbed tuna day is normal, and a good operator will tell you before you drive up.