Limits of yellowtail came to the 33 anglers on the annual eight-day Braid Charter aboard Excel. Skipper Mike Ramirez docked at Fisherman's Landing July 5 and summed it up:

"We got 22 albies on the first day. Then we went to Thetis and had some good yellowtail fishing but got chased off the bank by jumbo squid. We went up to the 13 Spot and got some small fish, and then back to Thetis. We went out to Alijos Rocks for all the schoolie tuna we needed, and then up to the albacore grounds for 34 albies and two bluefin."

Charter mistress Jan Howard said, "I was impressed by the life we saw on The Ridge: yellowtail, and small yellowfin tuna. The water was 71 degrees, clean."

Two youngsters, Chris Etebar and Chris Erlendson of Rancho Mirage showed off their best fish. Etebar goes to Sacred heart School in Palm Desert where he plays basketball, and Erlendson attends Marywood Palm Valley School where he plays football.

Nike Livingston of Sunland won the jackpot's first spot for a 38.2-pound yellowtail. He popped it with a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad beaked hook, on 30-pound Ande line, a Cal Sheets-treated Tiagra 12 reel and a home-made Calstar 765 L rod, after a 15-minute fight.

All-tackle tuna record holder Curt Wiesenhutter of Coeur d' Alene, ID was aboard, and took second place for a 36.4-pound yellow. Steve Alexander of Truckee got third place, for a 36-pound ???tail.