Bluefin season opens: Cornwall to Western Approaches
13 July 2026: Bluefin season opens — Cornwall to Western Approaches
13 July 2026 is the date skippers have circled on the calendar. Early sightings from Newlyn, Falmouth and the Western Approaches have birds working over bait and the first surface boils showing at dawn; water off Lands End and the outer Banks is holding clean current lines and rising temperatures that trigger bluefin feeding.
Authorised commercial vessels will operate across English, Welsh and Scottish waters while permitted recreational catch-and-release effort is focused in English waters; Northern Irish waters are not in this opening. The UK moves into a larger seasonal fishery with 120 tonnes supporting the 2026 commercial effort out of a 230.56-tonne multi-year quota, up to 30 vessels and roughly 4 tonnes per vessel, and a commercial window running through to the end of December.
What’s biting today
Charter skippers out of Newlyn, St Ives and Plymouth report trolled lures and poppers drawing strikes on the early tides, with live bait hooking the heavier fish on deeper marks. Coastal anglers from Lands End to the Lizard are seeing midday surface action along steep drop-offs and near porbeagle marks.
Forecasts point to light winds and steady swell along the English Channel for the next week — excellent for long spreads and tight dog-leg patterns. Many charters are carrying tagging gear for catch-and-release work and data collection; decks smell of salt, braid and diesel, and a bluefin cracking the surface off Lands End makes the whole fleet sit up.
Recommended: tuna tagging kit