Skipper Jeff DeBuys docked the Independence at Pt. Loma Sportfishing January 27, at the end of a 15-day Seeker trip with Bryan "Bubba" Porter as chartermaster. There were 26 anglers aboard, and after leaving slow fishing at Clarion Island, they found good biters at the Hurricane Bank. Jeff said they scored 14 cows on the best day, with a total of 28 weighed in on the certified scales at the landing. "Outside of an eight-hour squall we had nice weather," said Jeff to dock reporter Bill Roecker, "and the ride home was really flat; it was Roecker Weather."

"Fishing was very good," said chartermaster Porter. "The only problem we had was wind against current." By coincidence, the biggest tuna was the last one weighed. It went 239 pounds, and won first place and the Seeker Trophy for Ron Green, pictured above of Ridgecrest, who bagged it with one of the boat's kite outfits. The fish bit a squid on a 9/0 Mustad 7691 hook, with 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Izorline spectra on an Avet 50 reel and a Seeker 6463 XXXH rod. "He fought for an hour," said Green. "He took me around the boat twice. I got bit around nine a.m. and he came up on the port corner."

Jim Bowman of San Diego won second place for a 234-pounder. He also had one at 205 pounds. He said he baited sardines on 7/0 Owner ringed Super Mutu hooks. He fished with 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Izorline spectra on an Avet 30 W reel and a Seeker 6463 XXXH rod.

Mark Backes of Del Mar won third place for a 233.8-pound tuna that bit his sardine on a 5/0 ringed Super Mutu. He said it took and hour and 15 minutes to bring to the boat on 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 100-pound Blackwater spectra. He fished with a Tiagra 30 reel and a Calstar 760 M rod.

Bob Hager of Tumwater, WA (home of Olympia beer) got a 205-pounder, two at 206, and one of 226 pounds. The big one took 45 minutes to beat, he said, and struck a salami mackerel on an 8/0 Mustad 76921 hook and 130-pound Izorline tied to 130-pound Izorline spectra. He used an Avet 50 reel and a Super Seeker 6463 XXXH rod. The big one took him twice around the Indy, he said.

Steve Kunitake got a 220-pounder on a sardine and a ringed Owner Super Mutu hook tied to 100-pound Soft Steel Ultra. He used 130-pound Izorline spectra on a Makira 30 reel and a Super Seeker 2 X 4 rod. It was his first cow and fought for half an hour. He also had a fish at 203 pounds.

Frank Backes of Colorado Spring, CO used a chunk to deck a 215-pounder that ate a chunk on a 9/0 Mustad Demon hook. He used the boat's kite rig.

Phil Havelicek of San Francisco caught a 214-pounder with a sardine on a 5/0 ringed Super Mutu hook tied to 100-pound Izorline fluorocabon and 130-pound Line One spectra. He fished with an Avet 50 N reel and a Calstar 700 XXH rod.

Chartermaster Porter of Downey bagged a brace of yellowfin at 209 and 213 pounds. He fished sardines on a 5/0 ringed Super Mutu hook tied to 100-pound Soft Steel Ultra and 130-pound Line One spectra on a Makira 20 reel and a Super Seeker 2 X 4 rod.

Ken Buzzell of San Pedro popped a 213-pounder with a sardine on a 5/0 ringed Owner Gorilla hook and 100-pound Yo-Zuri tied to 100-pound Line One spectra. He fished with an Avet HXW Raptor reel and a Super Seeker 1 X 3 rod.

Duane Sawyer of Lemon Grove bagged a 213-pound yellowfin with a chunk on a 7/0 Mustad Demon hook and 130-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon. He employed 130-pound Izorline spectra on an Avet 50 r4eel and a Super Seeker 3 X 5 rod.

Gerard Fitzgerald spent 40 minutes getting to know a 212-pounder that swallowed his sardine on a 5/0 ringed Owner Super Mutu hook tied to 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon. He used 130-pound Line One spectra on an Accurate 30 reel and a Calstar 7465 rod.

Tom Fujita of Harbor City got a 209-pounder, his first cow, with a flying fish on a 10/ Mustad 7691 hook under the kite with the boat's kite outfit.

Tom Golding of Cerritos took a 208-pound tuna with a squid on a 10/0 Mustad 7691 hook under the kite, with the boat's kite outfit.

Mike Shelton of Florence, AZ found a 207-pounder chewing on his skipjack pinned on a 9/0 Mustad 7691 hook tied to 130-pound Momoi and 130-pound Line One spectra. He fished with a Penn 50 reel and a Super Seeker 2 X 4 rod.

Vladimir Kustudic of San Diego got a 206-pound tuna that sucked in his salami mackerel on a 10/0 Mustad Demon hook and 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon. He used 130-pound Izorline spectra on an Accurate 50 W reel and a Calstar 770 XXH rod.

Cindy Fancher, Photo #1 of Bend, OR bagged a brace at 200 and 204 pounds. She fished with sardines under the kite with the boat's outfit. "It was a pleasant experience," she said of catching her first cows.

Tom Myers of Torrance got a 204-pounder with a sardine on a ringed Super Mutu hook and 130-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon. He said he fished with 130-pound Line One spectra on an Avet 30 W reel and a Super Seeker 2 X 4 rod.

Jeff Nichols of Huntington Beach bagged a 201-pounder, his first cow. It came in just 15 minutes after making an error involving a squid under the kite on the boats' kite rig.

Bob Filson caught a 201-pound tuna.

Bob Buckland of Simi Valley took a 200-pounder home with him after catching it on a sardine on a 5/0 Hayabusa hook tied to 100-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon, 100-pound P-Line CXX line and 130-pound Tuffline spectra. He said he fished with an Avet SDS reel and a Seeker 6463 XXXH rod, and finished his tuna off in 20 minutes.

Done fishing for a couple of months, the Independence will head north to 22nd St. Landing for some R&R until after the Fred Hall fishing shows in Long Beach and Del Mar.