Randy Toussaint skippered the eight-day Tom Hultgen memorial trip aboard Royal Star that returned to Fisherman’s Landing July 1.

“Fishing at the Rocks was damn good,” said Randy. “We scratched good fish all day.”

On June 27, Toussaint wrote: “This is why I love these Spring eight day trips; yesterday we had wide open fishing on 18 to 30-pound yellows, and today we had great fishing on 40 to 90-pound yellowfin. We started hooking fish first thing this morning and ended up with 57 by early afternoon when they shut off. 40-pound line was the way to go most of the time, but we did land a few on lighter gear when it slowed down.

“We picked it up (the anchor) and tried for wahoo this afternoon after the tuna quit and were pleasantly surprised with a couple stops that produced six beautiful 'skin' from 40 to 70 pounds. If you're on the next trip, make sure you bring the wahoo gear.”

Ron Penn got this big 69-pound wahoo at Alijos Rocks.

Mike Nichols of San Diego won first place for a 107-pound yellowfin tuna that erred on a sardine and a 4/0 ringed Mutu hook. He said he fished with 40-pound P-Line, 40-pound fluorocarbon leader, a Saltiga 40 reel and a Calstar 700 M rod.

Mike Nichols won first place aboard Royal Star at Alijos Rocks with thei 107-pound yellowfin tuna.

“He fought like hell,” said Nichols. “He got the line wrapped six times around the anchor line, but crewman Joey Conrad got him off again.”

Dennis Ritter of San Diego was second, for an 88-pounder, and Ray Hansen of Mission Viejo was third, for a 77-pound yellowfin tuna.

Ray Hansen scored third place for his 77-pound tuna aboard Royal Star.

Chris Bush of Lakeside caught a 58-pound wahoo on a Marauder, and Ron Penn of San Diego nabbed the best “skin” so far this new season, when he caught a 69-pound wahoo.

Open Water Yellowfin

Shogun skipper Bruce Smith parked the rig at Fisherman’s landing July first after three days of fishing about 120 miles from San Diego.

“We had excellent fishing on big yellowfin,” remarked Smith. “They ran from 25 to 50 pounds, and they came right to the corner after we found a sonar school. They stayed there for two hours, and there were five tuna after every bait. The only bad thing was that we went through quite a few to get 60 or so.”

Smith’s anglers also had a few larger albacore, up to 38 pounds, and some bluefin tuna.

On June 29, he wrote, “When we got on those yellowfin this afternoon they were biting nails! Everyone had one on for the first half hour. The guys that went in the water with twenty pound immediately were broke off. These fish were biting the fifty and sixty no problem. This is Guadalupe-size fish in the three-day range and I am really excited. It has been about ten years since I have seen this grade of yellowfin in this volume offshore. So if you are coming out with us in the near future, be prepared. Smaller two speeds work great, the use of fluorocarbon was not needed and good hooks such as 3/0 Mutus or Mustad 94150 hooks in 4/0 size were effective.”

These Shogun winners got their big yellowfin only 120 miles from San Diego.

Jim Rutledge of Ventura won first place for his 50.5-pound yellowfin. He caught it with a sardine on a 4/0 Gorilla hook tied to 40-pound clear Izorline on a Penn 12 T reel and a seven and a half-foot custom Calstar rod.

Mike Udell of La Mirada was second, for a 50.2-pounder, and Ron Phillips of Huntington Beach was third, for a 48.9-pound yellowfin tuna.

Note On Yellowfin

Several weeks ago reporter Bill Roecker was fishing with Shawn Steward aboard the Excel when tuna of the same size were first encountered. The fish were at 170 miles. These, from 120 miles, may indicate the fish are moving closer to San Diego. Boats fishing for a day and a half can reach such schools.