Andy Cates brought the Seaguar/Newell/Yo-Zuri/CatchyTackle/Hayabusa and FishingVideos.com trip with 28 anglers and chartermaster Richard Hightower home to H&M Landing October 15 after a great eight-day trip with 28 anglers. The group fished on The Ridge and briefly at 170 miles, finding tuna at the short distance and yellowtail and wahoo on The Ridge.

"This is the first wave of superhoos," he told dock reporter Bill Roecker. "We're eager for more!" The best superhoo weighed 79 pounds on the landing's certified scales. It was caught by retired fireman John Stuemke of San Diego on a home-made black and orange bomb.

Halloween must be close, because many of the big skins taken on the trip showed a preference for jigs of those colors. Hightower showed a bit of his old wahoo form by taking several on jigs, on Catchy Tackle bombs with a gold head and black and orange skirts, and also on some Catchy Tackle Sea Strike 33 jigs in gold and pink and silver and blue.

Dan Newell of La Mirada won first place for his first wahoo, a 67-pounder that ate another Catchy Tackle spinner bomb with a gold head and pink, purple and black colors. He said he used 50-pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid line on a Newell 533 reel and a seven-foot rod, defeating the gator-like critter in 20 minutes.

Phil Faubert of Huntington Beach won second place for a 65-pound 'hoo, and Rooster regular Gary Grimaud of ocean Beach won third place for a 61-pound wahoo. Several other very large skins were caught on the troll, including the 78.6-pounder caught by David Carillo of San Ramon.

The next batch of super-sized skins will arrive tomorrow morning aboard Excel. The Rooster will depart on her first long trip of the season in the afternoon.