Andy Cates docked Red Rooster III March 25 after a 16-day trip with a light load of 15 anglers to the Hurricane Bank. He reported slow but steady tuna fishing and wide open wahoo fishing, with the skins biting anything thrown in the water.

"The wahoo were bigger than we usually see at the Bank," remarked Cates, "they were mostly 35 to 50 pounds, but some were up to 70 pounds or so.

"We had some rain," continued Cates, "but the water temperature is up to 75.9 now; ideal for wahoo. They were all over the west side of the bank, scattered here and there. We got easy limits. They bit everything, jigs and bait, and they seemed to bite well on the Catchy Tackle Sea Strike 33's."

An angler who said he fished jigs and bombs said the wahoo bit the longer jigs in blue and chrome and green and chrome, though they bit other colors as well.

"There was no pattern to the yellowfin bite," noted Cates. "And no night bite. There were a few sharks around, mostly right at dark, but we only had one fish shark-bit."

Jin S. Chang of Koreatown won first place, for a 239-pound tuna that bit a double sardine rig under the kite. The hooks were 7/0 Eagle Claw Mag 118s, and Chang used 130-pound Maxima line with 130-pound Line One Spectra backing on a Penn VSW 70 reel and a Calstar 755 XXH rod.

"It took 40 minutes," said Chang. "My best one before was a 150-pounder. This is a bigger one. I don't know, maybe my last one."

Larry Martin of Dayton, NV had a brace of cows at 225 and 200.1 pounds, good for second place. The big one came on heavy gear, Larry said.

"I had him dead to rights. It took 20 minutes, max."

Martin said he fished a live flying fish off the kite, with a 9/0 Mustad 7691 hook, for the big one. He used 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Line One Spectra backing on an Accurate 80 W reel on a Seeker Black Steel 6463 XXXXH "Rail Rod."

Joseph Cho of Fontana won third place for a 196-pound yellowfin tuna. He got his prize-winner on the double sardine/kite rig, with 9/0 Eagle Claw hooks. He said he used 130-pound Maxima line and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn VSW 70 reel and a Calstar Boomer Jr. rod.

"He fought 40 minutes," said Cho. "He's my best fish. It was an excellent trip, and I was lucky enough to haul this one in. Andy Cates is probably the best captain I ever met, and he has a great crew."

A possible record grouper or two showed up in the Rooster's catch. The fish I've heard called a tan grouper or a mud grouper seems to appear in the IGFA record book as an olive grouper, (Epinephelus cifuentesi) was weighed on the certified scales at 77.1 pounds by Cates.

The grouper was caught by Peter Wight of Torrance on a mackerel pinned to an Eagle Claw 8/0 hook. He fished his tuna outfit: 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 80 reel and a Calstar 760 H rod. The fish came up off the Hurricane Bank in five minutes.

The current all-tackle record for olive grouper is 52 pounds, nine ounces. A second grouper, nearly as large as Wight's, was weighed by another angler. Wight said his fish would not be submitted for a record.

"Overall," said skipper Cates, "prospects look good for a continued scratch on yellowfin tuna and wahoo at the Hurricane Bank."