The first good catch of wahoo arrived with skipper Drew Henderson and his 20 anglers aboard the Polaris Supreme October 28. Over 100 wahoo were caught, and 65 came on a single wild day of fishing at the top end of The Ridge on the Dennis Bunker Memorial trip. Fishing was good for other species as well, but the wahoo drew all the oohs and ahs from the spectators at Fisherman's Landing, as many looked to be over 50 pounds.

"We got the job done," wrote Drew on his internet report. "The morning looked very bad. There was wind and a choppy confused sea. That, combined with no fish, led to hopeless thoughts. I don't know why, but after lunch the whole entire bank we were fishing lit up with life.

"It didn't take long before we quit fishing tuna and put our sinkers on. We have everything you would hope and ask for on a ten-day trip except one thing, the cow tuna. The storm below is dying. Ourselves and three other boats are going to look for them. I'll be cuddling with my horseshoe tonight. I'm sure they will too."

Rick Bynum of Sacramento won first place, for an 80-pound yellowfin tuna. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 3/0 Eagle Claw hook on 50-pound fluorocarbon leader, 60-pound P-Line and 80-poundSpectra backing. All of it was on a TLD 30 reel and a Seeker Black Steel 6465 XXH rod.

"It was fun!" added Bynum. "It took a half-hour."

Ddaze Phuong of Orange was second, for a 66.4-pound wahoo, and Mike Grella of Sylmar won third place for a 63-pound wild wahoo.

"We saw a little dab of big tuna one day," reported skipper Henderson, "but they wouldn't come up and play."