Izorline Trip Scores Six
Andy Cates docked Red Rooster III March 1 at H&M Landing, after a 16-day trip with a flyback option. Chartermaster Mike Riley, an Izor rep, made the trip and the presentation of the big fish trophy after the weigh-in. Fishing was pretty darn good, said anglers, but most of the tuna were under 200 pounds. There were six cows in the catch.

Bradley Wood of Mendocino, who fishes some commercially in Hawaii, won the jackpot for a 231.8-pound tuna he got on a flying fish under the kite.

Brad used a 10/0 Mustad 7691 hook, 130-pound Izorline Spectra on am Accurate 80 reel and a Super Seeker 6364 XXXH rod.

"I've caught 200-pounders before on the hand line in Kona," he said to Bill Roecker at the scales, "but this is my best one, a solid 230-plus. I got him in 40 minutes.

"I saw him take the flyer after he made three big misses," continued Wood, "right at dark. He made two big runs, and when I was fightinghim up on the bow he got wrapped on the anchor line. Thanks to Joe D'Aquisto the second skipper, we got him unwrapped, and he came up there on the bow after dark.

"We had a great crew, and I really enjoyed the trip. For sure, I'm coming back again."

Jin Sung Chang of Korea won second place for a 224.6-pounder. He also had a 209-pound tuna. He said he got the big one after an hour and a half fight, on a sardine and a 5/0 Super Mutu hook, 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader, 130-pound Izor Spectra, a Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 760 H rod.

Won Koo Lee of Downey won third place for a 211.5-pound yellowfin. He bagged that fish with a sardine on a 5/0 Mutu hook, 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader, 130-pound Izor Spectra, a Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 655 XXH rod. His fight lasted two hours.

John Keeler of Santa Monica took a 207.2-pounder in a half-hour, with a sardine on a 5/0 Super Mutu hook on 130-pound Blackwater, 130-pound Izor Spectra, an Avet 50 reel and a Super Seeker 6463 XXXH rod.

Spiro Sotripoulos caught a 200/9-pound tuna, but wasn't available for comment.

Royal Star Tagging Trip Ends
Bill Roecker interviewed Tim Ekstrom the afternoon the skipper arrived in San Diego. Tim and most of the anglers aboard took the fly home option after this special trip to the islands in the Revillagigedos archipelago. The boat will return to Fisherman's Landing the morning of February 28.

The tagging trip was special, because no fishing is allowed in the near shore waters of the preserve. Mexican and American scientists and anglers cooperate on the tagging trips to study the giant yellowfin tuna that thrive and migrate there. Here is some of what Ekstrom had to say:

"This is our fifth tagging trip since 2006. I think the fishing was very good, comparable to four of the five trips, but this trip was more consistent at the 3 major islands. We got 60 to 200-pound fish at San Benedicto Island on the first day, and 114 of those on the second. I was amazed, because for the first time in some years, there were no sharks.

"At Socorro Island we spent two days, and tagged 160 tuna on the first day. About130 were the same size as they were at San Benedicto. It was just like the old days. We always fished with the heavy gear. And there were no sharks, another bonus.

"Then we fished at Roca Partida for two days. We found good sign of smaller fish there; the information from the outside was encouraging. It was a little sharky until we got to the outside. We spent 4 days at Clarion and enjoyed phenomenal fishing. On our worst day we still got 28 fish.

"At Clarion we tagged 59 tuna, and five were over 200 pounds, on the first day. On the second day six were over 200 pounds, and 40 were 130 to 287 pounds. I got really good photos and so did several of the anglers.

On day three the shark-free fishing came to an end. They moved in like a school of tuna. They were schooling silky sharks, pelagic schooling sharks.

"On the last day there were still sharks around, but they weren't intolerable. At lunchtime we got on a school of big tuna from 160 to 220 pounds. Everybody had one going for a while. It was crazy! And a good way to finish, ended on a high note. We rode on grease all the way home.

"Here's the breakdown on tags," continued Ekstrom. "We installed 21 archival tags, and tagged 568 tuna, and 79 wahoo. We were just six shy of our record. The great part of was 60 pounds or more. This year we pull-tagged only 11 fish, the rest of them came aboard.

"I love the way the angers embrace the tagging effort. In southern California we've been at the lower end of the evolutionary scale. On this trip they had such a great time-it's a real eye-opener for me. The measure of success is not a dead fish on the deck.

"We saw tons of whales. Something that was very strange, we saw very few wahoo anywhere.

"Three of our tagged fish have been re-caught this year. Dr. Dave Hall's fish and Warren Sakamoto's fish are two that were tagged during last April's tag trip. I understand there's one more coming on the Rooster this Sunday."

"Beyond My Wildest Dreams"
An 18-day Accurate trip aboard Royal Polaris with owner Frank LoPreste arrived at Fisherman's Landing February 26 with an excellent catch of tuna that included 15 cows, or fish over 200 pounds, including two that weighed over 300 pounds.

Chartermaster Jack Nilsen was pleased. "It really was a very good trip," he said. "We may have nearly plugged the boat. I didn't get a cow this time, but I had a 250-pounder up to the boat, when he took off again and dived 150 yards. I got him back up after a while, and they were reaching for him with the gaffs when the (130-pound) line popped."

Pete Heimbach of La Mesa had the best fish, a 304.6-pounder, but he caught it on the kite, so it wasn't eligible for the jackpot. Pete said the catch came on a double sardine kite rig, on 130-pound Blackwater Spectra, a Penn 80 STW reel and a Seeker 6460 XXXH rod.

"It took an hour," said Pete on the dock. "He's my best fish. I saw him roll, then come back and crash on the bait. He ran off 150 yards right away. He went down, and when I got him up it was on the port side under the wheelhouse. They used four gaffs, and a fifth one to get him through the gate.

"My best one before was a 243-pounder," continued Heimbach. "It was two years ago on the same trip."

Mark Frankenberger of Dalton, GA was on his second long range trip. He got a 300-pounder, a supercow, on the first one, and he tied himself on his second trip with another. This one came in at 301.2 pounds, much to LoPreste's relief. That was about what it weighed on the boat, but conditions for weighing were bad, said the skipper.

Mark said he used a sardine on a 6/0 Super Mutu hook tied to 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Blackwater Spectra. He fished with an Accurate 50 W reel and a Calstar 7465 H rod.

"It was about 40 minutes," recalled Frankenberger. It was almost dark when he bit. He ran straight out for at least 600 yards before he went down. That last 100 yards was the toughest I ever pulled. He came up on the port side aft. It was beyond my wildest dreams."

Frankenberger also had two cows. The yellowfin weighed 205 and 201 pounds.

French fisherman Francois Mangeot won second place for a 228.2-pound tuna. He wasn't available at the dock, having flown home from Cabo.

Chris Petersen of Castaic won third place for a 227.8-pound tuna. He also had one at 211.6 pounds. He said he fished with a sardine on a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu, on 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He used an Accurate 50 reel and a Calstar 760 H rod. The larger fish fought for 45 minutes.

Roger Hawtree of Kamuela, HI caught a 244-pound tuna on a flying fish under the kite. The flyer was pinned to a 20/0 Mustad circle hook, tied to 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader and 130-pound Izorline Spectra on a Penn 50 W reel and a new Calstar 770 H rod.

"A nice rod," said Roger. "It works good, and it has great recoil."

Jeff ("Holie Mackerel") Shapiro of Rancho Santa Margarita bagged a brace of cows at 236 and 239 pounds. The pair came within a pound each of the weight obtained on the boat. Jeff baited sardines on 6/0 ringed Super Mutu hook. He used 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon, 130-pound Line One Spectra, a Tiagra 50 reel and a Calstar 760 H rod. He said the bigger fish fought for 30 minutes,

Gary Cotter of Santa Barbara took a 224-pounder. Gary fished a sardine on a ringed Super Mutu in the 6/0 size. He fished with 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Accurate 50 reel and a Calstar 765 XH rod to do the job in 25 minutes.

Tom Neuman of Del Mar got a 209-pounder on a sardine and a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu on 100-pound Blackwater and 130-pound Line One Spectra, with an Accurate ATD 30 open frame reel and a Calstar 655 XXH rod.

"That reel masters fish," said Tom. "I melted the drags on another make of reel on another cow."