The only albacore of the trip and the first longfin of the summer for Red Rooster III came to long-time regular angler Ron Hirao of Huntington Beach, in photo on a three-day trip with skipper Andy Cates that returned to H&M Landing August 21.

Ron won first place in the jackpot for the rare critter. "We had another fantastic day of fishing," Cates reported the day before docking. "The yellowfin season is on. Same grade of fish 15 to 22 pounds, maybe a couple bigger. The action was great with if you can believe this. We had 46 jigstrikes in the last two days, with four people on a trolling team. A lot of stopping and going mixed in with wide open, in-the-corner stops."

Hirao's jackpot winning albacore weighed 35.2 pounds, and bit a sardine on a tiny size four Owner Flyliner hook tied to 20-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon. He fished with 25-pound Ande line and 65-pound Power Pro spectra on an Avet HX reel and a Phenix 700 H rod.

Armando Castillo of Oxnard won second place for a 26.6-pound yellowfin, and the coveted trolling jacket for a 22-pounder. Tony Gonzalez of Monterey Park won third place for a 22.4-pound open water yellowfin tuna.