Matt Salas was aboard American Angler with skipper Sam Patella and 23 other anglers on a seven-day Bob's Sporting Goods trip that returned to Pt. Loma Sportfishing September 11 with a nice mixed catch of yellowtail, wahoo and tuna. He won the jackpot with one of his jigs, a Vagabond Special in black and orange. "I hooked a big wahoo on bait with a circle hook on mono," said Matt to dock reporter Bill Roecker, "but when I got him up to the boat, a shark got everything but the head.

"I also had one of my jigs, a black one with a pink tip, snipped off by another wahoo that just happened to pass across my line while I was winding it in. It wasn't a bite-off. He wasn't after the jig, just passing through."

Matt's 49-pounder took first place. He said he used 60-pound Izorline on an Avet HX reel and a Calstar 700 H rod wrapped by Bob's.

Greg Stoney of Carpinteria won second place for a 44.8-pounder, and Mike Groe of Lakewood won third place for a 43-pound skinny. A squid on the dropper loop provided John Yarbrough of Parker, AZ with a dandy 40.8-pound white seabass, for honorable mention. Scott Okamura was chartermaster.