"We fished west of San Martin," said Searcher skipper Kevin Ward at Fisherman's Landing July 15, "and we found good yellowtail fishing on paddies, with yellows to 30 pounds or so. There's schools of albacore out there mixed with yellowfin; good sign of fish. We got limits of yellowtail."

Jerry Teles of Needles won first place on the four-day trip, for a 35-pound albacore. He said he got his longfin with a sardine on a 2/0 ringed Super Mutu hook, 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader and 30-pound P-Line on an Avet JX reel and a Calstar 700 M rod.

"Thanks to the crew," he said, "I got my fish in 15 minutes."

Greg Jacobson of San Luis Opisbo won second place for a 33.6-pound yellowtail. Eric Ott of Lathrop tied with Bill Boid of Modesto for third place. Gary had a 29.8-pound albacore, and Bill had a 29.8-pound yellowtail.

Ten-year-old Dylan Haste of Palm Desert goes to Carter Elementary School, and posed with a nice 20-pound class yellowtail.