Big Benitos Busters

Owner-skipper Mark Pisano docked his Independence at Pt. Loma Sportfishing June 1 after a five-day trip to the Benitos Islands and offshore waters. Yellowtail in the XL size were biting at the islands, as were the "normal," 15 to 20-pounders.

"The offshore fishing was very slow, both on the way down and back" said Mark. "But the yellowtail fishing at the islands was the best quality I've seen there. The fish were taking sardines and the yoyo iron. Not many tried the surface jigs."

Bud Edwards of Palmdale was the jackpot winner for a 54.2-pound mossback yellow he bagged with a sardine on a 3/0 ringed Super Mutu hook on 40-pound blue Izorline. He said he used a Seeker 6470 Black Steel rod.

"Man, he took me around the boat twice, and across the stern in a hurry! I couldn't have caught it without help from Dan the deckhand."

Steve Virtue of Ventura won second place for a 40.6-pound yellowtail, and Lee Blaisdell of Murietta was third, for a 36-pound yellowtail.

Chartermasters Brian Milliken and Ric Levy were aboard. They've been buddies since grade school. Milliken's 14-year-old son Brandon made his first long range trip, and other anglers said he fished very hard and well from the get-go, so he posed in the jackpot lineup with a 30-pound class yellow. Brandon said he goes to Auburndale Middle School in Corona, where he plays soccer, baseball and basketball.

Good Eight-Day Trip

Independence arrived under skipper Jeff DuBuy's hand at Pt. Loma Sportfishing June 11 after an eight-day Fisherman's Hardware of Huntington Beach charter loaded with 30 anglers and a good catch of tuna and yellowtail.

The tuna were from three and a half days at Alijos Rocks. "A couple of those days were real good," said Jeff. "We had excellent weather, and a nice grade of tuna there; from 30 to 60 pounds on the average. The water was 67.5 degrees."

Second skipper "Rooster" Kyle Karcher said the group also fished at Benitos for a day on the way back, finding 15 to 20-pound yellowtail under birds schools in the strait between Benitos and Cedros Island.

Ying Lee of Diamond Bar won first place for a 91.4-pound yellowfin tuna. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 4/0 Hayabusa hook, with 30-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader, 30-pound Izorline XXX and 50-pound Power Pro Spectra backing on a Trinidad 16 reel and a GRUSA 80 Megamag rod. The fish fought for an hour and 15 minutes on the long rod.

"The crew was fabulous," said Lee. "It was a miracle to get that one to gaff. I had to thumb the spool to stop him."

Pete Vitkus of Lake Wholford won second place for a 62.6-pounder, and Alex Mobile of Long Beach was third, for a 56.5-pound yellowfin tuna.

"Big" Russ Rihel of Wilmington jigged up a 46-pound amberjack on a Salas 6X Jr. iron in mint green and white finish. He posed with the jackpot winners.

The Indy also brought back an archival tag, passed on to Ed Everett of the IATCC for analysis. Ed said the tag would reveal dept, position, body and sea temperatures during the time it was sewn into the belly of a tuna, possibly not long ago at Clarion Island, during the Royal Star's tagging trip.

"The tag and wound looked pretty fresh," said Ed.

Two dorado were also caught at Alijos Rocks.

Heavy Halibut, Homeguards

Owner-skipper Mark Pisano took Independence on a five-day trip to the Benitos-Cedros area. He returned his anglers with a catch of yellowtail to Point Loma Sportfishing June 16, where the jackpot winners were weighed on the certified scales.

"We tried Guadalupe Island," said second skipper "Rooster" Karcher, "but it was calm there, with no current. We went across to the straits for a couple of decent days on good grade yellowtail. It was rough coming back up."

Gerard Charest of Escondido won first place, for a 48.5-pound yellowtail. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 3/0 Mustad 94150 hook, tied to 30-pound clear Ande line. He used a Torium 20 reel and a Calstar 6470 rod.

"I got him in five minutes," he said. He's my best yellowtail."

Mike Bratton of San Diego was the chartermaster for the San Diego Marlin Club trip, and won second place for a 48-pound yellow he got with a heavy Tady blue and white jig, with 40-pound Izorline, and Avet LX reel and a Seeker 6470 rod. He also got a 44.7-pound halibut on 25-pound line, and brought it into the lineup shot.

Frank Woolrich of Lakeside was third, for a 41.6-pound yellowtail.

Eight Is Enough

Skipper Mark Pisano brought his Independence home to Pt. Loma Sportfishing June 24 after a three-day trip with eight youngsters among the 28 anglers on the boat. On June 22, he wrote, "Today we had a great day of fishing for albacore and bluefin tuna. By day's end the parents and kids managed limits of albacore and 36 bluefin with most fish in the 15 to 30 lb. range, with just a small percentage of fish in the 10 to 15-pound range. The weather is as good as it gets; no wind and very mild seas.

"We had perfect weather," said Mark, "and very good fishing on mixed bluefin and albacore. We didn't have to go very far; only 60 miles or so."

Mike Griffin of Capistrano Beach won first place for a 39-pound albacore, likely the best one so far for a multi-day boat. Mike said he used a sardine bait on a 1/0 Gorilla hook, with 25-pound P-Line on a Torium 20 reel and a Calstar 810 rod.

Three young ladies took the top spots for kids. Jeanne Kelber, 15, of Carlsbad won first place for a 38.6-pound albie. She said it came on a sardine pinned to a 2/0 Mustad hook, on 20-pound Big Game line on an Avet SX reel and a Sabre seven-foot rod.

Riley Barilla, 12, of Santa Barbara was second, for a 37.4-pounder, and Robyn Ozaki (Rep Rick Ozaki's 11-year-old daughter) of Gardena won third place for a 36.6-pound albacore.

Summer is here, and in full swing. The weather has been absolutely perfect, hot sunny days and great yellowtail fishing. We had another outstanding day on big yellows. We looked at a couple of areas and had steady action all day on 18 to 30 lb. fish. They were hitting on jigs, bait and everything else we threw at them. Everyone is having a great time. For tomorrow we are going to look offshore for some kind of tuna fish to top us off. Wish us lots of luck, Jeff and the Indy crew

Bluefin On Bite

"There was excellent sign of bluefin offshore," said Independence skipper Jeff DuBuys at Pt. Loma Sportfishing June 29, "and there still is great yellowtail fishing at the islands. We had a major run-in with a seiner over a dandy school.

"We had about 50 bluefin on board," he continued, "When a seiner came steaming up at 15 knots and circled us close. Then he wrapped the school. What are you gonna do?"

Earl Durham of Rancho Santa Margarita won first place for a 38-pound bluefin. He said he got it with a sardine on a 3/0 Super Mutu hook on 25-pound P-Line. He fished with a Pro gear 280 reel and a Calstar 700 ML rod.

Corey Concha of Chula Vista won second place for a 35.8-pounder, and Greg Stoney of Ventura was third, for a 35.6-pound bluefin tuna.

"Outside of that," finished DuBuys, "it was a nice five-day trip, with very nice weather."