John Grabowski took the Red Rooster III out on the three-day Glenn's Alignment & Brake Service (Costa Mesa) Charter, and brought the rig back to H&M Landing July 23.

"I thought we might go look for albacore to the north," said Grabowski, "But we were only three hours out of port when we started getting jig strikes and seeing boiling fish. It was an "up day," so there didn't seem any point in going looking.

"We had a lot of stops," continued the skipper. "On the last day it seemed like we were getting stopped every 20 minutes or less. Most of our fishing was at about 40 miles. About 50% of the fish we saw were small bluefin, 12 to 15-pounders, mixed in with the albacore. The bluefin wouldn't bite, though, and it seemed like they made the albacore skittish, acting like bluefin."

Chartermaster Glenn Kerr of Costa Mesa said the weather just got nicer each day, until it was flat calm on the last day.

"It was stealth fishing for the albies," said Glenn." The guys who did best mostly used size two hooks and 15-pound line or fluorocarbon leader. I did get one albie on a jig; a blue and white Salas 6X Jr."

Dave Rexrode of Buena Park won first place for a 35.6-pound albie. He said he nabbed it with a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad 91450 hook, 40-pound line of unknown make, a TLD 20 reel and a Seeker 6470 glass rod.

Tom Spayne of Whittier was second for a 35.4-pounder, and Jack Whitaker of Laguna Beach was third, for a 32.9-pounder. Bill Whitney of Yorba Linda won the trolling jacket for the best trolled fish, and donated it to the fund for Chef Jorge Nicifore, being handled by Linda Palm of the Red Rooster III.

All of the jackpot winnings were donated to the fund. Anglers are urged to help out by making a donation. Call the Rooster's office at (619) 224-3857 to assist.