The tuna on the Hurricane Bank aren't quite as thick as they were earlier this season, but they're still there, and enough of them are biting for a long range boat to make a scratchy catch. Andy Cates docked Red Rooster III at H&M Landing February 25 with seven yellowfin over 200 pounds, up to 277 pounds; and an excellent catch of wahoo to 70 pounds or more. Several anglers had limits.

"We spent the first day on the beach," said Andy, "with a lot of 80 to 140-pound fish; and then we headed out to the bank, where tuna fishing proved to be slow, but very good for wahoo. The skinnies bit in the morning and at midday. They bit best on sardines, but we got some on bombs, too.

"The tuna bit best in the evening. They were full of red crab and box fish. We spent eight days there at the bank, fishing on the anchor, and then we went back in to the beach for two days. That's when we caught the sierra; a lot of fun. I'd like to do that again sometime. We ended up with seven cows."

Gary Teraoka, an Izorline rep from Torrance, got the 277-pounder with a squid on the kite. He wasn't at the dock, so his dad Sasakae and fellow Izor rep Norm Fujimoto posed with the tuna. Norm said Gary fished with a 7691 Mustad 9/0 hook, 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Izorline Spectra, an 80 Accurate reel and a 7460 H rod by Yo's. The fight lasted about 20 minutes.

Gerry Miller of Los Alamitos won second place for a 246-pound tuna. He bagged it with a mackerel, he said, on a 7/0 Owner Offshore hook, with 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Izor Spectra backing on a Penn 70 VSW reel and a 760 H rod.

"He fought for an hour and ten minutes," said Miller. "He bit about three a.m. That's when I like to get up and start fishing."

Tom Jackson of Norwalk was third, for a 237-pounder. He also had a 223-pound yellowfin. He said he got his fish with sardines on 6/0 Super Mutu ringed hooks. He fished 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Izor Spectra on a Penn 50 SW reel and a Calstar 760 H rod.

Two anglers from Paris accounted for three cows of 202, 214 and 218 pounds. They had already flown back to France by the time the fish were offloaded.

The trolling jackpot was won by LA musician Carl Newton. He got a 70.5-pound "skin" on a Spanish jig in blue mackerel pattern called a "Tunita," and remarked that it got bit every time it went into the water. He said he had a connection to the manufacturer if anyone wanted to know more about it.

The Excel will dock Monday morning, and Tuesday will see the Royal Polaris and the Independence return from the Hurricane Bank.