MINIMUM SIZE
None
Species · Tuna
Skipjack tuna fishing in Southern California
Katsuwonus pelamis
The striped-belly tuna that shows up first, bites everything in the spread, and tells you the water is right.
TYPE
Skipjack tuna
SCIENTIFIC NAME
Katsuwonus pelamis
TYPICAL SIZE
5–15 lb
LIKES WATER
70°F+, warm and blue
TRAVELS WITH
Birds, porpoise and paddies
BEST MONTHS
Aug – Oct
skipjack tuna regulations
DAILY BAG
No limit
OPEN SEASON
Year round
Skipjack is on CDFW's no-limit list and sits outside the twenty-fish general limit as well.
14 CCR 27.60(b), 28.38(c), as read on October 9, 2026. Limits, seasons and marine protected area boundaries change, so the CDFW ocean sport fishing regulations are the authority, not this page. Check them before you keep anything.
Meet the skipjack
Small, dark-backed and unmistakable from below: four to six dark stripes running along the belly, which no other local tuna has. They are the most abundant tuna on earth and the one in most tins labelled “light” tuna.
Where skipjack tuna hang out
In the warm blue, mixed through the same paddies, bird schools and porpoise that hold yellowfin and dorado. They arrive on the warm push and they are rarely alone, which is the useful part: a boil of skipjack usually means other things are underneath.
What they are good for
Three things. They tell you the water is warm enough for the fish you actually want. They keep everyone bent while you look. And a fresh skipjack is excellent bait, live or as a chunk, for bigger tuna and for sharks.
On the plate
Dark, strong and oily, and it goes off fast. Bleed it and ice it the moment it hits the deck and it is good; leave it in the sun for an hour and it is not. Much of what gets thrown back would be worth keeping if people handled it properly.
Where to catch skipjack tuna
The grounds that hold skipjack tuna within reach of each home port, south to north. Follow a port through for its season, the rest of the water it reaches, and the rules that apply there.
- Point Loma
- THE OFFSHORE BANKS
- Oceanside
- THE OFFSHORE BANKS
- Dana Point
- THE OFFSHORE BANKS
- Newport Beach
- THE OFFSHORE BANKS
Seasons, depth limits, size and bag limits and marine protected area boundaries are set by CDFW and change from year to year. Check the current rules for the ground you are running to before you keep anything.
🐟 FUN FACT
Skipjack have to keep swimming to breathe and to stay afloat, because they have no swim bladder at all. It is part of why they never stop moving and why the school is gone by the time you have re-rigged.
More species
Bluefin TunaYellowfin TunaYellowtailDoradoCalico BassRockfishMarlinWhite SeabassBarred Sand BassCalifornia HalibutCalifornia BarracudaPacific BonitoLingcodCalifornia SheepheadSculpinOcean WhitefishSpotted Bay BassPacific MackerelAlbacoreShortfin MakoCommon ThresherGiant Sea BassOpahSwordfishCabezonPacific Sanddab
From the logbook
More on skipjack tuna
Heading out for something we do grade?
This is a profile, not a scored species. Fish or Pass grades seven fish across the Bight every day, so if you are going anyway, see what the water is doing for those.