Jeff DeBuys docked Independence at Pt. Loma Sportfishing May 27 after the season's first eight-day trip. His 27 anglers had near-limits of yellowtail, he said, and things are looking great for the upcoming summer trips.

"Alijos Rocks had very good conditions," he noted. "We didn't see much tuna sign there, but the temperature was up to 66.5 degrees. When we got up by the Rosa we found some small yellowfin and a dorado. The water structure at 200 to 300 miles looks very good, and it's up to 66 there. It's the best the area has looked for three years."

The biggest yellowtail of the trip would have weighed over 50 pounds if it hadn't been shortened up by over a foot. The big yellow was stubbed off by a mako shark right at boatside, said anglers who saw it. They couldn't say how big it was because it wasn't clearly in view, or even there for very long, just long enough to collect the tax.

Abel Saldana of Chino Hills won first place for his 48.4-pound yellowtail. "I got it on a dropper loop rig in about five minutes," he told dock reporter Bill Roecker. "I used 16 ounces of weight and a Mustad 7691 hook in the 7/0 size, and 80-pound Big Game line with 130-pound Izorline spectra. My reel was a Penn 16 VSX, and the rod was my Calstar 6460 XH."

Bobby Edwards of San Clemente won second place for a 45-pound yellowtail he caught on a flylined sardine. Brice Young of Visalia won third place for a 39-pound olive grouper, and posed with the other winners.Jeff DeBuys docked Independence at Pt. Loma Sportfishing May 27 after the season's first eight-day trip. His 27 anglers had near-limits of yellowtail, he said, and things are looking great for the upcoming g summer trips.