Boy we are firing on all cylinders thus far as we pieced together a fine day on twenty five to forty pound yellowfin tuna that featured one stop on a giant foamer that will not soon be forgotten. Almost unbelievably, as we were taking a break from the scratch tuna action with a long drift for lunch, a spot of dolphins, tuna, whales, and sea lions pushed up a huge ball of sardines and began feasting about one quarter mile from Royal Star. The incredible competition between all species churned the surface into a maelstrom of violence and the thoroughly doomed sardines had nowhere to go as they were hammered and mopped up by the crowd. With a convenient distance of only about a quarter mile, we simply slid forward and the entire bait ball charged the boat with the school of tuna in hot pursuit ready to eat any and everything that hit the water. Fortunately, seconds before all hell broke loose down on deck, I was able to snap off a few choice photos that I am looking forward to posting at the end of the trip. Immediately thereafter, we launched into one of those legendary stops on tuna that honestly defies description. For a full thirty minutes every single bait that hit the water three hundred sixty degrees around the boat, was an instantaneous bite on a twenty five to forty pound yellowfin tuna. All bait that hit the water was attacked not by one or two, but hoards of tuna with numerous fish leaping in an effort to intercept the baits before they even hit the water. Man what a stop.

To top it off, the huge ball of sardines took refuge under Royal Star and kept the entire school of tuna in mad frenzy mode while we focused solely on production and processing the catch. Every once in awhile the bait would venture out and just get ruined by the tuna that were hot on it; especially in the bow where it was a literal cauldron of tuna, bait fish, and millions of shimmering scales. On a scale of one to ten for visual, the score of this incredible stop, from beginning to end, was an easy eleven. I hope the photos do it some justice. But if not, guaranteed that no one here will forget.

Needless to say we are on the right track and will be in search mode again tomorrow. Beautiful, flat calm weather continues to grace the effort and certainly added immensely to the big hit today. Tomorrow is a new day however and we will see if our good fortune continues. All's well.