The last boat in for Christmas this season had the best fish of the year to date: a 355-pound whopper of a supercow that took a squid under the kite. Jeff DeBuys skippered the 12-day trip with 29 anglers. It was billed as the Indy Cow Shootout, and it produced 11 cows, or tuna over 200 pounds. "We had excellent drifting weather," said skipper DeBuys. "We had many, many chances at big fish. We lost one other tuna that looked as big as the big one."

Mark Backes of Del Mar won first place for his big boy. He said he got it with a boat rig that featured a 12/0 Mustad 7691 hook, 130-pound Izorline spectra, an Avet 50 reel and a Super Seeker 6463 XXXXH rod. He said his previous best tuna was a 240-pounder. "There was a huge explosion on my kite bait," he remembered, "when he slurped it up, and then he took all but 50 yards on my spool. He fought straight out for an hour, took me around the boat twice, and came in up on the port side bow."

John Lawrence of Glendale got a 286-pounder and won second place. He couldn't make the lineup shot, so deckhand Matt Kaullen posed with his fish.

Dog Mets of Cornville, AZ won third place for a 275-pound yellowfin he got with a sardine on a ringed Owner 7/0 Super Mutu hook on 80-pound Izorline on a Tyrnos 30 reel and a Calstar 760 H rod.

Hubert Owen of Downey got his best tuna ever, a 265-pounder, on a squid under the kite with the boat's rig. His previous best fish was a 100-pounder at Guadalupe Island.

Paul Gerts of Santa Rosa took an hour with his best fish, a 274.8-pound yellowfin tuna. He got it with a squid under the kite. He used a 12/0 Mustad 7691 hook, 130-pound Line One spectra, an Accurate ATD 50 W reel and a Calstar 7465 XXXH rod.

Phil Havlicek of San Francisco caught a 233.5-pounder with a sardine on a 4/0 Hayabusa hook on 130-pound P-Line fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One spectra on an Avet 50 N reel and a Calstar 770 XXH rod.

Other cow-catchers were: Michael Noblett, 205 pounds; Bob Carter, 207.4 pounds; Jeff Harris 2000.7 pounds; and Modesto Alcala, 264 and 231-pound yellowfin tuna.