Roy Rose docked Royal Polaris July 10 after a three-day trip for albacore.

"It was a late afternoon bite," he said at Fisherman's Landing. "There's miles and miles of small fast bait out there: anchovies, sardines and saury. We got four bluefin. We chased one school about a mile; they were chasing that speed bait."

Matt Watson of La Habra won first place for a 58.2-pound bluefin he plucked out of that school with a sardine on a 2/0 ringed VMC hook. That fish moved into first place as the young season's best bluefin so far. He used 30-pound Izorline XXX line on a Calcutta 700 TE reel and a Teramar eight-foot rod.

"It's my first bluefin," said Matt. "He fought me for about 30 minutes. I got two of ???em!"

John Van Reussel of Kernville, CA was second, for a 40-pound bluefin, and Ken Nefrone of Huntington Beach won third place for the season's best albacore, a 36.4-pounder. Ken fished a sardine for the big longfin, on a 4/0 Gorilla hook. He didn't know the make of his reel or the model of his Calstar six and a half-foot rod.