"Sassy hates having her picture taken, she'll end up looking pretty sour for sure," Wayne warned me aboard the fishing vessel Capriccio. That said, I ended up with a half dozen shots of Wayne, his wife Diane and the cat scuffling for positions at the galley table before finally capturing the photo shown here -- and sure enough, Sassy really does look a little sour. "She's just so spoiled," Diane laughed.

Diane and Wayne have always taken Sassy fishing with them, and the Capriccio seems all the homier with a (spoiled!) cat on board. The husband and wife team are based out of Morro Bay and are very well known throughout the fishing fleet, particularly since Wayne -- a native of Kentucky -- served as President of the Western Fishboat Owners Association (WFOA) in recent years. He remains on the Board of Directors with both WFOA and the American Fishermen's Research Foundation (AFRF).

One of Diane's favorite recipes:
Troll-Caught Albacore Fish Cakes

3 pounds uncooked troll-caught albacore steaks or loins
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
2 tablespoons parsley
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup water
cornflake crumbs

Place the troll-caught albacore, chopped onion, Old Bay seasoning, parsley, and 1/2 cup water into a large skillet. Cook, covered, for about 45 minutes over low heat. Mix cornstarch and 3/4 cup water together, add to fish and cook another 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and cool the mixture, them form into patties and roll in cornflake crumbs (at this point, some cakes may be frozen until ready to use). For remaining cakes, fry until brown on both sides, about 5-7 minutes on each side. Makes about 13 fish cakes. Excellent as leftovers!