"We have been out of touch since we got to the bank," wrote skipper Andy Cates of the Red Rooster III October 24. "We are heading up to the Island to end the trip after great fishing outside.

"First day we arrived at noon and saw great life but mostly small fish. Once we got the anchor down we started picking off nice grade fish from 150 to 200 pounds. We ended the first afternoon with 33 tuna.

"The second day was the big day with less small fish to deal with and the bite starting at 4:00 in the morning. A big ball of perfect size skipjack were the bait of choice. At sunrise we had 22 fish from 180 to 200 pounds. We continued to pick all day with another hit before dark ending the day with 81 tuna from 160 to 240 pounds. The sardine fishing and kite were the bait of choice after the skipjack left in the morning.

"The third day brought slower fishing but a pick on fish from 175 up. We released only a handful of fish in the 150 range and had fish up to 280 pounds.

"The fourth day was very similar a pick on big fish and very few releases. Fish from 175 to 240, 33 fish for the day.

"This morning we left after the morning shot and had a dozen fish from 180 to 240 , all Skipjack fish, with a couple on the big jigs. There was a great percentage of fish in the 195 to 205-pound range. The grade was pretty spectacular. The weather was really nice with just enough wind to get the kites out. "This was another classic 14 day October Bank trip on the Red Rooster 111. Good timing and great fishing are what it is all about We will send pictures and more reports as long as the phone signal lets us."