It looks as if Paul Sweeney has succeeded in his desire to catch a 100-pound tuna on the current Excel trip. In fact, the fish he’s posing with appears to be well over the mark. Skipper Justin Fleck had the following report for January 28:

“Tuna fishing has really picked up for us in the last 24 hours with our best action just after dark. Most of the fish are in the 100 to 190-pound class. We did have a few shots at some heavies, but luck was not on our side and they lived to fight another day. Wahoo fishing remains steady as well.”



“A Better Day”

“We had a better day on bigger fish today” wrote Red Rooster III skipper Andy Cates January 28. “We had a couple more stops than yesterday. That gave us a few more chances at bigger fish. Tom Jenkins took a 250-pounder, Art Cabelero got a 235, Martin Gomez Jr. caught a 213 and Bob Michener had a 215-pound tuna. We had 30 fish for the day, most from 120 to 180 pounds. Nice grade of fish; I hope we can do it again tomorrow.”



“Grade Is Incredible”

The report from Royal Star for January 28 said, “Not quite the caliber of action we had yesterday, but still a great day of cow angling in flat calm weather. We ended up with 22 fish, highlighted by six that made it over the magic number from 205 to 270 pounds. The overall grade is incredible, with the stock grade being 110 to190 pounds, which puts the average at about 160 pounds. We’re hoping we can keep it up for the next three days. Today's shot shows Bruce Lozekar and Mark Bower with a pair of 250-pounders taken out of our sundown bite.”



Cranking Away

“Royal Polaris is still pulling ‘em in,” said the report for January 28. “The weather continues to be outstanding and the Baby-back Ribs were wow! Wahoo and YFT, not enough to be wide-open, just enough to make every fish a story of its own! The tuna were between 140- and 195 pounds, complete with a few heartbreaking losses! The good stuff; afternoon mayhem that led into darkness.”