"Another day of yellowtail fishing brought us an exceptional grade of fish," wrote Red Rooster III skipper Andy Cates August 4, "from Cedros and Benitos, with an ending drift on school size yellows to finish off the day. With plenty of yellows on the boat, we decided to investigate the offshore scene on our last day. So far, we're not too impressed with the size of fish; mostly release-size tuna, but the day is young."

Canoas proved to be disappointing, said Cates at Lee Palm Sportfishers August 5, by everything else worked out fine. He said his group stopped yellowtail fishing before they had limits, because they had enough fish.

The four-day trip with 30 anglers was the Bekendam-Jackson charter, which found excellent yellowtail fishing at the southwest Boiler at Benitos and the South and North End of Cedros Island.

Chartermaster Henry Bekendam won first place for a 30-pound yellowtail. He said he took it with a mackerel bait on a 2/0 Gorilla hook, a Penn 500 reel and a Calstar 197 rod.

Tao Khuat of Arleta was second, for a 27.9-pounder, and David Henning of Brooks, Alberta was third, for a 26.4-pound yellowtail.

Eleven-year-old Olen Larson of Minneapolis, MN won the trolling jackpot for an 18.7-pound dorado he pulled in after it struck a Mexican Flag Zucker's jig. Larson goes to Chaska Middle School West.