"Today was a really tough day," wrote Shawn Steward aboard the Excel, "with 25 to 30 knots of wind and steady rain which kept the participation at the rail down to one or two guys at a time. The fish had definitely taken the day off, as we only landed two tuna over 120 pounds and 2 wahoo for the day. We saw enough sign around again to make us think that we can have a couple of banner days if the fish will cooperate.

"Today was the kind of day we have been waiting for," wrote Shawn the next day. "We had good action all day, and ended up hooking some nice fish to go with a few wahoo and 30 to 60-pound tuna. We hooked a total of 4 big fish today and ended up with a 180, a 199, and a 255. The fish we lost was a 230-pounder that chewed through the terminal connection right at the gaff and got away. There was action as well on 100 to 140-pounders and we ended up with 26 of those. We are hoping for a few more chances at quality fish so we will check in later."