"It was very good fishing," Owner-Skipper Frank LoPreste said after he returned Royal Polaris to Fisherman's Landing November 28 after traveling to the Southern Banks. "But the weather took a day away from us. Overall, it was a great trip."

Tom Hurst of Los Osos used the kite to land a 284.3-pound tuna. He said, "It was the boat's gear; an Accurate 80 reel, a 6463 XXX H Calstar rod, and a 5/0 Owner Super Mutu hook on a sardine."

An hour-long fight proved to be worth it as Manfred Schiruska of West Hills, took first place for a 247.3-pound tuna that bit a flylined sardine. "Frank had to use the fork in the corner. He didn't want it to get caught in the props. It was a mean fish."

Manfred used a 5/0 Owner Circle hook, 150-pound Izorline fluorocarbon leader, 100-pound Izorline mono, an Avet 30 Pro reel and a Calstar 660 XXH rod.

Tony Postolov of Venice took second and third place with 194-pound and 188-pound yellowfin.

Charles West of Orlando, FL posed with LoPreste and his 196.5-pound tuna. Charles is a first timer. He heard on the Internet about the Royal Polaris and Frank LoPreste. "The captain is world-renowned," he said, "and the boat was great, first-class all the way. I'll be back."

Craig Miller of Orange brought along his daughter, Stacie Winters, on her first ten-day trip. "Long range fishing got in her blood real quick," said Craig. "She got her first fish over 100-pounds on this trip, so she'll be getting her patch."

"It was exhilarating!" remarked Stacie after weighing her 167-pound yellowfin at Fisherman's Landing certified scales. "I went from the bow to the stern, and back up to the bow where I spent most of the time on the fish. There were five of us hooked up on the bow. I love the boat, it's the only one I go on."

"We had two really good days in ???Cow Town,'" continued Craig. "Right outside of Magdalena Bay, near the Lusitania Bank and the Potato. Thanksgiving Day was a great day for tuna. Wahoo were hard to come by. Then the weather picked up and it got pretty rough, so Frank said, ???Let's go try up the ridge.' There were no other boats around; it was just us out there. We didn't see anybody else till Sunday."

San Diegan Kathy Rounds; Accurate, Calstar, and Izorline rep, said the boat got a variety of fish. "We ended up with a little bit of everything. Some people get used to only fishing big tuna on these trips. We got a shot at some bigger ones, and then we moved on.

"There was a funny moment though. We were fishing the stern when a 150-pound tuna crashed in front of all of us. Joe McBride and I both hooked up, but Frank knew it right away; Joe and my fish were showing the same head jerks. I've never ???team-fought' a fish before, we stayed right in the corner, and it came in pretty quick."