It's been a long wait, but the first good-sized tuna from the southern banks has been caught. Skipper Shawn Steward of the Excel put Ken Yamamoto of Monterey Park on the fish. The boat returned to Fisherman's Landing November 11, after a ten-day trip: the Merritt Open.

"We had some of the best looking weather today that we have had in some time," wrote Steward November 8. "The ocean was once again flat and the sun was just right so the kelps stood out perfect for us. There was no shortage of kelps and just about every one we fished had dorado and big wahoo on it.

"We had one good aquarium kelp where the dorado were around us really thick, putting on a good show for us. Our best kelp of the day for wahoo was for eight wahoo, all in the 45 to 55-pound range, and all the other kelps had one to four wahoo on them. We put together a good day and we are going to look for some yellowtail tomorrow up at the islands."

Yamamoto's yellowfin weighed 131 pounds on the certified scales. Ken said it bit on a sardine pinned to a 5/0 Super Mutu hook. He fished with 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing on an Accurate 50 W reel and a Calstar 655 XXH rod.

"This is my first long range trip," said Ken. "I didn't know what to expect. I learned a lot."

Jim Beard of Huntington Beach was second, for a 75-pound tuna, and Coby Alford of Lake Havasu won third place for a 66-pound wahoo.