Justin Fleck didn't exactly discover the big tuna on the southern banks this season, but he may have been first to make a catch on the cows. Fleck docked Excel November 19 after the ten-day Team ???Hoo trip with 25 anglers. Chartermasters Mark Dorton and Ken Bell were aboard, and Fleck weighed his catch on the commercial scales at Fisherman's Landing.

"There's incredible sign of cows down there," reported Fleck at the dock. "It's like it was two years ago. I think maybe we're seeing more 200-pounders this year.

"The water's 74 to 78 degrees," continued Fleck, "and it's loaded with big 30 to 40-pound squid. The big fish we got were milling on the surface in breezers of squid.

"But they're biting on sardines and mackerel," he pointed out. "They prefer the fin bait to the squid for bait. We lost several big fish; the guys on them looked like they were stuck on the bottom for two or three hours. Billy Webb got a 228 on a Yummee Flyer, a plastic flying fish. He got spooled and went to the backup rig and the fish died, but he got it up."

Cows weren't the only story. Many of the tuna caught were in the 170 to 190-pound class, and there were also numerous tuna of 50 to 100 pounds swimming near the big boys.
,br> Dean Jefferies of Paso Robles won first place for his 261-pound yellowfin. He said it fought him for an hour after he hooked it on a sardine on the kite, with an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook. Dean used 130-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Spectra on a Penn 70 VSW reel and a Calstar 6455 XXH rod.

"It was at color for 15 minutes," he remarked.

Chartermaster Ken Bell won second place for his 230-pounder. He said he baited a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook. He used 100-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Line One Spectra on a Penn 50 VSW reel and a Calstar 7455 XH rod.

John Dillen of San Diego won third place for a 229-pound tuna he bagged with a mackerel on a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook. He said he used 100-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 30 W reel and a Seeker 6455 XXH rod.

Billy Webb was only a pound out of the winner's lineup with his 228-pounder. He said it bit on a sardine trailing a flyer under a balloon. He fished with a 9/0 Mustad 7691 hook on 130-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 30 reel and a Calstar 6455 XH rod.

Bill Cashman of Glendora got a 205-pounder with a mackerel on a 7/0 Eagle Claw hook. He fished 100-pound Big Game line, 130-pound Power Pro Spectra on a Penn 30 W reel modified by Cal Sheets, and a Seeker 6463 XXXH rod.

John Preston of South Lake Tahoe bagged a 204-pounder.

Carl Dorton of Tarzana caught a 202-pound tuna with a mackerel on a 7/0 Eagle Claw hook. He used 80-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Line One Spectra on a Penn 30 W reel and a Calstar 760 H rod.