Mark Moffat of San Diego is a regular on the Red Rooster III, with a best-ever tuna of 285 pounds. He nearly beat that fish on his latest trip when he weighed one at 279.6 pounds. Then he weighed two more at 225.2 and 214.6 pounds, which gave him over 700 pounds for the three tuna. The big one won first place on a nice trip with skipper Andy Cates to the Buffer Zone, which produced a total of 13 cows, tuna over 200 pounds.

Mark was one of 21 anglers aboard, and told dock reporter Bill Roecker, “I got bit on the drift after a long soak. The fish was very sluggish at first, and then took half my spool. At the end he came up on the port bow.”

Mark baited a large mackerel on a 10/0 Mustad 7691 hook, tied to 130-popund Izorline and 130-pound Line One spectra. He fished with an Accurate ATD 50 reel and a Calstar 6455 rod.

Hans Rueckert of Granada Hills is another long-time (25 years) Rooster rider, and he took second place for his 228.6-pound yellowfin. He also had one at 200.8 pounds. He said the big one bit a mackerel on a 10/0 7691 hook. He fished with 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Line One spectra on an Accurate ATD 50 W reel and a Calstar 765 H rod.


Chang Liu of Oceanside won third place for a 223.2-pounder. He got another fish that went 207 pounds. He said he took the big one on a sardine and a 7/0 ringed Owner Super Mutu hook. He used 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Izorline spectra on an Accurate 50 W reel and a six-foot Truline rod.

Todd Cameron of Long Beach got tuna of 218, 215 and 203 pounds. He fished mackerel baits on 10/0 VMC hooks, and used 130-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One spectra on a Tiagra 50 W reel and a Calstar 770 XXH rod.

Charles Tanaka of San Francisco caught a 210-pound tuna with a sardine on a ringed Owner Super Mutu in 6/0 size. He fished with 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One spectra on an Accurate 50 reel and a Calstar 770 XXH rod.

Hemzeh Abdelmuti of Huntington Beach was another gold-touched angler on the Rooster trip. He got a 206 and a 203.8-pound tuna. He fished sardines on 6/0 ringed Super Mutu hooks. He used 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon, 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Line One spectra on a Tiagra 50 reel modified by Cal Sheets and a Super Seeker 2 x 4 rod.

“The big one took an hour and a half,” he remarked. “My best fish before this trip was a 45-pound tuna.”



Word From Excel

Justin Fleck has Excel out on a good trip. The boat is scheduled to return to Fisherman’s Landing December 11, loaded with big tuna. Many anglers have a career best fish, noted Fleck, and the group had time to fish yellowtail on the way home.



Rolling Right Along

“Not much to report out here,” said skipper Jeff DeBuys aboard Independence December 8, “as we are steadily making our way up to San Diego. The weather has improved, and the ride is good, and looks to continue. Looking back on the trip, we were blessed with good weather, and great fishing, and a really great group of guys. I took a quick show of hands, and quite a few of these guys caught their personal best tuna on this trip, which is always a good thing in my book. We should be back to the dock Saturday 0530.”