Okay, this is your last chance for the year. The last chance to win a fishing tournament, catch a wahoo, get featured in the newspaper or maybe even for you to just to go fishing.If you have been putting off heading out on the deep blue briny since back in May — oh, there were lots of valid reasons: work, family commitments, holidays abroad, illness, golf, the start of football or NFL or whatever — it doesn’t matter, this because this is the season’s swansong.Weather permitting; the season’s final tournament which is open to all residents and is free will be fished next Sunday the 15th. The Royal Gazette Wahoo Tournament welcomes all comers and its history shows that even the most unlikely anglers using the most unlikely tactics can and have come out as winners.The real good news is that originally that event was slated for this weekend but due to a number of providential circumstances, it was moved back to the 15th. Looking at this weekend’s weather forecast and the possibility that the first of the tropical season depressions might be coming our way and it is all fortuitous.Another thing is that one of the vestiges of August has not yet departed our fair isle. The hot, calm weather experienced during August often makes for planktonic blooms that turn the water on the Bermuda Platform “green”. It still looks blue to the normal eye but to mariners and particularly fishermen, it develops a sheen or discolouration that is subtle but is very noticeable to the fish which, by virtue of being “blue water species”, avoid it. There are occasions when tuna or wahoo or even marlin can be caught from such discoloured water but that is very much the exception.For the last few weeks the water around the Island, particularly off the South Shore has been “green” and avoided by fishermen. While trolling along, most skippers keep an eye open for changes in water colour, currents, flotsam, and bait. So, if the water starts looking to be a bit off-colour, maybe endure a bit of that to see if it clears up but then head away from it. For bill fishing this isn’t a problem because heading offshore eventually finds “blue” water but that doesn’t work for wahoo fishing where the point is to stay on the edge of the drop-off, normally the 30 to 50 fathom curve. Running out into 300 fathoms might give you blue water but there probably won’t be too many wahoo hanging around out there. So, a bit of a blow this weekend or early next week should help to restore the water colour and maybe the fish will come in.But that is really the main thing is that up until the last week or so, there has been little sign that there are sort of numbers of wahoo out there. Just recently, though, there have been minor flutters of activity with a few boats managing fives or sixes. That, in and of itself, is another good thing about a postponement.The wahoo tournament has always been staged in September on the basis of that being the time of the year when the wahoo are at their most abundant. That was always referred to as the fall or autumnal run. It usually coincided with the “young of the year” false albacore or mackerel showing up. These were branded “frigate mackerel” even though the real frigate mackerel is a somewhat distantly related species that does not occur here.Last year that did not take place; the year before it was very weak, and, so far, this year, there has not been much sign of their appearance on the scene. It is possible, however, that they may not be here today but they might well show up tomorrow. And there is another juvenile fish that makes an even better live bait that occasionally puts in an appearance around about this time of the year (but usually a little later than frigate mackerel) and that is juvenile blackfin tuna. The question is: are the bait runs independent or partially independent or merely coincidental with the wahoo run?It was generally accepted that there was a run of wahoo in April or May even though hindsight suggests that maybe that was because until about May no one really went wahoo fishing and so the fish that had arrived on the local grounds over the course of the winter and spring provided the substance of the run.After a long, hot summer when the wahoo definitely eased off, there was definitely an upsurge in activity as the autumn approached and the weathers started showing signs of changing into the wintry mode. This could be the result of a genuine run or it could be all the wahoo that had moved to the northern limits of their range were now encountering waters cooler than they liked and started to head back toward more equatorial regions, taking them southward past Bermuda.It might also be that those fish had been here or hereabout all that time, spawning or doing things other than feeding, because everyone assumes that if they aren’t catching wahoo then they are not here. It might be the drop in water temperature triggers something that puts them back into feeding mode and that makes them more catchable.The presence of juvenile mackerel or tuna certainly would give the wahoo a reason to embark on a feeding frenzy. This is certainly enough of a reason to make them stay around for a while. Then perhaps as the mass of bait is whittled away, or they move on or maybe even simply enough grow large enough to be able to escape, the predators start to thin out as well on their never-ending search for food. Maybe a small percentage of bait stays here and as a result, a portion of the wahoo population stays on as well. This would help to explain the fact that there are wahoo here through the winter in fair numbers and the spring run could be explained by the arrival of northward moving fish in late March, April and early May.So, at the very least, there is more wahoo action offshore now than there was three weeks ago. Whether this is because new fish have arrived or the resident ones have changed their modus operandi is unclear but the bottom line is that they are more readily caught. More bait would probably mean more action, but sometimes in competitive fishing, it is difficult circumstances that separate the men from the boys, as it were.So, make sure that you enter before it is too late, improvements in the fishing are to be expected and, at lest for this year, this is your last tournament that gives you a sporting chance at winning something and an excellent opportunity for Tight lines!!!