"Long range sportfishing anglers have many thoughts regarding the perfect fish to catch," wrote American Angler skipper Brian Kiyohara July 22. "After enjoying two days of steady action on school-sized yellowfin tuna and yellowtail, we thought today would be a perfect day to go trophy hunting.

"With the help of friends and a few other code boats, we were able to be lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. All 27 passengers and crewmembers witnessed a show of 100-pound-plus bluefin flying out of the water that will not soon be forgotten. Not only were we fortunate enough to hook 4 fish, but we were able to land them as well.

Unfortunately for us, we spent the later part of the day proving how big this ocean can be."

After offloading the catch, the winning anglers posed with their fish. Jared Zeable of Phoenix won first place for his 130.5-pound bluefin. He said it bit on a mackerel on a 7/0 Super Mutu hook tied to 60-pound Izorline. He used a TLD 30 reel and a Calstar 6465 H rod.

Michael Zeable of Phoenix got a 128.5-pound bluefin that won second place. Tom Szczeblowski of Yorba Linda won third place for a 124-pounder, and Barry Nicholas of Hermosa Beach got honorable mention for his 122-pound bluefin tuna.

"We had good yellowfin fishing on 15 to 25-pounders," said skipper Kiyohara. "We did everything."