We boarded Bill Poole's 124-foot sport fisher on a Friday morning, assisted by the crew and Sean Sebring's red-shirted dockworkers. Sean inspected the cart loads of gear, as required by homeland security. There were 31 of us on the six-day Dan Colonello open charter. Partner Paul Sweeney and I stowed our clothing and several boxes of sponsor prizes in our stateroom, which left just enough room to open the door.

Skipper Justin Fleck ordered lines cast off and we motored out to the bait receivers to load several hundred scoops of sardines, then headed south to fish. That afternoon our skipper called the group into the galley to explain the ship's procedures and safety practices. He said we might go to Guadalupe Island or to the more distant Alijos Rocks. We would have four days to fish at the ???lupe, he said, or two at the rocks.

"I'll make my decision after I talk to the other boats," he said. "We'll go to the spot where we can get the best action."

There were a couple of father-son teams aboard, and one couple: John and Shannon Nutt. Everyone signed a release for photos and video, and in exchange got a bag of fishing tackle from the sponsors of FishingVideos.com that included Tady, Catchy and Salas jigs, 40 and 60-pound fluorocarbon from Seaguar, Mustad hooks and a calendar and an Excel DVD from Bill Roecker, along with a promise of a free video from the trip. Dan Colnello, our chartermaster and a Los Angeles MTA exec, also raffled off various prizes each evening of the trip.

That evening the skipper made his decision: we'd straight-line it for two days to Alijos. It had some risk. What if the fishing went sour at The Rocks? Still, it seemed to Justin the best bet for a good catch of quality tuna and yellowtail.

"We're going after the best fishing," he said. "We should roll in there about eight in the morning, day after tomorrow."

The next day was a travel day, plenty of time for anglers to set up their gear. Most had half a dozen outfits to ready; tackle ranging from 25 to 60-pound-rated rods, reels and line. Some brought tackle that was even heavier. Before the day was over, we had a new passenger, an exhausted dove lost at sea under the overcast.

To spice up our long day's cruise, Paul and I held a raffle, with a prize for everyone. The grand prize was a new Accurate 870 C reel, won on the first draw by Gary Gram of Woodland HillsilsH . Other prizes included a pair of big, flashy Spinnerhead jigs from Catchy Tackle, some Catchy wahoo bombs, more iron jigs and products like fishing belts, hats, gloves, shirts and shorts from AFTCO, and boxes of large Mustad circle and weighted "Dink" hooks. Free spool fill-ups of Mustad 40 and 60-pound Ultra line were offered to all. Delayed a bit by a strong uphill current, we pulled into The Rocks about 8:30 the next morning and trolled around the shallows without a wahoo strike. Skipper Fleck anchored up and before we were completely settled back, yellowfin tuna were biting, much to his relief. The tuna bit in flurries most of the two days we stayed. Sometimes we had a dozen or more hookups going, which kept the deckhands busy. Fishing near the bottom in 180 feet produced yellowtail.

Our meals were prepared by Justin's twin brother Jason, who did his best to keep us fat and happy, with dinners of pork chops, baseball (thick, fillet-like) steaks, chicken fillets, pork loin and everyone's favorite, Jason's wahoo enchiladas for a lunch. Breakfast offered eggs to order, French toast, bacon, eggs Benedict, cereal and the other usual traditional fare. Fresh oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar was served by cook's assistant Stanley Paurazas to those like myself who wanted it.

Our group, noted the skipper, had numerous first-timers who may have expected to fish closer to port for smaller yellowtail. They may have been somewhat intimidated by our destination and the size of the tuna hanging around, boiling and occasionally crashing on our sardines. Some yellowfin were up to 100 pounds. With the steady bite and the help of second skipper Mike Ramirez and his deckhands, the new fishermen had plenty of time to make their mistakes and the needed corrections, so by the end of the second day nearly everyone could hook and land yellowfin of 30 to 50 pounds, no problem.

The big dogs lurking in the strike zone were another matter. Most of us had one or two opportunities on 70 to 100-pounders during the two days. I hung a whopper on 40-pound gear. After 35 minutes I had the fish up nearly close enough to see when the line popped. Others lost big ones to tangles, reel failure or just plain pooped out. Quite a few big fish found their way aboard however, again due to the help of the crew. Older brother Joel Fleck, Derrick Waldman, Rene Sanchez and Corey O'Brien earned passenger praise for their efforts and expertise, saving many tuna.

Yellowfin boiled around the boat, but nearly all our biters came from the strike zone, 100 to 300 feet behind the stern. Most were hooked on 3/0 to 5/0 circle hooks on 30 to 50-pound line, making for a fair fight. The trick was to get a swimming sardine to pull your line into the strike zone at speed. Baits that qualified had better than a 50-50 chance of getting bit, until about four in the afternoon.

The very best method of drawing a strike on this trip proved to be balloon fishing with live sardines on 50-pound line with a 5/0 circle hook. I got out to the zone twice on the balloon (we fished in rotation through the roster), and had solid takes within a minute of arrival. That was close to the general experience, and there was good excitement in seeing the fish boil on the baits before eating them. Like the rest of the anglers aboard Excel, I can now say I am sold on helium balloon fishing.

We caught two wahoo on our first day at The Rocks. The first came to a fortunate angler on monofilament line. He was lucky. The second was caught by assistant chef Stan, on a blue and chrome Tady 4/0 jig Stan dropped to the bottom for yellowtail. He didn't have wire leader either. That wahoo made memorable enchiladas. Those who went with wire didn't get bit. I thought there wasn't much "skin" around, and what was there was cagey, having been hard-fished recently.

The Royal Polaris and the Horizon (a dive boat, the former Blackjack) shared the Rocks with us the first day, and Intrepid joined the group on the second. The full moon failed to slow the bite, and 12 to 15 knots of breeze had no effect, except to make a light chop on the small, four-foot swell. We had a very good yellowtail bite on the second morning, followed by another extended tuna snap. When we dragged anchor the fish followed us out, so skipper Fleck didn't bother to reset until the action slowed. When he started the Excel forward, the evicted sardines hiding under the boat stirred the non-biting tuna to a great show that lasted about two minutes. By now we all realized the value of sun lotion, as we reddened under the overcast.

If we had a problem, it was caused by hordes of rudderfish and triggerfish picking up scraps around the stern. A lethargic bait was easy meat for those bully boys, and you might not even feel them eating your sardine off the hook. Twice that morning I got hoo'ed. I saw the telltale slashing splashes on my baits, felt the quick take and the quicker release of pressure on the rod. I reeled in to see I had not only lost my fluorocarbon leader but a couple of feet of mainline as well. I tried again with a wire leader. No dice. Mustad sent me some new 39942BLN circle hooks, heavy wire hooks with a black finish and a very sharp, slighted beaked point and a little more barb than similar types by other makers. They seemed a bit large for the sardines and the local quarry, but I didn't have a single bait come off during a cast, and I caught two tuna and a yellowtail on one. I judged them successful, at least until I can hang a bigger tuna on one.

About four p.m. we had to leave, nearly limited out on tuna. The yellowfin put on another show when we pulled the hook, but this time we were ready and finished up our limits on the frisky, frothing tuna. It was a great ending to a great visit to The Rocks. Skipper Fleck had one more trick up his sleeve on or six-day tuna flyer. The next day he stopped at a high spot some distance offshore from San Pablo. The spot was corroded, as the skippers say, with yellowtail of eight to 28 pounds. The first fish was hooked before we started to drift, and when it came to the boat there were half a dozen schoolmates on its flanks, all wanting some of whatever the first one had. We obliged, and the melee was on.

These yellows were thicker than rust on sunken iron, and they literally bit everything we showed them: bait, metal jigs, plastic swim baits, etc. We finished out our limits in about 45 minutes on the insane frenzied yellowtail, and skipper Fleck surprised us once more.

"We're going to end it up with a crew fishing contest," he said over the ship's speaker system. "We'll have a 15-minute time limit and the biggest yellowtail caught by a crewman will win a set of cord-wrapped dykes and long-nose pliers and a case to wear them both." Lanky crewman Derek Waldman proved to have the hot hand, as he fished his way to the top of the pack by yo-yoing a Salas 6X Jr. jig 50-pound Big Game line on a boat rig. His winning yellowtail weighed 27 pounds on the chartermaster's hand scale.

"We're gonna call it a trip, now," said skipper Fleck to his smiling, just about exhausted group. Break down your gear before tomorrow morning when we wash down the boat. Put your tackle away and bundle your rods. It's been a good one, and now we're going home."

Excel docked at Fisherman's Landing at six a.m. September 18. Her six-day flyer was a fine success, with limits of yellowfin and yellowtail. Skipper Fleck weighed the best tuna and John Nutt of Palmdale won first place, while his wife Shannon tied for third place. John Nutt's yellowfin weighed 67.7 pounds. He got it with a sardine on a 6/0 ringed super Mutu hook on 50-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader and 50-pound Big Game line. He fished with a Shimano Trinidad 40 reel and a six and a half-foot Calstar rod.

"It just about killed me," remarked John.

Keith Wolf of Lancaster was second for a 67.5-pounder. Shannon Nutt and Tim Weaver of Rio Vista tied for third place with identical 61.8-pound tuna. They were joined in the lineup shot by Earl Aubuchon of Las Vegas, who found the trip's best yellowtail at Alijos Rocks, a 42.6-pound mossback.