High summer as the competitive angling really got under way last Sunday with the Bacardi tournament going off on its first alternate date.

For the only time in the long history of this tournament the winners were not dominated by wahoo and tuna. In fact, there were precious few wahoo brought to the weigh-in and only slightly more tuna.

The fish in the “Other” category seem to have finally come through with some rather outstanding specimens representing the various species.

The first and most prominent of these was Edward Barnes’s 47.8lb dolphin. A huge specimen by local standards and a probable Bermuda record, this fish earned him sufficient points to win the Overall High Point Angler award.

He was fishing aboard Mark Mitchell’s Maverick which was working the short course area on Bermuda’s Southwest Edge where they also reported losing at least one other large strike. This was a bit of a departure from the normal practice of most tournament boats which tend to head for the Banks.

In the small class (Class A) for private boats, the winning High Point Boat was Hot Mess skippered by Mark Tatem. The High Point Wahoo was won by Cameron Hollis.

In the larger private boat class (Class B), the High Point Other fish was won by Niel Jones with a 38.6 pound bonita and the High Point Tuna was won by Joe Paulo with a 24.5 pound blackfin tuna. The High Point Class B boat was captain. Jose Paulo’s X-treme Pleasure with Mark Mitchell’s Maverick taking the runner-up spot.

In Class C, the commercial boat class, the High Point Tuna was a yellowfin caught by John Cumberbatch and the High Point Other was a nice 35.9 pound bonita taken by Cornell Bean.

The Bacardi Rum Trophy for Overall High Point Boat was won by captain Allan Bean’s Paradise One, a Class C boat.

Although the fishing had not been as prolific as many observers had predicted, there were some other outstanding catches. Really noticeable were the rainbow runners brought in by captain Bobby Lambe’s Last Chance. These fish bettered 20 pounds and were apparently present in good numbers down on Argus Bank. It has been some time since specimens of such quality have graced local waters. The average rainbow is more likely to be in the three to five pound range, with any fish over ten being notable.

So, these are big by any standard and while not quite in a class with the existing all-tackle record of 39lb 9 oz caught of the Revillagigedo Islands, Mexico, such fish are capable of swinging a light tackle tournament quite easily. This potential game-changer did not transfer over to the next event which commenced on the Monday. As a result, the general lack of fish also carried on over into the 49th Bermuda Anglers Light Tackle Tournament.

Conditions continued fair and the boats had an easy time of getting to their respective chosen spots but there was a distinct reticence on the part of the fish. As a result, the landings were down with only 85 fish being weighed in by the seven teams participating with each team fishing three days. There were also points given for releases and a number of small tunas were released by the various teams. After the three days of stiff competition — when the fish don’t bite, you have to be creative and lucky, and with only a single line class to contest, there was no way to make up an advantage; it was the Bermuda Anglers Club team of Mark Henneberger, David Skinner and Kip Froud that came out on top with 6,964 points ahead of second place team, Bait and Switch, with 4,742 points.

Mark Henneberger, fishing for BAC, was High Point Rod with 3,442 points from five fish, largely helped out by a great day three.

Again, there was a variety of fish species that accounted for the points — a real difference from the usual collection of yellowfin tuna with the occasional large blackfin mixed in.

What did come as a bit of a surprise was the number of sharks that invaded chum slicks and ended up getting hooked. It is usually the month of August when large tiger sharks seem to be just about everywhere on and around the Banks; to the points that Argus sometimes earns the nickname “Shark Bank”!

Although there have been a couple of foreign boats here and a bit of local effort directed toward billfish, the pickings have been slim. There have been a few white marlin caught and an occasional blue hooked, but things are not what would normally be expected. This may bear some relation that the schools of yellowfin are not dominating the offshore scene as they usually do at this time of the year.

Tuna are marlin food, quite simply put. The arrival of the main fleet next week in advance of the July tournaments may bring about a change to this state of affairs.

Looking ahead to the remainder of the weekend, there is the Bermuda regiment tournament. This is the 58th such event, making it the Island’s oldest fishing tournament and one that has always been popular both with the serving men and women and the general public.

Late entries are usually accepted even if it means having to go up to Warwick Camp to register.

The really nice thing about this particular tournament is that there is almost always something for everyone: there are awards for fish caught on hand lines, recognised game fish, other fish and all sorts of combinations that give even the novice a good shot at some winning. Tight Lines!!!