O takes first
Roy Rose skippered Royal Polaris on a six-day trip that moored Oct 3. Guadalupe Island produced the biggest yellowfin and some 30-pound class yellowtail.

Taking his best tuna ever, Wilbur O of San Francisco won first place for a 69.2-pound yellowfin. He said it ate his sardine on a 2/0 Gamakatsu hook, tied to 30-pound blue Izorline on a Penn 113H reel and a Seeker Black Steel six and a half-foot rod.

Jay Ahrend of Long Beach was second, for a 68.2-pounder. Howard Hada of Cerritos placed third, for a 56-pound yellowfin tuna.

TV star wins
Willie Aames of Lake Oswego came in a winner Oct 3 when skipper Brian Evans docked the Spirit of Adventure following a four-day trip.

"It was a great trip, with my dad and my son," said Aames. "The three generations fished together for the first time."

Willie said he needed about 20 minutes to take his jackpot-winning 44-pound yellowfin. It bit a sardine on a 1/0 Mustad hook, and Willie used 40-pound Soft Steel line on a Sealine 20 reel, he said, with a Seeker Black Steel 870 rod. He also won an annual Seeker/Soft Steel trophy, presented by Carl Burns. Aames appeared in "Eight Is Enough" and "Charles In Charge," among other programs.

Jeff Nichols of Huntington Beach and Dennis Erwin, Seeker and Soft Steel rep from Oceanside, was third, for yellowfin of 39.3 and 39 pounds, respectively.

Sardines on kite
"The day started out a little slow," wrote Excel skipper Pat Cavanaugh Oct 2. "But by 0930 we had found a school of nice size tuna and were starting to pick away. By lunchtime they were biting pretty good. We were keeping three to six fish hooked all the time, and every sardine out on the kite was a instant bite. The fish were ranging from 40 to 80 pounds, so we weren't landing them very fast. At about 1430 the wind picked up and we drug off the spot. I got re-anchored but the fish were gone.

"After looking around for a bit, not seeing much sign, we ran back up to the north end. Once again the fish came through about an hour before dark. We picked up another 15 or so tuna, and lost about the same amount. It was good fishing for a little while, we just didn't take advantage of the opportunity."

Cavanaugh's McWhinney Charter returned Oct 4, with a special six-place jackpot that paid a thousand dollars for first place. Scot Conrad of Newport Beach won first place, for a 77-pound yellowfin. He said he caught it with a sardine on an Eagle Claw 2005 hook, with Big Game 40-pound line, a TLD 30-2 reel and a Penn International II rod.

Todd Swanson of Seal Beach was second, for a 76.2-pounder, Sean McWhinney of Huntington Beach was third, for a 70.4-pound tuna, and Cole Woolsey of Huntington Beach was fourth, for a 66.9-pounder. Troy McWhinney of Huntington Beach was fifth, for a 65.8-pound tuna, and Jim Wilson of Grand Junction, CO was sixth, for a 65.7-pound yellowfin tuna.

Bacon on mushroom
After a three-day trip, American Angler returned Oct 6 with skipper Jim "Bacon" Slivkoff and a catch of mixed albacore and bluefin tuna. "We fished southwest of the Mushroom Bank," said Jim. "It was 67.4 degrees there."

John Lindholm of San Diego won first place on the trip, for a 30-pound albacore. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 5/0 Mustad hook, 30-pound P-Line, a Trinidad 20 reel and a seven-foot rod. Gordon Booth of Escondido was second for a 25-pounder, and Eric Steffensen of Monterey was third, for a 21-pound albie.

An arm fish
Polaris Supreme's eight-day trip that returned Oct 6 had numerous surprises. "We had great weather," said skipper Vic Moore, "but I waited a day at Benitos on the hurricane. We had light breezes, and never even saw any south swell." He took his group to Alijos Rocks and The Ridge, where they found good fishing for yellowfin and yellowtail, with a few wahoo at The 13.

With the unanimous approval of the group, Moore declared Jeff Burrough's 93-pound tuna, weighed on the boat, as the winner, though it wasn't present. The fish was inadvertently lost during transfer from boat to dock, and a diver couldn't locate it.

"Burroughs was the American League MVP," nearby skipper Steve Loomis told me, "and he coached the Long Beach Little League team that won the championship twice in a row. And his son is playing for the Padres."

Burroughs told me about his catch. "It was tough," he said, "with no harness. It was an arm fish."

He and his son Sean had near-limits of tuna and yellowtail, with some dorado and wahoo. Jeff said he used a sardine on a 4/0 Gorilla hook, 40-pound P-Line on a 665 Accurate reel and a Loomis seven-foot rod to take his big fish.

"I like that reel," he added. "It took about 45 minutes. We both got our money's worth."

Giuseppe Poliseri of San Pedro took second place for an 87-pound yellowfin, and Guy Kellems of Pittsburgh, PA was third, for a 67-pound yellowfin tuna.

It always works
"Beginner's luck," said Cameron Black of Salem, OR at the dock Oct 6. He had just returned from a three-day run on the Spirit of Adventure with owner-skipper Mike Keating. Black had the trip's best fish, even though it was his very first saltwater fishing trip. "I credit the deckhands," he added.

Black's 48-pound bluefin tuna took a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook, he said. He fished with a 30-pound rental outfit.

Fished both ends
"We fished at both ends of Guadalupe Island," said Searcher owner-skipper Art Taylor Oct 7. We got tuna and yellowtail at Pilot Rock and at the south end. The weather was beautiful."

Frank Tristian of Gilbert, AZ won first place with a Guadalupe ylllowfin tuna that weighed 77 pounds. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 4/0 Super Mutu hook, 40-pound Ande line, a TLD 30-2 reel and a Calstar 765L rod. Second place went to Wally Drew of Lancaster, for a 72-pounder, and John Flynn of Mira Mesa won third place, for a 56-pound yellowfin tuna.

Six-day flyer
"We had to drive away from the smaller tuna at Alijos Rocks," mused Mike Lackey, Vagabond skipper. "We ended up with limits of yellowfin and near limits of yellowtail, and 23 wahoo, mixed troll and bait fish.

"It was a Fishing Academy trip, for Seeker, Burns, Pro Gear, Kicker Jigs and Mustad, and we tried Ascuncion and San Martin Island for yellowtail. Yesterday we were at the Six Spot at San Martin, for 40 yellows to 20 pounds during a 4:30 p.m. bite. It was flat calm both ways.

"I saw my chance for a minute," continued Lackey, "and tried the bomb, and boy, did they bite it, but I couldn't hang one. I put on a new Burns Bomber, red and silver with a Teddy Bear on the spinner blade, and got two nice wahoo right in a row. They wanted the bomb."

Lackey weighed the fish at Point Loma Sportfishing Oct 7. John Richter of Pasadena won first place, for a 74-pound yellowfin. He said it fought 40 minutes after taking his sardine on a 4/0 Mustad 94150 hook. He used Soft Steel 40-pound line, a Pro Gear 454 reel and a Seeker 660H rod. Don Farrell of Laguna Niguel was second, for a 64-pound yellowfin. Kyung Kim of Cypress won third place for a 57-pound wahoo. He said it bit on a Braid Slammer in abalone finish.