With the major December celebrations behind us now, things will start to return to normal, although the onset of yet another new year will give all pause for reflection on what is to come.

Perhaps even more important is to look back on the year that was while it is still fresh enough to callow a reasonable level of recall. Give it another few months and the events of this past summer, or a summer two years gone, seem to be pretty much the same and then the memory does a good job of fading into the oblivion that creates history.

So, for the record, if for no other reason, now is an ideal time to take a few minutes and to put last year’s accomplishments and disappointments into perspective. That done, braggadocio can exert its profound influence and the resultant bragging rights will provide a picturesque, if unreliable, memory of 2013.

Bottom line, it was not a stellar year by any matter of means. Having said that, there are always a couple of notable exceptions, some of which become somebody’s most cherished angling memory, but, overall, really don’t do anything for anyone else. Thus, the focus is on the broad view of what transpired.

As usual, everyone went into the year full of hope with great expectations. January was a quiet month, as might be expected. February was mostly blown out with the commercial fleet using the down time for the boat’s annual servicing and for other repairs. Serious effort commenced in March, with boats achieving various degrees of success. With the weather starting to settle, there were many who felt that the summer months might prove to be memorable.

In late April, there was a flutter of activity with a nice class of wahoo pleasing, giving a brief dose of there being plenty of indication that great things were about to happen. Unfortunately, that was all that it amounted to: a level of expectation that was really never fulfilled.

In May, the angling clubs gave the offshore a pretty good working-over in the annual BFCAT tournament, but with a marked lack of results. A few tuna and a tiny wahoo, or two mixed in with some jacks and bonita, were not what the participants had in mind, but that was what they had to make do with. The picture that this outcome painted was less than encouraging, but events organised well in advance went forward in the hope that things might improve.

The June Bermuda Anglers ILTT was likewise lacklustre in comparison with some of the results from previous years. There were some notable catches, but the yellowfin tuna failed to provide the thrills and spills that usually make this tournament exceptional. Fortunately, it does not always need numbers of fish to make for a successful event and this year was undoubtedly classified as such.

This did not do much for the commercial fleet that was hoping for schools of tuna to fill their fish boxes and glut the market, as it has in the past. In comparison with expectations, allisons were very thin on the ground and failed to live up to expectations. This shifted the effort focus away from tuna and wahoo and led to something of a concentration on ambers, bonitas and bottom fish.

In the hope that the marlin would come through and make the season, local and foreign boats spent most of July raking the deep water for billfish. Whether it was the dearth of tuna or some other factor, the catches were down on previous years. Not only were there less fish than usual, but the quality seemed to leave a little something to be desired. On a more optimistic note, such circumstances make the angling even more competitive, again making for an overall positive outcome. The other bluewater species sporadically provided some action, but the summer doldrums continued.

August is always a slow month, with this being ascribed to the heat, which deters both man and fish. This year, it was even more markedly so. A few marlin continued to please and the odd wahoo and tuna gave anglers and commercial fishermen enough of a reason to go out again the next day.

Probably the most positive aspect of this past summer was the lack of tropical activity in the local area, which spared the Island a great deal of hectic activity and concern.

Arguably, the best measure of the autumnal wahoo run comes from the Royal Gazette Wahoo Tournament. Despite fine conditions and plenty of participation, the fish failed to materialise with any authority — both numbers and average size were down on previous years. This was not a good sign and was, indeed, a portent of things to come.

The much awaited frigate mackerel eventually showed up in early November, but, by then, the predators had moved southward and the spiny lobsters had moved into prominence.

Although somewhat unexpected as a species for so late in the year, the dolphinfish gave a bit of a show toward the end of the proceedings. There were some decent fish especially considering that they are never particularly numerous in local waters and the ones that are caught here are never the true giants of that circumtropical species.

With the year rapidly drawing to a conclusion, the few who worked the Edge and the Banks were able to manage a few wahoo hither and yon as November slipped into December. A flurry of tuna activity at the East End provided some hope, but effort and interest deteriorated rapidly as the holiday season made its presence felt.

The year 2014 is now rapidly becoming a reality and 2013 a memory; the fear is that things may continue the downhill trend. Realistically, this could well not be the case. Each year brings with it a unique set of phenomenon, many of which we are completely unaware. Vagaries in currents, variations in weather patterns and even the movement of both bait and predator species combine to make a complex web that we will probably never understand, but on occasion find hugely rewarding. Some years, the result is less desirable, so we must wait and see.

But even the saddest stories need to provide a bit of uplift at the denouement; and it was really at the eleventh hour that David Soares provided enough excitement to keep anglers interested over the long, cold winter. Just a few days before Christmas, his gamble at carrying ultra-heavy tackle paid off. It all came to pass when a bluefin tuna grabbed his offering and headed off with every intention of stripping the reel. That is when the 200lb test line on a 130lb class reel really paid off. It provided enough drag and pulling power to allow them to subdue the leviathan that eventually tipped the scale at 1,003lbs! With things like that out there, we can all dream of Tight Lines!!!