Ralph Mikkelsen has been running his end-of-the-season Big Fish trips for many years, and the Excel expedition scheduled to dock at Fisherman's Landing May 19 looks to be one of the very best.

"One of the most well-rounded trips I've been on," said skipper Justin Fleck May 18 as we conversed by sat phone. "We had 24 anglers aboard, and we taped 16 fish over 200 pounds. We taped one right at 300 pounds and the one at 316 pounds.

"I'll be weighing all the fish on the (certified) scales after we get in. About 20 per cent of the fish we caught were cows. We lost quite a few, of course, to equipment failure or just bad luck. Ralph Mikkelsen, who's a real gentleman, lost a big one after it sank and the hook straightened."

Photos and statistics from the fine catch of cows will be forthcoming in a few days, thanks to efforts by Bill Casper Jr., who will cover the arrival with notebook and camera. Bill Roecker and Paul Sweeney will be at Rancho Leonero Monday through Friday, on a fishing shoot.

Fleck said, "The wahoo fishing at the Hurricane Bank was insane! They bit on everything, all methods, including poppers. If you hooked a wahoo and he got off, you just kept cranking and another one would bite. When it's like that you don't use the jigs with the good paint job.

"We stopped at Cedros and the fishing there looks to be very good, like it was last year," noted Fleck. "This is the end of our long season. The next long trip will be around Thanksgiving. We'll be leaving San Diego again on Wednesday on a six-day trip, and there's still some room on that one."