1. Yellowfin Tuna

First choice: Louisiana
Second choice: North Carolina

Boats out of Venice and Grand Isle, Louisiana, have no trouble intercepting schools of hungry yellowfins this month. Floating oil rigs anchored in 3,000 feet of water out in the Gulf attract many, but the famous Lumps are likely to yield some of the largest tuna. Big-game hunters fishing off North Carolina’s Outer Banks are rewarded with plenty of 40- to 80-pound yellowfins this time of year.

2. Striped Bass

First choice: Maryland
Second choice: California

Chesapeake Bay, with its various coastal rivers and many feeder creeks, offers stripers plenty of staging areas with mild water temps and a plethora of baitfish and crustaceans for sustenance. In Northern California, the Sacramento Delta and San Francisco Bay also offer striped bass plenty of forage, as well as deep shorelines and underwater structure to congregate around.

3. King Mackerel

First choice: Florida
Second choice: North Carolina

The smoker king bite remains hot west off Key West, but this month, it incrementally spreads up the Gulf of Mexico coast to the Florida Panhandle. In North Carolina, catches of truly large king mackerel become fewer and farther between, but plenty of 6-to 10-pound snakes and 15-to 20-pounders remain on the prowl, especially off the Outer Banks. Chumming and free-lining live baits is the ticket to success.