Winter, the way it should be. None of these calm, sunny warm days nonsense; the real old-fashioned sequence of a few hours of clam, followed by winds increasing to gale force, the passage of cold fronts and bands of chilly rain.

Although these make life difficult for the fisherman and nigh on impossible for anglers to plan their weekends, the big shake-up probably enhances the water quality so that the plankton thrive and the food web is restored.

At least that is the theory and it does make some sense. This is particularly true of Bermuda’s location in what some have termed the ocean desert. Hundreds of miles away from sources originating on the continental land masses, the only way for the nutrients necessary to support life to find its way into the waters that also receive light is through the mixing process.

Think about the doldrum-like calms that are so often the situation in August, there simply cannot be much missing going on. But now, quite apart from the strong tides that seem to be everywhere offshore, the storm-driven crash of waves has got to bring up some of the deeper water which in turn fertilises the surface waters where the plankton start off the food chain.

The hope, of course, is that, after the disastrous year last year, this season will see a return to the fishing that is normally expected with runs of tuna and wahoo on a timely basis.

Not that the winter doesn’t offer some interesting alternatives. Unfortunately, with the lack of sport fishing effort, it is left to the real die-hard commercial fishermen who often try less than traditional methods to catch fish. And some of these have really paid off recently.

Amongst the fish that are of interest to the angler, even if they are confined to quarters by the weather, are the bluefin tuna and swordfish. The more intrepid commercial fishermen here have modified their vertical lines which were once used for snapper and John Paw into gear types that are more likely to catch swordfish. Surface longlines which are used by a very few local fishermen also catch swords and have again paid off with bluefin tuna.

Historically, bluefin tuna were regularly seen in the waters around the Island but very few were ever caught largely due to the inadequate gear carried by most local boats. With the near collapse of the fishery in the 1970s, it is probable that the numbers of bluefin were simply too low for them to have much of an impact in this area and it has only been in recent years that they have been anything approaching common.

The real giants seem to be found in the Gulf of the Saint Lawrence but bluefin of all sizes have been documented crossing the Atlantic from west to east and, one must suspect, that there is a migration in the opposite direction as well.

What limited information that there is suggests that it is the west to east movement that brings the fish through the Bermuda area. With the more sophisticated and heavier gear that is the norm these days, there is a better chance of catching bluefin here although the tendency for them to transit the area during the winter pretty much puts catching one out of the purview of the amateur.

Swordfish have probably always been here and it is likely that the deep drifting technique mastered by the Florida sports fishermen will be the one that will work best here.

Given the patience required and the modifications to the gear, it is unlikely that too many will indulge in this endeavour although the commercial efforts have met with some considerable success.

The species that kept the Oriental longline fishing fleet in the Island’s vicinity throughout the winter months is one that is seldom encountered by locals. This is the albacore, which is prized as the white meat tuna, and which occurs here quite regularly. Best of all they attain a nice average size which gave the commercial longliners plenty of reason to be here.

Most experienced anglers will have encountered the odd albacore during the course of their lifetimes and probably even more go unrecognised, being dismissed as a blackfin, despite the extended pectoral fins being a dead giveaway. With the evidence provided by the Taiwanese fleet, there must be a reason why albacore are not commonly taken by anglers and commercial operators alike. This is probably because the water temperature seemed critical to locating the fish. Certainly the foreign skippers of longliners seemed to think so and the contents of the holds of their vessels were proof of their logic.

Albacore have been caught on the troll and by chummers although the latter have accounted for every few of those taken here. The local line class records for albacore are held by 53 and 59-pound fish, both of which were moving into trophy class for the species.

Despite the temptations offered by the above-mentioned game species, virtually every angler who makes it offshore this winter will opt to err on the side of caution and concentrate on bottom fishing with maybe a bit of trolling in case a wahoo is willing to please.

After all, returning home empty-handed after a day at sea is what you had in mind when you went in search of Tight Lines!!!