[blakinsmith]

Saturday I got the gumption to take my 03 210 thirty four nm out of Santa Cruz, CA Harbor to some GPS numbers with warm water and fish reports a few days earlier. It paid off with my first tuna ever - hooked before I even got the rod in the holder! We ended the day with five - the largest about 28 lbs and the rest 5-8 (peanuts as I understand they are called). Great eating nonetheless.

Photos uploaded with this email.

All caught on a 1.5 oz jet headed squid jig called Mexican Flag. Ran four rods - had fish in every position. I feel very fortunate - many veterans got skunked or picked one after some very hot reports earlier in the week. Conditions, particularly on the return were snotty - 15+ knot wind from the side (can you say SOAKED), maybe 2 ft wind waves mixed with 4-5 ft swell. But the 210 handled it pretty well. I trolled a third of the way back since I couldn' comfortably got more than about 14 kts.

A great fighting fish..........Barry "Bite Me"