The crew set out the trolling rods at daybreak and began scanning for paddies. It wasn't long before they spotted a nice paddy and we moved in for a closer look. Barry Larson came all the way from Queencreek Arizona with his son Scott and some friends from in and round Phonenix to fish the Ranger 85. He was the first one to hook up and from the battle it was putting up you could tell it was a nice one.

Barry battled this one for a while, never giving it any slack. When he got it to the side of the baot deckhand Alex Edwards was ready with the gaff and the first big Dodo of the day was on deck.

Luke Perry and his dad Rick came from Sahuarita Arizona(Yea I had to look that one up in the Atlas too) to get in some fishing. Luke said, forget the fishing I want to do some catching, and boy did he ever. This nice dorado tempted his fate by eating the sardine Luke threw next to a paddy and has never been the same since.

I started getting a little nervous with the Arizona boys scoring all the early action and showing us Cali boys how its done, so I decided to get busy. I grabbed my Seeker Inshore Series rod, went to the bait tank and found the liveliest sardine I could and pinned it on. I tossed it next to a nice paddy, put my new Penn International 975CS in freespool and got ready. My dreams were soon a reality as a nice Dorado swam up a grabbed my bait. I let her run with it for a bit, than put the reel in gear and let the rod load up. I lifted the rod tip and it was on. This nice female went crazy once she felt the hook dig in. My new International work like a champ and with Alex's help I soon had my first dorado on the boat.

That nice female dorado was looking kinda lonely in the hold so I thought I'd find her some company. This nice bull jumped at least 6 times before I got him close enough to the boat for the gaff. Once I get going I can be hard to stop. They don't call me "KING DODO" for nothing.

We found another nice paddy and it was Jim Tenge who was next in line for some catching. Jim was part of the group that made the trip from Phoneix Arizona. They must get alot of sun in Arizona because I'm not sure if Jim was prouder of that nice dodo he just landed or that tan he was sporting. AJ Mejia with the gaffing honors on Jim's nice fish.

Nice colors on that Dorado !!!

We were managing a few fish off each paddy but it wasn't the type of action we were hoping for so we kept up the search. Next thing you know the trollers get ripped as a huge school of Dorado crashed the feathers. We cranked them in fast hoping to get the school to follow. Sure enough ! The entire school followed the hooked dodos up to the boat and seconds later dorado were jumping everywhere as they started eating our baits and got hooked. Irridesent streaks of purple, blue and gold could be seen flashing all around the boat. It was a spectacular sight !!! This is what we came for. Debra Jones and her son Keenan made the trip from Cardiff and it was Debra that hooked up first with a nice dorado.

Cy Henry is from Patch Junction Arizona and I can guarantee you one thing. You're not going to catch any dodos in Patch Junction. Cy's gonna be bringing home some fresh mahi-mahi fillets back to the Junction though.

Christopher and his brother Calvin are big time fisherman from Cuddy Valley California who came on the trip with their father Mike. This guys really know how to fish and good thing too, because I needed a few California boys to help me out against the crew from Arizona. Chris with a nice dorado he landed during the frenzy.

Another one from Arizona ? Don's from Queencreek Arizona and if I knew there was going to be so many of them I'd a brought some back up.

Who needs backup when you've got the Graham brothers on you're side. Calvin kept the California crew in the game with this nice dorado.

Scott from, you guessed it, Phoenix Arizona really uped the ante when he landed this huge dorado. Now its on !!!!

Enough is Enough ! It was time for me to break out my heavy hitters. Keenan is a bigtime fishing professional as well and I was more than happy to add him to the team.

I could tell the guys from Arizona were a little shifty so I decided to stock my roster with quality rather than quantity. Derba can fish by my side anytime because she really knows what she is doing. She laid into a huge dorado and was more than up for the challenge

A few more cranks and its in the bag. Stick with it Debra we need this one !!

Debra didn't let up for a moment and once AJ stuck it with the gaff it was one up for the gang from Cali. Nice one Debra !!

When he bites going crazy like it was its all about getting the fish in the boat. Once in a while you lose an angler in the process but at least we got the fish. Deckhand Manny Vargas with a nice dorado he just gaffed

The battle raged on for awhile as the dorado continued to crash the boat. Fish flying over the rail left and right. One for Arizona. One for Cali. Another one for Arizona. It was really going back and forth with State bragging rights hanging in the balance. Scott and DP going toe to toe.

A nice one at that.