Dave Edgar of San Jose was fishing with skipper Roy Rose aboard the Royal Polaris on the Bill & Steve's Open trip with 27 anglers when it happened.

"I was flylining on the best morning of fishing," remembered Edgar at Fisherman's Landing December 8. "The weather was down and I was halfway up the port side with a sardine out there about 100 yards up swell. I knew I was going to get bit, because I had a hot bait and he kept going and going.

"I saw a deep boil when the tuna bit. I put the reel in gear and then I was pinned to the rail. The fish ran out, way out, and got most of my line. Then he went down. There was a lot of give and take. Mostly, I was giving. He was hard to move, but I got him about an hour and a half later. I think I'll have a mount made by Lyons & O'Haver."

Dave Edgar's tuna weighed 299.3 pounds on two certified scales. He pinned his sardine to a 6/0 Super Mutu hook, 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader and 135-pound Spectra. He said he used an Accurate 50 reel and a Seeker 6460 XXH rod.

Perry Ishibashi of Torrance won second place for a 198-pound tuna, and Steve Tsujiuchi of Rosemead won third place for his 193-pound yellowfin tuna.