Billy Santiago Jr. docked Frank LoPreste's Royal Polaris at Fisherman's Landing April 1, on a sunny morning after the passage of a weather front through southern California. The 18-day trip with 17 anglers aboard was chartermastered by Jerry Brown of Line One Spectra. There were five tuna over 200 pounds in the fish holds.

"It was a great trip," said Jerry to dock reporter Bill Roecker, "and the weather was the best of any of the trips I've had; not one bad day! My compliments to Billy, who did a fine job. And I thought this was the best group of any of my charters. We had limit fishing on tuna and wahoo. One day I got four wahoo on bait without wire!"

Jack Preston of Alta Loma, a retired heavy equipment foreman, had a super trip, bagging two cows that weighed 239.2 and 225 pounds, which won him first and third places in the jackpot.

Jack said he got the big one on a sardine on a Mustad 5/0 Hoodlum ringed J hook, tied to 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 100-pound Line One Spectra on a Tiagra 30 reel worked over by Cal Sheets and a Super Seeker 2 x 4 rod.

Jack's 225-pounder came on a Salas PL 68 glow in the dark jig. He said he hooked up after dark, and after a hard day of wahoo fishing, with most anglers down for the evening. He used 130-pound Momoi line and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet 50 reel and a Super Seeker 6463 XXXH rod for the jig-biter.

Ron Lewis of San Francisco won second place for a 235-pounder, which weighed the same on the dock as it did on the boat, something that doesn't always happen.

Asked about the fight, Ron said, "It seemed like hours. It was probably one hour. We chased him down, because he bit on the slide and then stayed up on the surface and almost spooled me. He stayed up on the bow during the fight. It's my first cow."

Lewis said he used a mackerel on an 8/0 VMC hook tied to 130-poundSeaguar fluorocarbon and130-pound Line One Spectra on a Dual 6/0 reel and a Calstar 765 M rod.

John Jeffereys of Claremont took and hour to subdue a 212-pound tuna that bit his sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook. He said he needed a bit of help to get it in, on 90-pound Momoi fluorocarbon, 100-pound Diamond line, and 130-pound Line One. He used an Avet 30 reel and a Calstar 660 XXH rod.

Sam Lewis of Chino had the final cow, a 208-pounder missing a nip from its body. He remarked that sharks caused some problems during the trip. He said he got his tuna on a sardine and a 7/0 Eagle Claw hook, tied to 130-pound Yo-Zuri fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One. He fished with a Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 770 HX rod, after a 40-minute tussle.

"I lost a bigger fish on the backup rig earlier in the trip," he said. That one broke off.

A small tuna bearing an archival tag was caught on the trip, and senior biologist Kurt Schaefer of the IATTC came down to the dock to retrieve it. He said the fish hadn't been at liberty for a long period, but was pleased when any such tags could be obtained.

The schedule for Royal Polaris indicates she leaves April 3 on the Nakaki-Tsujiuchi-Open Optional Fly Down/Back From Cabo San Lucas, an 18-day trip limited to 22 passengers, returning to San Diego April 21.