When the crew of the American Angler saw that Sonia Forbes of Temple City had only a single-speed reel to use on the big yellowfin tuna at Guadalupe Island, they gave her an Avet two-speed. She used it to take the trip's best fish and win first place.

"He bit as soon as the bait hit the water," said Sonia at Pt. Loma Sportfishing October 1. "He got all my line except for about 50 yards of Spectra. The sharks were lurking, but someone else's fish distracted them, and I got him in."

Sonia, who is an accounts supervisor for Technicolor on the Disney account, said she used a sardine on a 2/0 ringed Gorilla hook, with 40-pound Izorline, an Avet JX reel and a Seeker F 70 rod to do the chore.

Brian Kiyohara skippered the six-day Ken's Custom Reels trip. Ken Corwin was chartermaster, and stepped in to pose for Dr. Adam Jonas of UCLA in the lineup shot.

Wes Cogan, who works at Ken's, won second place, and posed in the middle of the lineup.