Rick Kelly docked Intrepid at Pt. Loma Sportfishing December 8 after a ten-day trip to southern Baja. He was there the day the big ones bit, and one of those supercows found its way onboard the fleet's newest boat, a 116-footer. The giant yellowfin weighed 350.2 pounds on the certified scales at the dock.

"We were real happy with these," said Kelly.

The big fish was caught by Marc Schmidt of Eureka, whose best previous tuna was a 30-pounder. The rookie long ranger said it took an hour and 45 minutes to boat the monster. He did it without too much help to win the jackpot, and he credited the crew with making it possible.

"It was on a long soak," said Schmidt, "about 8:30 in the morning."

He baited a sardine on a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu hook, tied it to 80-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Line One Spectra on a Penn 30 VSX reel and a Seeker 660 XH rod.

Ed Quinten of La Costa would have taken second place with his 296-pounder, but he had some help and had to settle for third place for a 102-pounder. He brought the big tuna into the lineup shot, and parked it next to Schmidt's monster. It made two fish over 200 pounds for the trip.

Laurens Rhinelander of San Diego won second place for a 151-pound tuna, and stood at the right with his fish in the lineup.