Okay guys we are now back on line for the third time in so many weeks following another struggle with our onboard electronics. Speaking of struggles, I sure am glad that I left some wiggle room when touting our new ?state of the art? propellers because the results from the first attempt were far below our expectations. Like I said ?it is not an exact science? and as such it may take a couple of adjustments before we best our present performance. For those of you on upcoming trips let not your heart be troubled as we spent a couple of ?extry? hours yesterday swapping out our props again for our old trusty pair.

Enough of the technical babble and on to the fishing as we have plenty to report as all of you probably know by now. Overall the picture down below favors a strong finish to the fall season with signals of trophy yellowfin beginning to develop in a number of areas much the same as last year. The late season fall voyages have long been identified with trophy yellowfin and now with our fleet working so close together we possess a huge advantage by covering such a vast area. This is exactly what occurred last week and we have our valued ?code boat? the American Angler to thank as they were the ones to locate the area of big fish that several of us exploited for two hundred pound class yellowfin. Thankfully we had enough time to make the zone as we spent a great deal of time in search mode ourselves coming up with very little for our effort. At present the big picture is a little tough with many areas holding minimal quantities of fish and mixed conditions. As a result, we were mighty thankful for our one big day that ultimately made our trip. This is not to say that fishing won?t improve however as there is plenty of time remaining and a long way to go before we call it a season.

On another note you all see that I included several photos of Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission scientists hard at work tagging yellowfin tuna on Royal Star with electronic ?archival? tags. This is the third year we have been chosen to participate in this invaluable program and it has been a huge honor to contribute our efforts towards its success. I want to sincerely thank Senior Scientist Kurt Schaffer and Dan Fuller from the IATTC for their work in this field as well as Todd Lindstrom from Lo Tech who traveled all the way from Newfoundland to see the electronic tags he designs put to work. Kurt and Danny have now joined us for several years and although very serious about their work, are quite a colorful addition to the on board atmosphere. The biggest thanks, of course, must go to all Royal Star anglers who were thrilled to participate in this program graciously offering tuna after tuna to Kurt and Danny who were thoroughly consumed in electronic tag surgeries. A total of eighty one electronic tags were deployed in volunteered yellowfin from a wide variety of locations ranging from Alijos Rocks to offshore along the southern Baja coast. Sizes of yellowfin released by Royal Star anglers ranged from eight to ten pound fish all the way up to ninety pound models. As many of you know, the return of these archival tags carries a five hundred dollar reward so those of you fishing in these areas on upcoming trips may find yourselves five hundred dollars richer if you are lucky enough to catch one of these bonus models. More importantly however is the data received from these amazing computer devices that have provided the world community with amazing and invaluable insight into the behavior and patterns of yellowfin tuna. Once again our most gracious thanks to the Tuna Commission and Royal Star anglers who have proven that long range sport fishermen are more than willing to do their part in the interest of science.

Now Captain Toussaint takes the helm after a productive three weeks of lobster fishing ready to get back on the grounds in the quest for more trophy yellowfin. Our third attempt at establishing regular communications in three weeks seems to be functioning so let us hope that good repots are soon coming.