Two 300-Pound Tuna Make a Trip Special

Frank LoPreste, owner of the Royal Polaris, called it the best long-range trip of the season.

No other boat has returned from Mexico’s Revillagigedo Islands with bookend yellowfin tuna at more than 300 pounds apiece.

“There have been only two tuna the whole year over 300 pounds and now two on one trip,” LoPreste said of an excursion that ended Sunday.

The big fish, topped by a 328.4-pound monster caught by Jim Noble of Park City, Utah, were taken at San Benedicto Island.

There also was a furious wahoo bite that lasted 6 1/2 hours. In that time, skipper Brian Kiyohara’s passengers boarded 230 of the slender, speedy fish at Hurricane Bank. He had to tell them to stop fishing because, after an earlier stop at Clarion Island, they all had reached their 15-fish limits.

Then there was Rachel Bull of Costa Mesa. She didn’t win the jackpot but, while fishing off Roca Partida, successfully boated a 259-pound tuna.

“And Rachel can’t weigh more than 107, 108 pounds, so that was quite a feat in itself,” LoPreste said.

The final tally: 219 tuna, seven of which topped 200 pounds; 345 wahoo, 10 yellowtail and four dorado.

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Whenever it appears the salmon are finally going to head north where they belong, they come back for an encore.

Not that anyone is complaining.

It has been more than two months since the king salmon arrived off the Ventura-Santa Barbara coast and landing operators are calling it the best season in the area in more than 20 years.

“We had a few bad days over the weekend, but [the salmon] popped up again Monday and [Tuesday],” said Louie Abbott, owner of Harbor Village Sportfishing in Channel Islands Harbor. “This thing just keeps going on and on, it’s unbelievable.”

Biologists have said that the salmon, though well south of their traditional ocean feeding ground, are remaining there simply because there is an abundance of baitfish.

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An international Mt. Everest expedition was greeted by heavy snow and strong winds just short of the 29,028-foot summit and forced to retreat.

Of note, however, was French climber Chantal Maudit’s reaching the slightly lower South Summit without the aid of bottled oxygen.

Maudit, who was trying to become the first climber to conquer K2 and Everest without bottled oxygen, nearly passed out and had to be helped to the base camp by expedition leaders and the Sherpa guide team.

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Davey’s Locker Sportfishing in Newport Beach is holding a special twilight fishing trip Sunday to raise money for the family of Newport Beach police officer Bob Henry, who was slain while on duty March 12. Cost is $30 and all proceeds will be donated to Henry’s widow and three young children. Details: (714) 673-1434.

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Hunting licenses and deer-tag applications for the 1995-96 seasons are available at Department of Fish and Game offices and will soon be available at sporting goods stores, the DFG said.

Licenses cost $25.45 for residents, $6.30 for junior residents under 16, and $88.70 for non-residents.

Deer-tag applications are $16.80 for a one-deer application and $21.25 for a second.

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Pathways to Fishing, a program that takes children from station to station, teaching them the basics of fishing, will take place Saturday at Santa Ana River Lakes. The program ends when the children actually wet their lines in the catch-out pond, which will be heavily stocked with trout and catfish. Details: (714) 632-7851.