Pacific Bonito

The everyman's tuna. Bonito crash bait in schools, eat anything shiny retrieved fast, and pull like fish twice their size — the West Coast's best light-tackle arm-burner and the fish that hooks kids for life.

Sarda chiliensis · Also known as: Bones, boneheads, striped tuna. Ideal water temp 64–72°F.

Habitat & structure

Open water over bait: harbor mouths, kelp lines, bait receivers and bird schools from San Diego to Monterey. A warm-water schooling pelagic — where anchovies ball up, bonito find them, often within casting range of a jetty or breakwater.

Where they’re biting

LA & Long Beach Harbors — Boiling off the Queen's Gate on anything shiny retrieved fast.
Santa Monica Bay — Bait schools across the bay, summer–fall.
San Diego & Mission Bay — Harbor mouth and kelp-line schools on the warm water.
Monterey Bay — Warm-water years bring schools onto the bay.

Season by season

Season	Best bait	Best lures	Notes
Spring	Live anchovies fly-lined	Small chrome spoons and jigs retrieved fast	First schools show with the warming water.
Summer	Fly-lined anchovies and sardines	Krocodile-style spoons, surface iron, small poppers	Peak season. Bird schools and boils — cast past the school and burn it back.
Fall	Live bait under the birds	Chrome spoons and feathers trolled or cast	The heaviest fish of the year fatten on fall bait.
Winter	—	—	Gone with the warm water. Wait for spring.

Preferred water temperature

Active from 60°F to 75°F — sweet spot 64–72°F. Watch the live water temp on our location pages.

Weather, light & cloud cover

Any light, as long as the bait is up. Feeding schools boil in full sun without a care — birds and breaking water matter infinitely more than the light window. Retrieve speed is the real variable: fast, then faster.

Proven for pacific bonito

Surface Iron (Tady 45-style) — Hard bait · summer / fall. The gray-light religion. Long cast past the kelp line or the birds, then a slow, steady grind — the iron kicks best just under the surface. Don't stop when one boils on it.
Suspending Jerkbait 110 (Lucky Craft-style) — Hard bait · spring / summer / fall. Twitch-twitch-pause along the outside kelp edge and boiler rocks. Calicos crush it on the pause; burn it straight if bonito are around.
Fly-Lined Sardine — Live bait · summer / fall. No weight, light fluoro, free spool. Let the bait swim away from the boat toward the kelp — when the line speeds up, wind tight and lean back.
Diamond Jig 4–8 oz — Jig · spring / summer / fall. Doubles as the sinker under shrimp flies or fishes alone: bounce it off the rock, or crank it yo-yo style through bait schools for the pelagics.
Chrome Krocodile Spoon 3/4 oz — Spoon · summer / fall. The jetty and breakwater arm-burner. Cast past the boils and retrieve as fast as you can turn the handle — bonito want it running scared.

What should you throw today?

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