"We had encouraging signs to begin," he wrote the next day, "in that we had a few shots at bigger fish in addition to the hectic action of the morning "rush hour". This is catching, not fishing. During the afternoon action literally tens of thousands of Booby birds were dive-bombing, tuna leaped to unbelievable heights, and flying fish were flying for their lives. Hundreds of bottlenose dolphins were corralling the bait and mixing in the action, making us on Royal Star feel very small, right in the middle of the melee. This afternoon the sights I described covered an area no less than two miles in width and length.

On the 14th, Tim wrote, "This morning one of the spots we hit erupted into an incredible show. After determining that we had a good school to work with, we liberally chummed sardines triggering a reaction from what appeared to be the entire school and more. Ten to 150-pound tuna plowed through the chum five feet from the hull, eating sardines like carp eating bread balls. Then a foamer of the same size fish, no less than an acre in diameter, erupted on the local baits, with us smack in the middle."

Vic DeBrouwer of La Habra Heights won the Clipperton jackpot for a 230-pound yellowfin he nabbed at San Benedicto Island. "I got him on a caballito," said Vic, a long range regular, "with a 7/0 Super Mutu hook. I fished 100-pound clear Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing. I had a Cal Sheets Penn 50SW reel and a Calstar 6455XXH rod." DeBrouwer brought his cow to gaff in a remarkable 15 minutes.

Ed Klimek of Palmdale was second, for a 212-pounder. He also fished a caballito bait , on a 10/0 Mustad hook, with 130-pound blue Izorline, 130-pound Spectra, a Penn 80 reel and a Calstar TSS50 rod. That fight went 45 minutes.

Steve Shaffer of Pasco WA got third place for a 206.6-pound tuna. He wasn't at the landing, so skipper Ekstrom stood in for him during the photo session.

Doug Taylor of Northridge bagged a 205-pounder for honorable mentio. He used a chunk bait on a 16/0 Mustad circle hook, with 130-pound clear Izorline, 130-pound Spectra backing, a Penn 70 reel and a Seeker 63XXX rod. His fish fought for 40 minutes.

Cows Chew Squid
"The Annual Ben Kita trip produced some excellent fishing for the larger yellowfin tuna," logged Andy Cates of the Red Rooster III March 23. "However, they were not as large as we would have liked and fishing was on the slow side. Quite a lot of the tuna were in the 100-pound range. Wahoo fishing was fast and furious at times. The largest wahoo was a 91-pounder. It was caught by Ross Wheeler of Wichita, KS. The trolling jackpot went to Bill Wirth of Bonsall, Ca. for an 83-pound wahoo.

"We ended up spending the rest of the trip at Roca Partida," he wrote March 19. "We did make a run into San Benedicto for bait and then back out. The bait fishing went well; we got what we needed. Yesterday we did get a little action on better size fish, we caught eleven fish in the evening and most of them were a 100 pounds or better. The biggest fish went 150 pounds."

After weighing the fish at the dock, Cates said, "I didn't realize we had so many. "We had four at 190 pounds, the two over 200 pounds, and the one almost. Fishing was better than I thought."

Sonny Jones of Costa Mesa won first place for a 220.6-pound yellowfin. "My best fish yet," said Sonny. "It was at Roca Partida in the skiff. He came completely out of the water 30 minutes into the fight, and he fell back in headfirst. I got him on a squid with a balloon." Jones said he fished 100-pound Jin Kai line, 130-pound Spectra backing, a Tiagra 50W LRS reel and a Boomer Jr. rod.

Long-time long ranger Roger "Comber" Nichols of Carlsbad had a 205.9-pounder, good for second place. He fooled it with a squid under the kite. He used a Mustad 7691 hook in the 10/0 size, 135-pound clear Izorline, 135-pound Spectra, a Penn 80ST reel and a Calstar 6455XH rod, and beat his fish in 35 minutes.

Bill Burdick of Costa Mesa won third place, for a 198.6-pound tuna. Ross Wheeler's 91-pound wahoo, acquired on a sardine and 40-pound monofilament, was worth a spot in the lineup. It was the largest wahoo caught in the last two blue moons.

"Wow!" wrote Shogun's Rik Treamer March 19, "(We) awoke this morning to a steady bite on kite baits and sardines too. We boated nine tuna by 9 a.m., with Britt Yost's 150-pound tuna leading the charge, shortly after that the sharks were wreaking havoc. They let up, and we landed several fish over 100 pounds, with Don Wallace's 105-pounder, and Britt Yost getting a second 150-pound class fish to top that flurry off. Then "big Daddy" Don Burnside got a 180-pound tuna on his final rotation on the kite. He then went barreling downstairs to get in the chunk line, as a cow was seen swimming in the stern by no other than Dennis Erwin of Soft Steel.

"We got two 80-pound tuna shortly after the sighting. Bob Bernhard then got a 160-pound tuna on sardine, and Rob Krawsewki got a 110-pound tuna. Then a large blowout on the kite and an hour and a half battle with help from the crew, and Charles Meano got a tuna that was taped at 218 pounds, our second fish over 200 for the trip. We had a little flurry right before sunset and the shark's return. Jack Hill got a 165# tuna."

The 16-day Soft Steel-Seeker charter moored March 24. When skipper Norm Kagawa weighed the fish, Don Wallace of San Mateo had the best by a ways, a 257-pound yellowfin that won the trip's Rollo Jackpot, and Accurate 50 reel, and the Soft Steel-Seeker trophy, presented by Seeker boss Joe Pfister. Wallace said he got his cow on a squid under the kite, with a Mustad 15/0 circle hook and a 7691 J hook, on 125-pound Soft Steel line and 135-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 50SW reel and a Seeker 6463 XXXXH rod. The feat required a skiff ride and a 50-minute struggle.

Wallace didn't enter the regular jackpot, which was won by Don Burnside of San Diego and Stan Vath of Oxnard. Burnside won first and second places for fish of 197 and 187 pounds, and Vath's third-place tuna went 184 pounds. There were 23 anglers aboard the charter, which also had a few days of slow fishing.