“We saw better sign of tuna today,” said the report from Shogun January 8, “and in the afternoon had a fair snap at them. Hal Guy and Gus Angelidis came away with the two biggest for the day, Hal's tuna is pushing the 160 pound mark.

“The weather/wind is still at 14 knots, not bad except that the current is pulling straight into it which makes for some rolling around while sitting on the anchor.”



Cow For The RP

“Weather continues to be excellent with a slight breeze, clear skies, and sunny. We had to put balloons on the kite today,” observed the report from Royal Polaris January 7.

“Fishing continues to improve on Yellowfin, with most of the fish in the 90 to 130-pound catagory. We did get our first 200-pound Yellowfin today, and luck angler was Peter "Calico" Mirelez. Pete's fish weighed in at 215 pounds, this was Pete's first duce. It was a mixed bite today, with about 50% coming on the kite, and the rest on Sardines.

“We will give this a try tomorrow, so wish us luck and we will keep you posted on our daily events.”



Topshots & Fluorocarbon

“Hi Bill, 
Hope your holiday season is going well. I've been buying your videos, trying to learn as much about LR fishing as I can before I take my 1st trip. I was curious about top shot length. What do you use as a standard length when fishing your 30/40/50-pound rigs? I was just watching the Hot Zone last night and noticed that you had flourocarbon attached to your main line, instead of rigging straight to the spectra. In your opinion is that a better way to go? Also do you use a spectra backing on all of your reels regardless of what pound test your using. For example on a reel that holds 300 yards of 30-pound test, would you just fill it with mono or would you always put on a spectra backing with a top shot? If you go with the spectra/mono, what length top shot would you use? 
Have a Happy New Year!” Felix C. (by email December 30, 2009)

Bill’s Reply

Hello, Felix: 
Thanks for your patronage! Here’s my take on medium (30 to 50-pound) outfits. Spectra tangles are much worse than mono tangles, so I use a topshot of mono to keep me out of tangles close to the boat. I like 100 yards (or more) of mono. I count on the Spectra to add considerably more line to my spool, so if I hook a fish larger than anticipated I still have enough backing to stop it. This is my personal option; many anglers tie fluorocarbon to Spectra with no mono. 

I do use Spectra backing on all my reels with 30-pound or heavier line. I’d like to have 200 or 300 yards of Spectra on there, but as you know reels have differing capacities, so there is variance here. 

On medium gear I like to have five to 10 yards of fluorocarbon leader. I trim these ends with each caught or lost fish, to eliminate nicks, scrapes, frays or other abrasions. I use more leader than necessary, so I can cut the ends off several times before tying on a new length of fluorocarbon. 

Like most fishing notions, what I’ve said here may inspire disagreement, but this is what works for me. Good luck to you, Felix. Stay out of those Spectra tangles by paying attention to what’s going on with your line.
 Smooth seas and light breezes,
 Bill

Brandon Hayward, saltwater editor at Western Outdoor News, recently took a ten-day trip aboard the Excel, a boat he used to work aboard as a deckhand. This time he was aboard as a passenger, and with some hard fishing Hayward put two cow tuna on the boat. They weighed 202 and 252 pounds. He remarked that he only made two or three casts between those hookups, and that his smaller fish came on a large Accurate 50 reel.

To catch the 252-pound tuna, he baited a sardine on a 5/0 gorilla hook tied to 100-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 100-pound Line One Spectra on an Accurate 12 topless reel and a Super Seeker 2 x 4 rod.

“I love that rod,” he said. “You just lay it on the rail. I lost my first big one. Then I went to the 100-pound and hooked the 252-pounder.”

Here’s some of what Brandon had to say about using small reels:

I was lucky enough to recently spend my vacation doing what I love the most on the water: fishing cows. Those big, round, sickle finned yellowfin that are the ultimate in long range fishing.

After getting home I got around to unpacking my reels from the trip about a week later. (Don’t gasp—I cleaned them on the boat.)

Reaching into the reel bag, I picked up my Accurate ATD 50 topless first. Thoughts of the 202 pounder I got on the “big reel” popped into my head. Then I grabbed the “little” ATD 12 and thought about the 252 I got on it. I replayed the fish in my head—the cast, the long soak, the bite, the dumping 400 yards of line, the end game—it all came back to me.

Sometimes anglers come up with realizations about their trips after they get off the boat. This was mine.

The “small reels, big fish” saying that Accurate pushes is real and here to stay. There’s a time when the added advantages of a small reel—castability, mainly—are the differences between getting bit and watching.

Some guys like to say, “You can’t fish cows with that thing!” “Kid, you’re going to have your work cut out for you if you get bit by a cow using that.” This is what the other guys sometimes say when they see a little reel like an ATD 12.

But they don’t keep this in mind: you can get over 500 yards of 100-pound hollow Spectra on the ATD 12. Back in the days of fishing straight mono on 50 wides, anglers were still “only” getting around 500 yards. The little reels have the drags, they have the gears, and they have the line capacity.

So here are my questions: What’s the difference? Why can’t a guy fish a little reel that has the same general capabilities as the stuff—like 50s and 80s—that was standard back in the mono days?

Some might say that you have a bigger spool—a bigger barrel if you will—with a 50-sized reel. And you do. But the little reels are so beefed up and a so tuned in, that anyone who is comfortable with a rod and reel can catch a cow on a little reel.

After all, sometimes the “little” things turn up “big” results.

Brandon Hayward
Western Outdoor News

That big tuna caught by Rob McAdam on his charter aboard Royal Star that returned December 22 made the top ten list, marked with an asterisk, to indicate it wasn’t weighed on land. It would have slipped into ninth place had the weighing taken place on certified scales on solid ground. Here is the most recent version of the list.

Bill Roecker’s All-Time Top Tuna (Qualified under jackpot rules)



1. Mark Gasich, 399.6 pounds, Polaris Supreme, Clarion Island, November 15, 1992


2. Dave Manella, 395.4 pounds, Royal Polaris, Clarion Island, Feb 19, 1993


3. Curt Wiesenhutter, 388.75 pounds, Royal Polaris, San Benedicto Island, April 1, 1977


4. Dennis Williams, 381.1 pounds, Royal Star, Finger Bank, Baja, November 26, 2008


5. Al Herzog, 380 pounds, Qualifier 105, San Benedicto Island, January 11, 1981


6. Corky Yokoe, 376.38 pounds, Royal Polaris, Clarion Island, January 5, 1996


7. Joe Simmons, 370 pounds, Qualifier 105, Clarion Island, June 1989


8. Dick McKenzie, 364.8 pounds, Royal Polaris, Clarion Island, April 20, 1982


9. Dick Minor, 363.9 pounds, Polaris Supreme, Roca Partida, January 1993


10. Mike Ashford, 362.1 pounds Red Rooster III Clarion Island June 16, 2009
11. Roger Hawtree, 361.9 pounds, Royal Polaris, Clarion Island, January 12, 1992
12. Jim Nemlowill, 361.63 pounds, Red Rooster III, Socorro Island, December 6, 1981

*John Carbone, Doc Ski and John Grabowski all pulled on a 377-pounder aboard Q-105 at Clarion Island December 14, 1991.
* Rick Okuni of Walnut Grove had a tuna that weighed 368 pounds on the American Angler while fishing on the southern banks. It was not weighed again January 5, 2009 on the dock.
* Rob McAdam of San Francisco took a 364-pound tuna aboard Royal Star on his charter that returned December 22, 2009. The fish was not weighed on land. Rob got it with a chunk on a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook, 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Izor Spectra on an Accurate 50 reel and a Calstar 6465 XXH rod.