- When
- Usually August
- Host port
- San Diego
- Organizer
- Pelagic Tournaments
- Species
- Bluefin tuna, Yellowfin tuna, Bigeye tuna, Yellowtail, Dorado
- Format
- Team event; teams fish up to 36.5 hours from any SoCal port or legal anchorage; the overall winner is the team's single heaviest bluefin, yellowfin or bigeye tuna; optional yellowtail and dorado jackpots and a two-fish tuna aggregate jackpot
- First held
- 2025
The Pelagic California Tuna Challenge is a Southern California team tournament in which boats fish up to 36.5 hours from any SoCal port and teams are ranked by their single heaviest eligible tuna. Optional yellowtail, dorado and two-fish tuna jackpots run alongside, with weigh-ins in San Diego and on Avalon, Catalina Island. The 2026 edition, held in August, had 20 teams.
Organizer's siteOfficial results
Results
| Year | Category | Winner | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1st place, heaviest tuna overall | Team Reel Housewives (Bounty Hunter, Capt. Steve Carlton; anglers Kristen Kapela, Nicholette Van Buren, Deanna Pritchard) | 43.9 lb yellowfin tuna |
| 2026 | 2nd place | Team RJ & J/Briggs Electric (Wahoo-Son, Capt. Chuck Newberry; Joseph Ta) | 36.4 lb bluefin; two-fish aggregate jackpot 70.1 lb (33.7 lb second fish) |
| 2026 | 3rd place | Team Reel Addiction (boat and captain not published) | 34.5 lb bluefin |
| 2025 | 1st place, heaviest tuna overall | Team RJJ&CSI (Capt. Chuck Newberry, angler Joseph Ta) | 138 lb bluefin ($21,860 + prizes) |
| 2025 | 2nd place | Team BLUEFINish (angler Scott Underhill; no captain published) | 129 lb |
| 2025 | 3rd place | Team Cut Loose (Capt. Chris Von Huben, angler Jeff King) | 129 lb |
| 2025 | Aggregate jackpot | Team One, two, tres, Capt. Ben Knight | 212 lbs two-fish total |
| 2025 | Aggregate jackpot (two-fish tuna) | Team One, Two, Tres (Capt. Ben Knight) | 212 lb combined (120.5 lb and 91.5 lb); $70,000 |
| 2025 | Optional yellowtail jackpot | Team Boundless (Capt. Jon Fitchett) | 27 lb yellowtail; $800 |
Winners as the organizer or the cited results publish them.
The 2026 recap reports 'over $40k in cash and Prizes' for 20 teams, against over $96,000 in cash and prizes for 21 teams in 2025; the 2026 recap says the optional 50/50 charity jackpot raised $1,250 for CCA California.
Captains in published results
- Capt. Steve Carlton, 2026
- Capt. Chuck Newberry, 2026, 2025
- Capt. Chris Von Huben, 2025
- Capt. Ben Knight, 2025
- Capt. Jon Fitchett, 2025
- Capt. Steve Carlton, Bounty Hunter, 2026
- Capt. Chuck Newberry, Wahoo-Son, 2026
- Capt. Chuck Newberry, 2025
- Capt. Chris Von Huben, 2025
- Capt. Ben Knight, 2025
- Capt. Jon Fitchett, 2025
