441-Pound Bluefin Giant: Game Changer Sets a New Personal Best Out of San Diego

What do you do on the last day of a 3.5-day trip? You find the fish of a lifetime.

That’s exactly what happened aboard the Game Changer out of Point Loma Sportfishing in San Diego. Captain Ryan Stahl and crew put the boys on an absolutely gorgeous tank of a Pacific bluefin that taped out at 441 pounds — a new personal best for the boat.

Congrats to the Wheeler brothers and the entire Game Changer crew. That is a fish you dream about.

We rarely see bluefin over 400 pounds on this coast. The official California state record still sits at 395 pounds 6 ounces, landed by Floyd Sparks at Tanner Bank back in 2021. So when a six-pack charter tapes one out at 441, you’re looking at a true West Coast giant — the kind of cow that makes every angler on the dock stop and stare.

A taped weight is a length-and-girth estimate, not a certified scale number. That doesn’t change what this fish is. Look at the photo. That is a mature, thick, dark-backed bluefin with the kind of tail and girth you just don’t see every season. Fish like this are the reason people book overnight and multi-day trips in the first place.

And the bite is not slowing down. The 2026 El Niño year has given Southern California some of the best local tuna fishing in decades — numbers, size, and now these rare 400-class fish showing up. The Game Changer’s Facebook said it best: the big boys are back, and they are back huge.

If you’re thinking about getting on the water, keep watching the reports. Overnight and 2- to 3.5-day trips out of San Diego are where the cows have been showing. Check http://friedmanadventures.com for Captain’s audios, landing and boat counts, bait availability, Friedman Adventures AI, the kids corner, and a whole lot more.

While you’re planning, mark your calendar for our end-of-summer Surf Fishing Festival on Saturday, September 12, 2026, 9am–12pm at Anderson St and PCH in Sunset Beach, with a noon raffle. Park across PCH and stop by Big Fish Bait & Tackle in Seal Beach on the way.

Tight lines to the Wheeler brothers, Captain Stahl, and the Game Changer crew. That 441-pounder is a fish the whole West Coast fleet will be talking about.

— Phil Friedman

Friedman Adventures

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