Justin Fleck, at the helm of the Excel the morning of June 28, reported he was passing the San Benitos Islands on his way south to Alijos Rocks, where tuna fishing has been pretty good.

"We're passing through a lot of clean, generic water," he told Bill Roecker. "There's no hard edges, like there are near San Diego, and we've seen no sign of tuna."

The area between Benitos and Guadalupe is often where the first schools of yellowfin and bluefin are encountered.