Kevin Osborne skippered Intrepid on a dandy 11-day trip with 22 anglers, sponsored by Stan Vanderburg and his Rod & Reel Radio show (Sundays, 5 p.m. to seven, 540 on the AM radio dial). Osborne, sore-backed from manhandling 11 cows, backed the boat into Pt. Loma Sportfishing and weighed the best of the catch, including the season's first tuna over 300 pounds. "I don't trust the weights you get at sea," he remarked to dock reporter Bill Roecker. "I taped the big one at 314 pounds, and it came in at 312."

Chartermaster Vanderburg said, "We went for big ones. It was a little sketchy, and we had to work for 'em." Osborne added, "We spent three days fishing on the big ones, and one more exploring other areas down there. We saw lots of yellowfin up on the high spots above Mag Bay, and some weighed up to 100 pounds. They didn't bite very well, but we had very good dorado fishing, and plenty of yellowtail and yellowfin in the 30 to 40-pound range. That's about how many wahoo we got. We had 11 personal best fish on the trip."

The big one belonged to Mark Shimozaki, pictured above of Lodi, who also had a 246-pounder to go with his 312-pound supercow. The big one came on the kite, with one of the boat's kite outfits. He got the 246-pounder with a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook and 130-pound Jak fluorocarbon tied to 130-pound Line One spectra. He used an Avet 50 reel and Calstar 6465 XXH rod.

Josh Dinkle of Laguna Niguel won second place for a 257-pounder that bit his sardine on another boat outfit. John Whiteside of Salem, OR won third place for a 230-pound tuna. He said it bit his sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook. He fished with 100-pound Maxima fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One spectra on an Avet 50 reel and a Super Seeker 2 X 4 rod. The fish fought for a hour and a half.

Scott DiGiuseppe of Canoga Park got honorable mention for his 248-pound yellowfin, a handoff from Steve Abel. Scott's fish came on a sardine and a 5/0 ringed Owner Gorilla hook and 100-pound Triplefish, with 130-pound Line One spectra on a Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 6460 XXH rod.

Steve Abel of Somis used that same outfit above to land a brace of biggies weighing 219 and 223 pounds. Jim Cavanaugh of Granada Hills bagged a 238-pounder with a sardine on a 5/0 ringed Gamakatsu hook and 100-pound Maxima fluorocarbon. He fished with 100-pound Power Pro spectra on an Avet HXW reel and a Super Seeker 2 X 4 rod.
Jeff Larson got a 202-pound yellowfin tuna.