RP Home For Christmas
Roy Rose arrived with the Royal Polaris during the knock-your-socks-off storm that whipped the southland December 22. He docked at Fisherman's Landing about the time the rain was slacking off, and offloaded his anglers and their gear with an excellent catch of yellowfin tuna from the Buffer Zone.

"Fishing was so good we cut off 150 tuna from 80 to 110 pounds," Rose told dock reporter Bill Roecker the next day. ""We came in a day early because we were full and we were hoping to beat the storm. It was supposed to be a 15-day trip.

"The best of the fishing was over a three-day period," continued Roy. "The water was about 74.5 degrees, and wahoo fishing was very good for this time of year. We had 18 anglers on this Izorline trip, and Howard Hada was the chartermaster. We got four cows." All the big fish came on 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon."

Neil Campbell won first place, said Rose, for a 267.8-pound tuna that took a sardine. He fished with a Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 770 XH rod.

Jim Mitchell won second and third places for tuna of 207 and 204 pounds. One came on an Accurate ATD 50 reel and one on a Penn 50. Rose said he thought Jim used a Calstar 665 XXH rod.

The fourth cow was caught on the kite by George Ishiwata, a 209-pounder. That reel was a Daiwa, said Rose, and the rod was a Seeker 6463 XXXH.

Rose said the next trip on the RP with an opening was Taka Tanaka's trip leaving Jan. 1. He thought there was also an opening January 19, on the 18-day, 18 passenger Jerry Brown trip, and also on the last trip of the big tuna season in April, a fly-down, fly-back excursion.