Bluefin Blitz Keeps Half Moon Bay Boats Busy

What's biting

What's next

With buoy 46026 holding at 62°F and winds sitting in the 6-7 m/s range at both the San Francisco station (46026) and the offshore station (46013), the pattern looks stable for the next couple of days — no major cold-water upwelling or building swell showing in this morning's readings. That's good news for boats making the run to the bluefin grounds off Half Moon Bay, where Western Outdoor News — Saltwater reports skippers like Captain John Marfia stacking six-fish days in the 130-170 pound class. If winds stay in this same light-to-moderate band through the weekend, expect that offshore run to remain the play, with the five-fish days the fleet used to call exceptional continuing to be treated as the new baseline.

The Last Quarter moon typically brings more moderate tidal swings than around the full or new moon, which can spread bait and fish activity out over a longer window rather than concentrating it around a single tide change — worth factoring into trip timing for anglers working the Bay's inshore structure for striped bass and halibut. As the moon works toward new over the coming week, stronger tidal exchanges typically return, which historically sharpens the bite around structure and current breaks inside the Bay itself.

No gauge or tide data came through in this update, so treat any current or slack-tide planning as something to confirm locally rather than something to bank on from this report. Anglers heading to Half Moon Bay or the outer grounds should keep an eye on how the offshore wind trend holds — the 6-7 m/s readings this morning are comfortable, but any building westerly swell could push the bluefin fleet's runs shorter or keep boats closer to the harbor.

Inshore, rockfish and lingcod should stay a dependable fallback if the offshore bite requires a longer run than conditions allow on a given day — that fishery isn't as weather-dependent and typically holds through the fall regardless of the offshore tuna trend. Watch for the bluefin bite reported by Western Outdoor News — Saltwater to keep building over the next 2-3 days if the current water temps and calm-wind window persist; a bite of this magnitude this far north is unusual enough that it's worth checking recent trip reports before committing to a long offshore run.

Context

September in Northern California's Bay Area and Bodega waters typically marks a transition period — summer's rockfish and halibut action starts sharing the spotlight with the first push of fall striped bass activity, and water temperatures in the low-to-mid 60s (like today's 62°F reading at buoy 46026) are fairly typical for this time of year rather than notably warm or cool.

What stands out this season, per Western Outdoor News — Saltwater, is the bluefin tuna activity off Half Moon Bay. The report explicitly frames this as exceptional, noting that what was "previously unheard of" — five-bluefin days — has become "increasingly commonplace," with recent trips like Captain John Marfia's six-fish outing at 130-170 pounds pushing well past that new baseline. Bluefin this far north and in these numbers isn't the typical NorCal pattern; historically the bulk of California's bluefin action concentrates farther south, so a sustained Half Moon Bay bite of this scale is a notable seasonal outlier worth watching as fall progresses.

Beyond that offshore story, there isn't a strong comparative signal in today's feed for the Bay's inshore fisheries — no source speaks directly to how striped bass, halibut, or rockfish are running relative to a typical September, so treat those as following normal seasonal expectations until more direct reports come in.