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 The Red Rooster III is famous for big fish catches, and the boat's
Captain, Andy Cates, is known for conservative reports that almost
always hold up at the scales. When Cates posted a report from June 10th
(the last day of fishing for the 15 day trip to Clarion) on the boat's
website stating "We kept 22 tuna...the last fish of the day caught by
Mike Ashford, a 380 pounder" it sent the sportfishing community into a
buzz. Without a scale on-board, the fish was estimated at 380 pounds
using a time-tested formula using length and girth measurements from
the fish. This fish was the third of the trip estimated at over 300
pounds. The two other fish "taped" at 312 and 324 pounds respectively.
The Red Rooster III was originally scheduled to arrive at their Lee Palms Sportfishing dock behind Point Loma Seafoods at 9:00 am Sunday morning but it was reported on the boat's website that the boat would arrive a little ahead of schedule at 8:30. That estimate was spot-on, as the 105 foot vessel turned the corner into the harbor just before 8:30.
 As the boat made its turn to back into docking position the crowd of several hundred anxious on-lookers got a glimpse of the boat's fantastic catch. A line-up of 14 huge yellowfin tails lined the stern rail in picture perfect position. One tail positioned dead center at the boat's stern dwarfed the rest by a good 10". It was quite obvious which fish was going to give the record a run. The other two 300 pound class fish sat to each side of Ashford's behemoth. As the boat neared the dock, the crowd got a glimpse of the rest of the catch, Wahoo and Tuna were stacked almost hip high around the bait receivers.
Cates was greeted with applause and dozens of hand-shakes as he made his way up toward the scales to interview with KUSI's Dave Scott. One on-looker with a cell phone at his ear took one more opportunity to hype the fish, deeming it a 400 pounder with a loud and assertive proclamation to the rest of the crowd.
As the fish were off-loaded, the first of the big fish was hoisted to the scale. Paul Oster's estimated 324 pound yellowfin would be the first to gauge the accuracy of the estimates. As Captain Cates winched the super-cow up, the crowd held its breath as the scale settled under full load at approximately 304 pounds. Cates commented that he had never been that far off on a taped estimate before, and it became clear that we would likely not see a 400 pound tuna today, and probably not even a 380 pounder.
 Curiously, as is almost always the case with giant fish catches, a controversy developed. It was revealed by Cates that the scale normally used was not charged. You would think that with the anticipation of this load of fish, someone at the landing would have made certain that there was a scale ready and waiting. A back up scale was provided by Point Loma Sportfishing, and the accuracy of the scale was immediately put into question by the crowd.
Cates was concerned also, but hoisted another giant yellowfin up on the same scale. This one was the estimated 312 pound fish caught by Lynn Freed on the 8th. Just like the previous fish, this one weighed "light" at 295 pounds, 5 pounds short of "super-cow" status and 17 pounds off the estimate. Clearly something was off with either the scale, or perhaps the shape and build of the fish. One thing that cannot be questioned is Cates' measurements, math, resulting estimates, and upstanding reputation.
There are Captains out there that have been accused of creating hype that is not warranted by embellishing estimates for increased media exposure. Andy Cates is certainly not one of those, as he is clearly one of the most humble, approachable and believable men in the industry.
A different scale was then brought to the winch and hooked up. I am not sure where that scale came from, perhaps it was H&M's or even nearby Fisherman's Landing's. As Ashford's yellowfin was hoisted up - Cates got a glimpse of the reading and announced to the crowd "361". There was a slight hint of disappointment in his voice, but the fish garnered a roar from the crowd anyways. This was clearly an outstanding catch, not quite of record lore, but none the less a fish that Captain Cates and angler Mike Ashford can be proud of. It is unclear where this tuna will rank among the fleet's largest, perhaps Bill Roecker will have the answer to that soon.
Records are made to be broken, and in the case of big yellowfin tuna there are certainly plenty of record breaking fish in the Pacific. Captain Cates will certainly be at the forefront of that chase, upholding the reputation of the Red Rooster III.
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