"Today was our last full day of fishing," wrote Excel skipper Shawn Steward January 16, "and we picked up seven nice tuna over 120 pounds for the day, along with a wahoo and a handful of 30 to 40-pounders. The three biggest fish we caught were on the chunk and they weighed 184, 189, and 191. The life we had around us had us thinking that at any time we could get a good rally on the fish. We left the bank at 1900 hours to head in."

At Fisherman's landing January 21, Shawn weighed the biggest tuna. There were three cows.

"I knew when he bit I'd get that fish," said Bruce Sogioka of Fullerton, who won first place for a 230.5-pound tuna. He thought so because he was using heavy gear: two mackerel on 9/0 Eagle Claw hooks under the kite, with 130-pound Soft steel Ultra line and 130-pound Power Pro Spectra backing on a Penn 70 VSW reel and a Calstar 755 XXH rod. The fight lasted 45 minutes.

Jerry Stires a retired Ford manager from Silver Lake, won second place for a 217-pounder. He said it bit on a chunk, the first fish to do so. He fished with an 8/0 Mustsad 7691 hook tied to 130-pound Soft Steel Ultra line and 130-pound Line One Spectra on a Penn 50 reel and a Truline custom rod.

"That's a 40-year-old rod," said Jerry. "I got him in 45 minutes."

Norm Sogioka of Redland won third place for a 192-pound tuna. He bagged it with a flying fish on the kite, he said. He used an 11/0 Mustad 7691 hook on130-pound Soft Steel Ultra and 130-pound Izorline Spectra backing on a Penn 80 reel and a Custom Calstar TSS rod.

Honorable mention went to retired Dr. C. W. Patterson of Yuma, who got a 255 and a 199-pound tuna. He said the big one came on a chunk and a 9/0 Mustad 7691 hook. He used 130-pound line and 130-pound Spectra backing (he didn't know which brands) on a Penn 50 SW modified by Ken's Custom Reels in Oceanside, and a six-foot rod from Cabella's.

Giovanni Braida of San Dimas fished a sardine on a dropper loop, and came up with a 55-pound yellowtail at Alijos Rocks.