There were 26 cows aboard the Qualifier 105 Thursday morning, January 5. One was caught by a youngster.

Eight-year-old Hayden "The Mangler" Konstantinopoulos of Fairfield goes to B. Gale Wilson School, where he likes playing soccer and baseball. He likes fishing with his dad George, too, and last March he got a 170-pound tuna at the Hurricane Bank. On his most recent trip, the one that arrived January 5, he beat that baby with a 203-pound, real-deal, cow tuna.

How'd he do it?

"He sat on the rail," said dad George. "He's got a bike seat clamped on his rod butt."

"The Mangler" moniker came from the other anglers. Skipper Sims said it was short for mini-angler.

"It was pretty hard," said "The Mangler." "The hardest part was gaffing him. I had to pull when he was very heavy."

The Mangler was unsure about his next projected achievement, saying he wasn't sure if he was ready for a 300-pounder. His gear? A sardine bait on a 4/0 Gorilla hook, 100-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Spectra backing on an Accurate 30 reel and a Calstar 655 XXH rod.

"We put in three days of hard work," said Qualifier 105 skipper Brian Sims at Point Loma Sportfishing. "We found ???em again less than five miles from where they were when we first located ???em back in early October. That's mind-blowing!"

John Ryan of Brea pulled for an hour and a half on New Year's Eve on a huge tuna that weighed 291.4 pounds on the certified scales and won him first place. Ryan said his fish bit on a sardine weighted with a thee-ounce sinker and a 7/0 ringed Super Mutu hook. He fished with 100-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 30 reel and a Calstar 670 M rod.

Rudy Vantine of Santa Barbara was second, for a 257-pounder. He baited a mackerel on a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader and 130-pound Jerry Brown Spectra backing. He used a Penn 50 SW reel and a Seeker 6463 XXXXH rod.

John Gleason of Temecula won third place for a 248-pounder. He got his prize with a mackerel on a 7/0 ringed Super Mutu hook, 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader and 130-pound Spectra backing. He fished a Baker topless Penn 50 SW reel and a Seeker 6460 XXH rod.

Writer Paul Lepore of Dana Point is also an Accurate rep, and he got a couple of big fish. One weighed 204 pounds, and came on a mackerel, a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook, 130-pound Seaguar leader and 130-pound Line One Spectra backing, a Penn 50 VSW reel and a Seeker 6364 XXXXH rod.