Scott,
I remember very clearly my first post perihelion view of Halley very low in the east. It was about the same angular distance from the sun as McNaught is now and I made it around mag 2.3 or so. A very beautiful sight seeing the bright yellow coma and dust tail against the blue twilight. However Comet McNaught is even brighter
Just noticed a wider angle shot from Austria has just been posted:
http://www.kometarium.com/images/2006p1_0501_100mm.jpg
In the image to the left (above the 'D' in 300D) is star Gamma Aquila which is magnitude 3.4. Note how much brighter the comet is despite being lower and deeper in twilight! It is currently being estimated around magnitude 1.5 by a number of people.
I wouldn't be suprised if you succeed in a daylight observation within a few days, especially if you could see Mars. Remember the coma will not be as concentrated as the disk of Mars just yet (Mars is 4" diameter, the comet is 1' across). But the coma is brightening and becoming more concentrated.
Terry