New Meaning For "Big Bruiser"

John Grabowski docked Red Rooster III at H&M Landing February 3 after a 15-day trip with 24 anglers sponsored by Mustad, Accurate and Bluewater Tackle. Catchy Tackle and several other sponsors also donated products. The trip produced no cows, but numerous tuna were close to the 200-pound mark.

"This trip we have seen some good fishing and some scratch fishing," wrote Grabowski in summation the day before, "we had flat calm seas for the ride down to the fishing grounds and lots of wind while we where on the grounds and definitely unfavorable weather during our ride home. None of which we can control. We just work at putting the best trip together possible with what we are given to work with, all in all we put together a very nice catch of fish and dealt with the weather the best we could.

"The wind and seas are still very much a factor in our ride up the coast, not as bad as last night but we are still bucking into 18-22 knots of wind and 6-8 foot seas. Our ETA to San Diego as of right now is looking like 1100 hours at the dock, that could change for the worse if this wind and sea condition picks up throughout the night.

"I would like to thank Mustad and Son Hook Company for all the wonderful Mustad products they provided to all the guests on board this trip, we have some great Mustad success story's from this trip. Also thanks to Bluewater Tackle and San Diego Fly Shops for their very generous donation of all the raffle prizes that everyone on board benefited from, it truly add a special touch to the trip. Last but certainly not least I would like to thank Jack Nilsen and Accurate Fishing Products for the Accurate Twin Drag 50 reels that he had on board for everyone to use, it's always a pleasure to have such a fine product at our disposal while fishing the big Yellowfin."

An odd incident occurred to Archie Irion of Escondido while he stood at the rail, fishing. A large wahoo jumped out of the water and hit Archie on the right thigh. The fish wasn't hooked, nor did it appear to be chasing anything.

"It felt like a fastball, " said Archie. "I looked down and there was no blood to speak of, just a couple of drops. He did cut through three layers of nylon shorts. He was a big bruiser."

That wasn't all that happened to Archie, though. He also caught a 175-pound tuna that was foul-hooked on his 80-pound fluorocarbon leader, with an Accurate 665 two-speed reel and a sardine. The fish was gaffed on the other side of the boat from Archie.

Wahoo were especially thick.

"Anyone who wanted a wahoo could have one," said Rooster regular Glenn Kerr of Costa Mesa. "They bit everything. One was tagged."

Glenn got a 196-pound tuna along with a nice collection of wahoo.

Chartermaster David Choate, an Accurate rep said, "It was the best wahoo fishing at the Hurricane Bank I've seen in some time.?? We had as many as six going at once while we were on the anchor.

"There were a lot of small tuna around in the 40 to 60-pound range, and those fish would come to the lights and night. You could have all you wanted. We made all the right moves," he continued, "on the skipper's intuition. Porpoise fishing offshore at Clarion was luck of the draw. We got 23 one day, and they were all those long, lean fish of 190 or 195 pounds."

The jackpot fish weighed 196.4 pounds, and was caught by Dave Dudley of El Cajon. He hooked it with a mackerel, and he used 130-pound Izorline and Izor Spectra on a Penn 50 W reel and a Calstar rod of six and a half feet. A crewman said the fish fought hard for 45 minutes.

Dan Fitzgerald of Coronado won second place for a 194-pounder that bit on a mackerel and a 9/0 ringed Mustad circle hook.?? He used 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Izor Spectra on a Penn 50 W reel and a six-foot Calstar rod built by P-Bod.

Carol Thompson of Kona was on her first long range trip with hubby Mike, and took third place for a 193-pound tuna. She fished a sardine on a 7/0 Mustad hook, with 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Izor Spectra on an Accurate 50 W reel and a Seeker 655 XXH rod.

"He ran out with all my line into the Spectra," said Carol. "Then he dived down. I went around the boat with him twice, and he came up on the bow.

He's my biggest tuna, and this was my first long range trip," added Carol. "More women should go for it. Their husbands would love it. I know I'm going again!"

Ben Travis of La Mesa was next, with a 192.2-pounder he got with a sardine on a 3/0 Mustad hook tied to 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Izor Spectra. He used a Penn 30 W reel modified by Cal Sheets and a Seeker 6460 XXH rod.

"This was my first trip, too," he said. "I was in the skiff at the Hurricane Bank with him for an hour and a half. He's my best fish."

Chef Jorge Nicifore, fighting his illness with protracted chemo treatments, came down to the dock for the Rooster's arrival, attended by his physician daughter. There is an ongoing auction for Jorge, who has as many friends as anyone in the long range fleet, on Allcoast.com by Scott McFarland.?? Owner Linda Palm said here will be a raffle for Jorge at the Red Rooster booth in Long Beach during the fishing show, March 5 through 9.