The long-awaited change in the weather and a break from the scorching days and humidity has finally arrived and although most householders welcomed a bit of rain, the generally inclement conditions did put sport fishing on hold for a bit, but not before the bulk of the month’s organised activity was said and done.

The Sea Horse Anglers Club Billfish Tournament, the Island’s oldest at 42 years, provided an exciting weekend for the 260 anglers that made up the 29 teams of visiting and foreign boats that took part.

Despite somewhat lumpy conditions, on the first day nine blue marlin and a single white marlin were released. Day two provided something more in the way of excitement as six white marlin and seven blue marlin were released with captain Danny Veid’s Amarula Sun boating and weighing in a 605lb blue.

As day three started competition was tight at the top with Amarula Sun releasing a blue to move to 1105 points. Early leader Mama Who added another blue marlin release to go ahead with 2,000 points but it was left to captain Bull Tulson’s Sea Toy to come from behind by adding both a blue marlin and a white marlin release to her two day total of 1,400 points to capture the honours for the winning team with a grand total of 2,100 points.

But the drama wasn’t over, and captain Brooks Rans’ Mattanza brought a 575lb blue to the dock. This fish not only assured them of the daily but catapulted them into a third-place finish just behind Mama Who.

The High Point Angler was Mama Who’s Sales de La Barre with 2,000 accumulated points which also made him the High Point Junior. The High Point Lady Angler was Hit N Run’s Laura Russell.

The tournament accounted for 40 billfish (27 blue marlin, 12 white marlin and a solo spearfish) with one wahoo being entered in the largest game fish category but narrowly missed making the minimum weight.

This culmination of the Bermuda Triple Crown played an important role in sorting out who the winners of the three tournament challenge were. Despite there having been nine days of competitive fishing over almost three weeks, with all sorts of ups and downs and plenty of hard luck stories, there was only about one fish worth of points separating the top four finishers.

In first place with 3,200 points was captain Ronnie Burbage’s Mama Who, a popular winner as frequent return visitor Elaine Jones bore witness to. In second place was Uno Mas with 2,800 points, a scant 100 points ahead of Sea Toy in third. That brought the major proceedings to an end although it will be a while before all of the foreign boats head home.

For some, the next couple of weeks will be spent looking for that most elusive of blue marlin — the grander or a fish that tops 1,000lbs. That aside there is also a very real possibility of catching a new world record blue in Bermuda waters and that is the stuff that keeps these boats coming back for more.

If all this billfishing has given you a dose of marlin fever, you might be interested in this weekend’s one day United States v Bermuda release tournament. With a far less costly entry fee and less onerous rules, this is an all-release event that is intended to be a fun event and encourages novice participation. Late entry and further details may be had from Trevor Gillis on telephone 334-8657.

The lack of an eligible wahoo was an indication of the situation offshore.

On the one hand, it is rather encouraging: boats actively trolling for wahoo are finding fish and catching as many as eight or ten a day. The only negative is that these are all school-sized summer fish with an average weight somewhere in the ‘teens.

Research suggests that these fish are only a year or so old, but they are capable of growing very rapidly, so fish just a few months older may be significantly larger. But, because they are true pelagic wanderers, anglers cannot exactly arrange for fish to be here just when they reach an age that makes them large enough to please us; we have to take what we get.

In any event, the presence of school fish suggests decent numbers, so a spot of trolling is likely to pay off. If fuel is a consideration, then chumming is the preferred method and this allows a crack at just about all the summer species, particularly if live baits such as robins can be obtained.

About the only negative is the increasing numbers of barracuda that hang around chum slicks looking to take a chomp out of any hooked fish. Although they are considered a game fish, few local anglers want to have anything to do with them, although there is one fun thing that is an option. Once a barry is spotted hanging around use a spinning rod and a surgical tube lure. Even the most outlandish colours work and barracuda are real suckers for these.

Once hooked, they will often take to the air and will provide some rather exciting light tackle Tight Lines!