Constitution skipper Joe Phillips found a kelp paddy 105 miles south of San Diego September 28 that was holding. It was holding a dorado and a bluefin, said anglers who fished it. The bluefin proved to be something special.

Trinh Vu of Buena Park hooked the beast on a sardine and a 2/0 Mutu.

"I had to have help," he told Bill Roecker at H&M Landing September 29. "It almost spooled me. It ran way out, then went down, and it went up and down for an hour."

The 30-pound Big Game line Trinh was using was the reason he needed help. The fish was more than a bit much for that. He also had 50-pound Stren on his TLD 5 reel, but even that was pretty darn light for the fish he was on. His Calstar 870 rod was also much lighter than most anglers would choose to play a fish like this one.

An hour after he hooked it, with help from other anglers and the crew, Trinh's bluefin came to gaff at the bow of the Constitution.

"We had to chase the fish four times," remarked skipper Phillips. "Each time, he ran all the way back to the paddy."

At the bow, the crew put four gaffs into Trinh Vu's big bluefin and lifted it aboard. When the boat docked the next day at H&M, the bluefin was hung on the certified scales there. It weighed 167 pounds.

Trinh's bluefin was the best of the year for the day fleet or, for that matter, the long range fleet.