"On the way back from Guadalupe Island I stopped on a spot of albacore at 150 miles," said Intrepid skipper Kevin Osborne after a five-day Fred Bowden charter July 27. "We saw them on the way down, too. This time they bit and we caught some peanut-size albies there."

That would be good news to most albacore anglers, who have recently feared "the change" of seasons was coming on and albacore might be migrating out of the area. The sighting would seem to indicate otherwise, that albacore should still be available for some time yet.

"Then we saw a pod of killer whales," continued Osborne, "and there were five of them; two big ones and three smaller whales. While we were stopped to watch, a huge school of white-sided porpoise came in from the west and the killers just sunk out. In a few minutes, 500 porpoise all jumped out of the water at once. The killer whales went through the school and got a bunch of porpoise. I saw one adult run down a porpoise and take it back to the young. Nobody on the boat had ever seen anything like it."

Osborne docked Intrepid at Pt. Loma Sportfishing and weighed his catch. Albacore caught the afternoon before won the jackpot, taken during an afternoon bite only 50-odd miles from San Diego, which is more good news. The water was 70 degrees.

Todd Bowden of Monrovia, son of the chartermaster, won first place for a 37.4-pound albie. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 2/0 ringed Super Mutu hook, 30-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader and 30-pound line. He used an Accurate 870 reel and a seven-foot Truline rod.

Ryan Stoddard of Jamul won second place for a 33.8-pound albacore, and Paul Suter of Sedalia, CO got third place for a 32.6-pound yellowtail.