"Hey, here we are, back on line," wrote Independence skipper Jeff DeBuys January 18. "Wow, where do we begin? We just got sat signal and thought we should get up to date. We finished up on the fishing side Tuesday night in a blaze of glory. Rick Ozaki pulled a 240-pounder just before we left the zone, and they were right on the corner biting everything. We have been blessed again with stellar fishing, and good weather. The overall grade for the trip is just awesome, with many, many, 125 to 195-pound fish in the holds.

"As far as big ones go, I think we have nine cows and some more that might sneak in there. I will say one thing that what ever was biting; the guys took care of business, and put the wood to 'em. We have just a little bit of room left for some yellowtail if we have time on the way home. With two wells of RSW fish, and two of frozen there is plenty for everyone meeting the boat on Sunday. We had a couple of bingos on the Wahoo, and they all made it into the fresh well. I will leave it this way; we had chances at cows each day, along with steady fishing for quality all day long. We will give you all a report as to when we will arrive in San Diego on Sunday.