Rose docked Royal Polaris

"It was amazing; last year we had to fish kelp paddies stops," said Brian Loy, of Reno. "This trip, we actually stuck with one stop and had four-to-six fish at a time, all the time."

"Skipper Roy Rose did a hell of a job," said George Swarberg of Newport Beach. George is the owner of Knobbie; new rod butt devices to use instead of a rod belt. Knobbies went into distribution at tackle stores in July.

Linda Koehn, of Coldwater, KS joined the Royal Polaris 100-pound club with a 102.4-pound yellowfin. "I had to rest for two days afterward," laughed Linda, "but I finally got it! Everything was wonderful."

John Choi, of L.A. took first place with a 121-pound tuna he caught on a 2/0 Super Mutu circle hook, 40-pound Seaguar, a 700H Cal Star rod and a Avet LX 2-speed. "My drag was sticking," he said

Chartermasters Bill Nakaki, of Tracy, and Steve Tsujiuchi of Rosemead won second and third place respectively. "We didn't lose too many fish," said Nakaki, "maybe because there are so many boats out there right now. The Searcher was there as well, on a shark trip." Nakaki fished a sardine on a 3/0 Owner super Mutu Ringed hook and 40-pound fluorocarbon leader.

Steve Tsujiuchi added that the fishing is the "best quality we've seen at Guadalupe in a long while."