Gail Wade-Adams of Pleasant Hill is a regular on the Excel who's been fishing cows for years. On her latest trip she scored a supercow, a 340-pound yellowfin that is the second-largest long range tuna ever taken by a woman. Gail fished with skipper Justin Fleck on a ten-day "flyer" that visited Clarion Island, where 30 anglers picked up a nice catch of 18 cows, including Gail's 340.8-pound whopper, before returning to Fisherman's Landing January 5. They also had a mixed catch of wahoo and bottomfish.

Wade-Adam's catch brings the total of 300-pound tuna caught by long range lady anglers to six. Her tuna slipped past the most recent one, a 315-pounder taken by Liz Franzino of Hemet. Liz won first place for her sardine-biter, caught on 80-pound line when she fished with Randy Toussaint on Royal Star one year ago.

Gail's story went like this: "He bit after a long soak, about 8:30 in the morning, on a salami mackerel on a 14/0 Eagle Claw hook. He ran out and stayed out there for about an hour of the two-hour fight. At first I thought it was a shark because he left so slowly. Then he went down and took me around the boat a few times. He came up on the port bow and just rolled over. They brought him in over the rail. I hooked and landed the fish without any help."

She said she baited a salami mackerel on a 14/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 130-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon and 130-pound Izorline on an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 7465 XH rod. Gail also caught a 242-pound tuna.

Gail doesn't enter the jackpot, but her fish would have been eligible. Skipper Fleck reported 75-degree water at the island, "grease-calm." He said the tuna there were feeding on flying fish and mackerel.

Charles Eubank of Kenai, AK won first place for his best fish ever, a 286-pound yellowfin. He told dock reporter Bill Roecker it came on a mackerel and a 10/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 100-pound Big Game line on an Accurate 50 W reel and a Calstar 6455 XXH rod. The fish fought for two hours, said skipper Fleck, and Eubank had to do his catching from a skiff.

Dave Feibush of Sausalito took two and a half hours out of his fishing day to boat a 255-pound tuna, which won second place for him. He also fished a salami on a 15/0 Eagle Claw hook, and used 130-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon, 100-pound Big Game line, 100-pound Line One spectra, an Accurate ATD 30 reel and a Calstar 6455 XXH rod.

Walter Ozawa of Long Beach won third place for a 250-pound tuna. He said he got it with a salami on a 15/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 130-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Blackwater spectra on a Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 765 XH rod. The fish resisted for an hour.

Dudley Vaughan of Buckeye, AZ hauled in a 265-pound yellowfin after it bit his salami on a 10/0 Eagle Claw hook. He said he fished with 130-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon, 100-popund Big Game line, 100-pound Power Pro spectra on a Fin-Nor 6WA reel and a Calstar 6460 XXH rod. His best fish fought him an hour and a half.

Steve Roller of DeRuiter, NY got a 234-pound tuna with a mackerel on a 15/0 Eagle Claw hook, 130-pound Big Game line, 130-pound Line One spectra on an Accurate ATD 50 W reel and a Calstar 6455 XXH rod. He fought his fish for an hour and a half.

"My best fish," he told Roecker, "and my first cow. I got him on my first cast after spending a whole day on the kite."

Chris Kumai of Berkeley bagged a brace: 231 and 201 pounds. He fished mackerel on 10/0 Eagle Claw hooks, with 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Line One spectra on a Penn 50 reel modified by Cal Sheets, and a Calstar 755 SSH rod.

Shannon Nutt of Palmdale took her first cow, a 214-pounder, on a sardine and a 7/0 Owner ringed Mutu hook. She said she fished with 130-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One spectra on an Accurate BX-2 50 reel and a Calstar 655 XH rod.

Other cows were caught by: Jay Orbon, 282.4 pounds; Rick Iwatsubo, 246.8 pounds; Russell Fujizawa, 220 pounds; Fred Leitner, 218.6 pounds; Paul Carlisle, 213 pounds; Jerrol Kinsey, 206 pounds and Randy Andrews, 201 pounds.