"Rooster" Bags Beach Busters
"We had some chop," said Kyle "Rooster" Karcher, Independence skipper for a five-day trip that returned September 8, "but the yellowtail fishing on the beach at San Pablo was great. There's some yellowtail showing offshore north of there. Guadalupe is up and down but there's decent sign of tuna there. It's good fishing right now."

Karcher docked the boat at Pt. Loma Sportfishing and offloaded his 23 anglers and their fish.

Jeff Granse of Chino Hills had the best 'tail, a 47.2-pounder that was even heavier just recently, before the fish spawned. He bagged it with a sardine on a 3/0 Super Mutu hook, 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader, 40-pound Izorline and 60-pound Spectra. He fished with an Avet LX 6-3 reel and a Seeker Black Steel 670 rod.

"I got him in about 15 minutes," said Granse. "He bit about 200 yards away, swam up the side, went down and came up backward."

Steve Dulay of Glendora won second place for a 38.2-pound yellow, and Al Hahn of Orange produced a third-place winner, a 36-pound Guadalupe yellowtail.

Kelp Fishing & Yellowtail
Norm Kagawa brought his Shogun home to Fisherman's Landing September 7 after a five-day trip that fished down the beach, on offshore kelps and at Guadalupe Island. The yellowtail fishing was good, he said, and kelps provided limits of dorado.

Van Smith of Costa Mesa won the jackpot for a 35.2-pound yellowfin tuna, but wasn't at the scales for a photo. Glenn Silveria of Santa Clara had a 34.2-pound tuna for second place and also won the Rollo jackpot for the best yellowtail.

Seven-year-old Eric Torres of Santa Barbara won third place for a 30.6-pound yellowfin tuna (photo at top). He was one of the boat's most enthusiastic anglers, said the other fishermen. He goes to La Patera Elementary School, where he enjoys playing basketball.

Little Tokyo Special
Stanley Chin's charter aboard American Angler returned to Pt. Loma September 7, after a five-day trip with skipper Sam Patella to Benitos-Cedros. There were 24 anglers aboard.

Chin won first place in the jackpot for a 41.2-pound yellowtail. He said it came on a mackerel pinned on a 3/0 ringed Super Mutu hook. He sent that to the bottom on a dropper loop with a 16-ounce sinker. He fished with 60-pound Maxima line, a Tiagra 20 reel and a six and a half-foot Loomis rod.

Ted Reed of Chino Hills won second place for a 32.8-pound yellowtail, and Jay Preston of Glendora was third for a 32-pound yellow.

Little Reel Scores Triple Sweep
Royal Star arrived at Fisherman's Landing September 7 after a five-day trip with 24 anglers. The fishing tour was conducted by Tim Ekstrom and Randy Toussaint, the boat's owner-skippers.

"The outside treated us right today," wrote Tim on September 4, "with a good day on both yellowfin tuna and big yellowtail in the beautiful, flat calm conditions this island is so well known for. It wasn't easy, which is typical for this island, but every angler who put in the time and effort at the rail had a few quality fish to show for it by day's end. I can't say that we were overly impressed with the signs of fish around but the results from our efforts demonstrated that there is presently more than meets the eye in this zone."

All three jackpots were won by Dave Walker of Yorba Linda, who made a remarkable sweep with sardine baits and a very small reel. His fish weighed 90, 78.5 and 67 pounds. He fished with 4/0 Mustad hooks, 40-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 50-pound Izorline Spectra backing on his new Accurate 270 two-speed reel, mounted on a Calstar 665 rod.

"Everyone doubted the little reel had that much power," said Walker on the dock. "But the little 270 killed 'em, just like deckhand Blake and Dave and Doug at Accurate told me it would."