"I pulled up at Outer Rock," said Red Rooster III skipper John Grabowski at H&M Landing September 18, "and the tuna started boiling around when the anchor went down. Within minutes we had 15 fish going, and it stayed good for the rest of the day.

"The next day was quite a bit slower, so that night we went out and made some squid. On the third day the squid was the right deal with the kite, and we got over 40 fish that way. We only lost two fish to the white sharks the whole time. On the last day we went up to Pilot Rock at the North End, and got some yellowtail. We saw tuna boiling around up there, too, so maybe that end is going to bite pretty soon."

Gabrowski had Izorline owner Steve Ichinokochi aboard as chartermaster on the five-day trip, which had 27 anglers.

"We had nice weather and good fishing," said Steve, who handed the trophy out for the best fish caught on his product.

The trophy went to Bill Campbell of Placentia, who won first place for a 110-pound tuna that made an error with a sardine hanging under the kite. The 60-pound Izorline leader was good enough to bring in the money and the trophy. Bill used the boat's kite rig, with a Tiagra 50 reel and a Seeker 6463 XXXH rod.

Kent Fukimoto of Santa And won second place for his 99-pounder. Eric Fukumitsu of San Francisco was third, for a 91-pounder, and Eric Wright won fourth place (since there was no trolling prize, because there was no trolling on the trip) for an 83.6-pound Guadalupe yellowfin tuna.

Hank Hamada, owner of the Hibachi Steak House in Anaheim, caught a 50.5-pound yellowtail on 40-pound line and a flylined sardine, so he was invited into the jackpot lineup with his lifetime-best fish.