Shawn Steward liked the sea conditions he found on his latest five-day trip with 34 passengers on the Excel. He also enjoyed the catching of the first wahoo of the season, although there had been some brief contacts at Guadalupe Island previously, when anglers reeled in some suspiciously snipped-off lines.

Trying a little trolling with Marauders, two of Steward's anglers brought in wahoo, and one, Norm Sogioka of Redlands, pranged a skinny on a big orange and black jig and then brought the 42-pounder to gaff. He posed in the jackpot lineup.

Another wahoo was hooked off San Martin Island, said Steward, but it escaped.

"There's beautiful water offshore," said Steward. "He thought more wahoo might show up before long.

Edgar Garcia of San Ramon won first place, for a 67.7-pound tuna that made a mistake with his sardine on a 6/0 Gorilla hook. Edgar fished 40-pound blue Izorline on an Accurate 4/0 conversion and a Calstar 700 H rod.

Michael Young of LA was second, for a 56.7-pound tuna, and Jerry Stires of Silver Lakes won third place, for a 56.6-pound yellowfin tuna. Dan Robinson of Alhambra was invited into the lineup with his 40.6-pound yellowtail.