On her second trip, Pamela Bies of Whittier won first place aboard the Searcher on a three-day trip with 22 anglers. Aaron Remy was the skipper. He said his best fishing came at about 80 miles, near the Butterfly Bank, inside the Cortes Bank.

"The best bite was from about eight in the morning to about one p.m.," he said. "We saw lots of fish and some big bait balls."

Pamela won for her 34-pound albacore. She got it with a sardine on a 4/0 hook, 25-pound fluorocarbon leader and 40-pound line on an Accurate-modified Penn 500 reel and a six and a half-foot Fenwick rod.

"He took me up to the bow and back, and across the stern," she said. "I can't wait to get home and show it off."

Pamela's dad Gary Heilgeist of Whittier won second place, for a 33.6-pound albie. John Avitia of Kingman, AZ won third place, for a 33.2-pound albacore.