"Everybody Had The Right Tackle"
"We don't have anything under 100 pounds," American Angler owner-skipper Sam Patella said November 16, 2010 after returning from an 11-day Angler's Choice charter to the lower banks. "We've got four over 250 and twenty cows total. It was a scratch bite, but just look at these beautiful fish--we were getting these everyday."

"Everybody had the right tackle," he added, "so we didn't have lose any fish at all."

Art Preston of Los Angeles won first place with a 253-pound yellowfin he claimed as his best bait-caught fish ever. Art fished a squid on a 2005 Eagle Claw circle hook, 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon, a Tiagra reel modified by Cal Sheets, and a Seeker 2x4 rod custom built by Fisherman's Supplies in Lawndale. "I got three over 200 on this trip," he said. "Thats a milestone for me." Bob White of Oceanside won second place with a 216-pound tuna, his best fish ever.

"Actually all these fish here are my best ever," he said pointing at his catch near the certified scales of Point Loma Sportfishing. Bob fished a sardine on a 6/0 Owner circle hook, 130-pound line, a "big" Accurate reel, and the boats rod. Corona native Jason Blankenship won third for a 212-pound yellowfin. Jason fly-lined a sardine on a 6/0 Owner Super Mutu hook, 100-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon, 100-pound Jerry Brown Hollow Spectra, an Okuma Makaira 20 reel, and a Seeker 2x4 rod he custom wrapped himself. "I got two over 200," he said, "and I handed off a 260 to Dan Okada!"

American Angler regular Doug Rodricks of Mammoth Lakes also had a good trip. "I got my best ever," he said while offloading fish, "a 260, but a 155 pounder really kicked my butt. It was early morning, and I just wasn't ready for it. I had no energy." "Kite fishing was great," Doug added, "and fly-lining squid, too. That's what the big ones bit."

PHOTO CAPTION A MIGHTY LINEUP of yellowfin tuna was arrayed after the American Angler returned to Point Loma Sportfishing. PHOTO COURTESY PAUL SWEENEY AND BILL ROECKER