They say the universe started with the big bang. That might be hard to prove, but this year's long range, long distance fishing season started with the best bang ever for Andy Cates and his 24 anglers aboard Red Rooster III at the Hurricane Bank. They brought home a boat record 71 tuna over 200 pounds.

"They were all big," said Cates. "We didn't have a lot of that junk (small fish) opn the bank.

"We got all the tuna in four days," he continued. "The first two days they wanted mackerel, which we made at Cedros Island on the way down. They also took squid on the kite. The last two days they only wanted the shiny baits; sardines.

"We got no fish in the dark this time. We tried for them on two nights. The best bite times were in the morning and around mid-afternoon, when they really got with it. We'd have 15 or 18 fish going at once sometimes. There was a good current running, and we had no shark problems.

"At the bank, we also got some big marlin, black or blue marlin. We got several up to the boat and let ???em go. We got about 45 wahoo, and we got a few more at Alijos Bank on the way home. We also fished a day at Cedros on the way back for bass, with the skiffs. It was no problem to catch 20 bass a trip."

Cates weighed all 71 tuna over 200 pounds on his new electric hoist at the H&M Landing certified scales.

Rooster regular Dennis Bidigare of Oscoba, MI took the best tuna and won first place in the jackpot for his 267.8-pound yellowfin.

"It was the thrill of a lifetime," said Dennis, "and my best fish ever."

Bidigare used a sardine on a 12/0 Mustad hook to take his giant tuna. He fished with 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Tiagra 50 W reel and a Calstar 6465 XH rod. The huge tuna fought for an hour and 45 minutes.

Art Caballero of Temple City won second place for a 266.2-pounder. He bagged it with a squid on an 8/0 Mustad hook, 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 50 VSW reel and a Calstar 760 H rod.

Tim Farrell of Oceanside won third place for a 257-pound tuna. He said he fooled it with a sardine on a 9/0 Super Mutu ringed hook on 130-pound P-Line and 130-pound Spectra. He said he used a Penn 50 VSW reel and a Calstar 765 H rod.

The list of anglers who caught cows on this unprecedented opener:

Bob Cherry; 211, 213, 219, 241 pounds Bob Michener; 229, 226, 235, 241, 243, 246 Al Jackson; 204, 208, 237, 244 Ralph Cox; 244 Tom Davis; 224 Larry Martin; 229, 234 John Loftus; 209, 224, 229, 232, 238 Bob Peters; 202, 209 Dennis Bidigare; 219, 245, 267 Brian Massey; 224, 235 Joe Davidson; 213, 217, 229 Ron Hirao; 227, 247 Art Caballero; 203, 266 Wayne Honda; 215, 247, 252 Bud Prindle; 253 Fred Wakefield; 212, 222, 226, 231, 237 Tim Farrell; 205, 218, 219, 257 Joe Stickles; 217, 233, 288 Al Babashoff; 211, 214, 254 Lynn Freed; 214, 224, 248 Larry Bennett; 227, 257 Bob Tyler; 201, 214, 214, 236, 245, 246 Bill Schnieder; 212, 246, 247

This fantastic, out-of-the-gate first seasonal trip to the Hurricane Bank would seem to indicate another truly excellent big fish season. It beat the Rooster's best trip, last year's June Heat Special which arrived on the 19th, by a long way. That trip was super, with 59 cows coming home.

This one? You supply the superlative. It was almost too good to be true.