"We made a short 460-mile move from The Ridge to the albacore grounds, but it was worth the drive," wrote Excel skipper Justin Flack July 3. "The longfin greeted us first thing in the morning with a full-speed bite. Not only are they biting fish, but they are good-sized, too, at 18 to 30 pounds! Not to mention the weather is flat, greasy, calm. Are you jealous?"

Fleck docked the rig at Fisherman's Landing July 5 with near-limits of albacore and yellowtail. He also had 75 yellowfin tuna and four dorado.

"We fished Alijos and Thetis Bank, where we had fabulous yellowtail fishing," said Justin. "The we went up The Ridge to the albacore grounds, at 120 to 100 miles. The albies bit all baits.

Excel regular Jim Kastorff of San Diego won first place for a 71.7-pound yellowfin he got at Alijos Rocks with a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad Hoodlum hook, tied to 30-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon, 30-pound P-Line and 50-pound Line One Spectra backing. He used a Tiburon SST 7530 reel and a Truline rod with an acid wrap he made himself.

"He worked me bad," said Jim, "I've never been on one fish so long. It was over an hour."

Craig Sauter of Manchester, NH was second, for a 65.8-pound yellowfin, and Kub Ito of Jarbor City was third, for a 56-pound Alijos Rocks yellowfin tuna.

All-tackle world record holder for yellowfin tuna Curt Wiesenhutter of Coeur d'Alene, ID was aboard.

"It was a great trip," noted Curt. "We had lots of fish, excellent food and nice weather."