Excel returned to Fisherman's Landing January 20 under Justin Fleck's hand after the annual Team Hoo Cow Hunt 15-day trip. The boat was loaded with large tuna up to 345 pounds, and visited El Banco off Mainland Mexico as well as the southern banks off Baja. Ken Bell and Mark Dorton were chartermasters. "We found excellent drift fishing for 80 to 150-pound tuna on huge bird schools down there," remarked Fleck to dock reporter Bill Roecker. "Our biggest fish were all on the southern banks.

"It was 82 degrees at El Banco," continued Fleck, "and the bird schools were so big they showed up from many miles away on the radar, big old blobs of birds. Fishing was so fast the kite rotation lasted 15 seconds to two minutes. We didn't have much more room for fish. We ended up with ten tuna over 200 pounds and two were over 300."

Eric Griggs of Melbourne, FL spent three hours and 15 minutes battling a 345.6-pound yellowfin tuna.

"After an hour and a half I was getting anywhere with him," said Griggs, "so they put me in the skiff. He bit on a double sardine rig under a balloon."

Eric said he used 8/0 Eagle Claw hook on 130-pound Momoi fluorcarbon, 130-pound Momoi line and 130-pound Line One Spectra on a Penn 80 w reel modified by Cal Sheets, on a Calstar 660 XXH rod.

Griggs posed with his fish, mildly concerned that his six-foot, five-inch height might make it look small. It still looked big. He said his best previous tuna weighed 237 pounds.

Wes Neally of Yorba Linda also got a supercow, a 302-pounder, on a sardine and a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu hook. He said he used 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet 50 reel and a Seeker Black Steel 6463 XXXH rod.

"He came up on the bow after I went for a skiff ride during the three and a half-hour fight," said Wes. "Yeah, he spooled me. He came up on the bow at the end. My best fish before was 257 pounds.

Dean Jefferies of Paso Robles won third place for a 286-pound tuna.

"It was two hours plus," said Dean. "He stayed out on the surface and finally came up on the stern, thanks to Mike Ramirez for helping me."

Dean said he used a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on a Penn 50 VSW reel worked over by Cal Sheets on a Calstar 7455 XXH rod.

Carl Dorton of Tarzana bagged a 274-pounder on a sardine under a balloon on an 8/0 REC hook tied to 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-popund Line One Spectra. He used a Penn 50 reel modified by Cal Sheets and a Sabre 655 XXXH rod.

Chartermaster Ken Bell of Camarillo got a 273-pounder he called "...a hard fish."

Bell fished a sardine on an 8/0 Black Pearl Eagle Claw hook tied to 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on a Penn 30 VSW reel and a Calstar 7455 XH rod.

Mark Dorton (Carl's son) of Woodland Hills found a 266-pounder with a sardine on an 8/0 REC hook on 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra, on a Penn 50 VSW worked by Sheets and a Calstar 7565 H rod.

David Bowers of Adelanto got a 255-pounder on a double sardine rig under the kite. He said he used a 7/0 ringed Super Mutu hook on 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet 50 W reel and a Seeker Black Steel 6463 XXXH rod.

Al Shakespeare of Glendale spent a long time coaxing a 245-pounder that bit on a sardine and a ringed Super Mutu hook.

"Two hours," said Al, "he was a mean fish."

He used a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook and 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon tied to 100-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He fished with a Sheets' treated Penn 50 S reel and a Calstar 7455 XH rod.

John Nappo of Long Island, NY was on a turnaround, the second of two successive trips. He got a 210-pounder in 90 minutes on a sardine and a 7/0 Quick Rig hook on a BHP wind-on leader of 80-pound Seaguar and 100-pound Line One Spectra.

"My rig was awesome," he told Roecker. "I got all my fish on both trips on an Accurate 30 and a Super Seeker 2 x 4 rod."

Steve Olson of Newbury Park had a three-hour fish of 206 pounds. It was a sardine-biter. He used a 6/0 Eagle Claw hook, 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and a130-pound Line One Spectra on a Penn 30 S reel worked over by Cal Sheets and a Calstar 655 XH rod.

Curt Wiesenhutter (288-pound world record holder) of Coeur d' Alene, ID got a 202-pounder. It was a warm-up for his second trip, as he planned to go back out with the Excel.

"My luck wasn't all good this time," explained Curt. "I lost one big fish during a spoolingand broke a hook on another."

Curt got his tuna with a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook on 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 100-pound Line One Spectra. He fished with a Penn 50 reel by Cal Sheets and a Calstar 655 XXXH rod.

Skipper Fleck said his Puerto Vallarta fish didn't come from the bank itself, but from several miles off. One of the fish caught on this trip on the southern banks had been tagged and released by Royal Star in 2007, he noted.

"It was only six miles from there when we caught it again!"