A couple of days at Guadalupe Island produced some dandy yellowfin in the grande size for Art Taylor and his 17 Searcher anglers, who also fished for dorado on kelps and for yellowtail on the Baja coast. Fishing was pretty good, and they got near-limits on the yellows, and “great dorado fishing” in between, said Art.
Tim James of Westminster got the big one, a fine 111.6-pound yellowfin tuna he described as a “butt-kicker.”
“He took 200 yards of line and then gave me a lot of trouble up by the bow,” said James. “He came up there, too.”
Tim said he baited a sardine on a 3/0 ringed Super Mutu hook tied to 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader and 50-pound Ande line. He said he used 80-pound Izorline Spectra backing on an Avet HX reel and a custom Calstar 700 H rod by M&M.
Matt Bruce of Mission Viejo bagged an 83.4-pound tuna for second place. Ron Bryan of San Clemente used a new Accurate rod and reel combo to win third place for a 75.8-pounder, and John Curtis of Oxford, England came a long way to catch his honorable mention 74-pound Guadalupe Island yellowfin tuna.
