Royal Polaris is nearing the fishing grounds. Red Rooster III is already there, and angler Butch Oldenkamp has a fish aboard that skipper Andy Cates taped at 298 pounds. It may well make 300 back at the dock, and if it does, it will be number 40 for the season. 300-pounders are widely regarded as "world-class" tuna, and there are few places indeed where giant yellowfin can be predictably found. One of those is the Hurricane Bank and the Revillagigedos archipelago, where the long range fleet has fished for decades.

So it looks like the long range season still has plenty of life. You'll get the latest reports about what's happening here, so sign up for the free new RSS feed if you want to be the first to know. Here's what skipper Cates had to say March 17, having gone out to fish after trying the inside waters off Mag Bay:

"Our 5 first days at the Island we found great action on 50 to 80-pound fish. As the days went on we started to get better sized fish from 120 to 190 pounds. The offshore style fishing provided the explosive action that you see up around the Mag Bay area. We felt like we were on to something with the better fish in the afternoon. Pete Fallini picked off a 237 in the mix, on a fly lined sardine.

"Yesterday saw more better sized fish including a couple of jumbo fish. One caught by Jeff Cakin a 320 and Butch Oldenkamp with a 298. Also Woody Woodruff with a 237, all fish were caught on the sardine. Along with those big ones we had another 25 tuna from 120 to 200 pounds. Nice day. Hopefully we get some more chances today."

The following earlier report tells a tale of wind and slow fishing.

"As of now (March 13), it looks like this Mag bay fish likes the new moon a lot more than the full moon. Without surprise but it was worth a look. With 69-degree water we still see sign of fish they just don't bite.

"All along the edge of the bank are scattered fish which looks to be 70 to 150 pound tuna. We have only caught 4 tuna from 70 to 120 pounds but with the wind and swell today has been very tough. The forecast did not show this wind. If we don't get a hit here this evening, tomorrow will be a travel day as we head outside. It shows the weather better to the southwest but we will see."