Ironclad Sportfishing is the private charter to book when you want the whole day spelled out before you pay. It runs two boats out of Mission Bay under its owner, Captain Frank Pitetti, a 100 ton master with more than forty years on the water, and it posts the clearest, most complete price grid in San Diego, every trip on both boats with a rate and a length. You book the boat for your own group, so there is no rail to share, and the choice of a 38 foot sportfisher or a quicker 31 foot center console lets you match the boat to the trip. The honest marks against it are a shorter track record and private rates that run high.
The verdict and where it ranks
At 7.6 Ironclad is fourth in the San Diego ranking, a strong choice and the most transparent operator in the port on price. It sits just behind the other private boat, Pelican Sportfishing, and the big Fisherman’s Landing and Point Loma Sportfishing landings, and ahead of the older H&M Landing and the Mission Bay landing Seaforth Sportfishing. What places it here rather than higher is the record: it has run only since 2017 and carries a solid but thin verifiable review trail next to the landings that count their reviews in the hundreds, and the private rates, from $1,200 a half day, are real money for a small group. It suits a group that values a known captain, two boats to choose from, and no surprises on the bill, and that is fishing offshore or the Coronado Islands rather than running a multi day expedition. Compare the field on the San Diego ranking.
The boats
Ironclad runs two boats, and the choice is the point. The Ironclad is a 38 foot Topaz sportfisher with a full head, a galley, and bunks, taking up to six anglers by day and five overnight, the boat for an offshore tuna push or an overnight where comfort and range matter. The Todo O Nada is a 31 foot Oceanmaster center console on twin Yamahas, lighter and quicker, taking up to four, the pick for a Coronado Islands or coastal day when you want speed over a cabin. Both are well found and kept up. The smaller boat is an open center console, so it is a wetter, more exposed ride in a chop than the Ironclad, which is the trade for its speed and its lower rate.
The fishing and what you target
Ironclad fishes the offshore and Coronado Islands water that defines San Diego deep sea fishing. From summer into fall the full day and overnight trips chase bluefin and yellowfin tuna, dorado, and yellowtail offshore on the kelp paddies and the banks. The Coronado Islands trips, about 15 to 18 miles south in Mexican waters, work for yellowtail, bonito, bass, and rockfish, with tuna in the warm months. The rockfish and lobster combo and the shorter trips work the coast and the bottom close in. Bluefin carry a federal limit of 2 fish per person off California, and the southern rockfish season opens and closes by the calendar, so confirm the current rules with NOAA Fisheries and California Fish and Wildlife before a season specific trip.
Trips and prices
This is where Ironclad stands out. It posts a full private rate grid for both boats, the clearest pricing in the port. On the 38 foot Ironclad, a half day starts at $1,200 (a fall special), a 3/4 day at $2,600, a full day offshore at $3,200, a Coronado Islands day at $2,800, and an overnight at $4,200, as of June 2026. The 31 foot Todo O Nada runs lower, from $1,100 a half day, $2,100 a 3/4 day, and $2,800 a full day, and a rockfish and lobster combo starts at $1,800. These are whole boat prices, so split among four to six anglers the per person cost is comparable to a busy party boat seat, with the boat to yourselves. Gear, bait, fish cleaning, and snacks are included; the California license and any Mexican permit for a Coronado trip are extra, so confirm the per trip inclusions when you book. Our cost guide puts these rates in context, and the party boat versus private charter guide weighs a private boat against a landing seat.
The crew
Captain Frank Pitetti owns and runs the operation, a 100 ton master with more than forty years of experience, so the person who takes your booking is the person running the boat. The reviews, on FishingBooker and elsewhere, are positive and consistent on professionalism and a fishy, well organized day, but they are fewer than the deep records the landings and the top six pack carry, so the read rests on a thinner base. That thinner trail, and the relatively short time the operation has run, is the main reason it sits where it does rather than higher, not anything in the reviews themselves.
Booking and what to know
Book direct or through FishingBooker, and decide the boat with the captain: the 38 foot Ironclad for an offshore or overnight trip, the 31 foot Todo O Nada for a quicker coastal or Coronado Islands day. Bring layers and a rain shell, sunscreen, food, and a passport for any Mexican waters trip. The license is yours to buy, the captain arranges the Mexican permit for a Coronado trip, and because the rates are posted by trip and by boat, you can price the day exactly before you commit.
How we scored it
Ironclad earns its 7.6 on the most transparent pricing in the port, two well found boats under an experienced owner captain, and a clean private experience, held in the middle of the field by a shorter track record and a thinner review trail than the established landings, and by rates that are real money for a small group. Value and transparency is its strongest factor. See how we scored this boat and the San Diego ranking for the field.