"The questions regarding cows are probably one of today's main topics concerning long range fishing," wrote American Angler skipper Brian Kiyohara December 2.

"It is our opinion that it is just the beginning. We started out in the zone at daylight and almost immediately saw sign of big fish. We saw excellent sign of scattered big fish almost identical to what we saw on some of our best days last year.

"There were probably six or eight deals where we slid on spots that were made up of 10-20 big cows erupting out of the water. We managed to hook about 10 fish today and ended up putting five of those aboard. Sam Ishida and Dave O'Halloran led today's parade with a 267 (pictured) and a 214 to go along with Larry Bolan's and Mark Curry's deuces from the day before.

"For everyone at home the formula is pretty simple. During the past month everyone has seen sign of fish in the area. Last week Mike Lackey got the first fish to bite and that was a 245. The last 2 days we not only saw fish but also had the opportunity to put 8 of these big fish aboard. It sure seems like this is just the beginning of good things to come. In our personal opinion, the big fish bite is starting later this year due to warmer water temp.

"After seeing the amount of fish that we saw the last 2 days, the formula equals one thing. The opportunity to catch a big fish is now so if you are serious about having a shot at a big one, giving a call to your favorite long-range office would sure make sense as far as inquiring about a December or early 2007 long trip.

"Obviously there is no guarantee that conditions will remain optimum, but things sure look good."