Gary Sato's three twenty four at the moment of gaff.

324-pounder caught by tackle maker Gary Sato of Santa Monica, who used his own crimps to pull on the fish. An hour of hard pulling on the giant yellowfin resulted only in the landing of the tuna.

Newport CPA Art Green won first place for the best eligible tuna, a 270-pounder. ???I got him in 45 minutes,??? said Green. ???You???ve got to dream if you want to catch big fish. If you stop dreaming, then what???? Dale Dargatz of Anaheim won second place for a 267-pounder. ???My personal best,??? he said. ???It took an hour.??? Carl Dorton of Tarzana undertook a three-hour battle to land his 263-pound tuna, good for third place. ???He was a mean fish,??? said Carl, who still couldn???t get over that fight. ???I???ve had bigger ones, but this one was a bad fish. He messed up everybody on the boat. He took me around the boat five times. He took me from the stern to the bow six times. He was meaner than hell.???

Todd Phillips and the Royal Star crew

Les Nishi with his two seventy five coming over

Tim Ekstrom and Randy Toussaint with angler Gary Sato.

Gary Sato's three twenty four at gaff.

324-pounder caught by tackle maker Gary Sato of Santa Monica, who used his own crimps to pull on the fish. An hour of hard pulling on the giant yellowfin resulted only in the landing of the tuna.

Todd Phillips and the Royal Star crew

Les Nishi with his two seventy five coming over.

Tim Ekstrom and Randy Toussaint with angler Gary Sato.

Rick Okuni of San Diego won first place with a 257-pound yellowfin tuna. Paul Medina of San Pedro was second for a 253-pound tuna, and Dave McPhail of Santa Fe Springs was third, for a 236-pound yellowfin tuna. Honorable Mention Virgil Arends of Dumont, Iowa for his 248-pound tuna caught on a balloon

Cindy Jones of Mission Viejo won first place with a 78-pound yellowfin tuna. Jesse Vanegas of Chula Vista was second for a 51.3-pound tuna, and Bill Brandstetter of Mission Viejo was third, for a 50.2-pound yellowfin tuna.

Jackpot winners:

Kurt Selzer of Ventura with his 261-pounder.
P.J. Molina of Lakewood was second, with a 259-pounder
Chris Kumai of Berkeley was third, for a 251-pound tuna

Danny Dixon, 17 and a deckhand on Tim Green???s Fisherman III, made his first long trip and took three tuna over 200 pounds. Danny goes to Mar Vista High.

???The crew was awesome,??? said Danny, who lettered in fishing at school. He got his with 8/0 Eagle Claw hooks, 130-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 30 SW reel and a Seeker 6455 XXXH rod.

There were 26 cows aboard the Qualifier 105 Thursday morning, January 5. One was caught by a youngster

Eight-year-old Hayden ???The Mangler??? Konstantinopoulos of Fairfield goes to B. Gale Wilson School, where he likes playing soccer and baseball. He likes fishing with his dad George, too, and last March he got a 170-pound tuna at the Hurricane Bank. On his most recent trip, the one that arrived January 5, he beat that baby with a 203-pound, real-deal, cow tuna.

John Ryan of Brea pulled for an hour and a half on New Year???s Eve on a huge tuna that weighed 291.4 pounds on the certified scales and won him first place. Ryan said his fish bit on a sardine weighted with a thee-ounce sinker and a 7/0 ringed Super Mutu hook. He fished with 100-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 30 reel and a Calstar 670 M rod.

Writer Paul Lepore of Dana Point is also an Accurate rep, and he got a couple of big fish. One weighed 204 pounds, and came on a mackerel

Len Cunningham of Alpine won second place for a 273-pound tuna, his best in three years of long range fishing.