WITH alarming alacrity another year has drawn to a close and before it is consigned into the mists of history it is only fair and fitting that we should pay a final look at the angling year that was 2005.

As the winter gales eased off and fishable seas became more frequent, early season trollers started to have some success with the wahoo. Although the spring run was not as spectacular as it has occasionally been in the past, there were enough fish and of sufficient quality that the commercial fleet was able to turn a profit and the amateurs were given a reason to get their boats out of mothballs and back into action.

As May passed into June, fair numbers of yellowfin tuna showed up on the Banks and a good chumming season was had by all. Naturally, the market was quickly flooded with tuna, so that charterboats were able to start devoting some time to the deep water where the real big game fish live.

July was a fantastic month with the billfish providing almost endless excitement. This year saw the institution of the Bermuda Triple Crown. This is a three-leg event incorporating the Bermuda Blast, Big Game Classic and the Sea Horse Anglers Billfish Tournament.

The inaugural Bermuda Blast was a great success in its own right. When combined with the international Blue Marlin World Cup, it was really brought into the limelight when Capt. Stephen Cabral's Sea Scorpion boated a 712-pound blue marlin that held out to once again win the World Cup for Bermuda. This was one of several qualifying fish caught in local waters that day and firmly put the island into focus on the international marlin scene.

Just when it seemed that things could not get any better, the Bermuda Big Game Classic got off to an epic start when the visiting Southern Exposure boated a grander on the first day of the tournament. That set the pace for that boat and the Exposure hung on to win the tournament but not before a healthy challenge by two local boats. It is interesting to note that despite the influx of all sorts of high-powered fishing machines, the local fleet seems to be more than capable of holding their own against the foreign competition.

The final tournament of the Triple Crown was an exciting event when, out of nowhere, Capt. Allan DeSilva's DeMako suddenly started hitting on all cylinders and rocket into first place on the last day. Again, there were some excellent fish caught by several participating boats and there were plenty of releases further evidencing the numbers of blue marlin that have made Bermuda their summer home.

In fact, the success rate enjoyed by the July tournaments has posed a bit of a difficulty for organisers.

The purpose of modified release tournaments is to aid in conservation by minimising the number of fish killed. The expectation is that by having a 400 or 500-pound minimum weight that only a few fish will be caught that qualify and probably only a portion of those will actually be brought to the scales. The quality and, therefore, size of the blue marlin in Bermuda waters the last few July's has been such that more fish have been killed than is really desirable.

Interspersed between the signature events of the Triple Crown was the Bermuda Triangle Series which, this year, had the Bermuda Open showing major improvement over the initial event held in 2004. The organisers look to take it on to bigger and better things for 2006 and news and updates may be found on the internet at www.abmt.vi.

Happily, we were spared the brunt of the busiest hurricane season ever recorded. The disasters that occurred to our south were without doubt major devastations and when one considers the state of New Orleans, one just has to wonder what the aftermath of something like Katrina might have been had it happened here. Just some food for thought.

Despite the heady success of the summer there were a few disappointments as well. Strangely enough, one of these was closely associated with one of the success stories.

As autumn loomed, the annual frenetic farce of getting The Mid-Ocean News Wahoo Tournament off the ground commenced. Lo and behold, it went off on the first date and, boy, was it a spectacular success. The weather was good and a record number of wahoo were weighed in with some real trophy fish coming to the scales.

Everyone thought that this portended some great wahoo fishing over the next several weeks but, alas, this was not to be. Apart from that initial burst of activity, the autumnal wahoo run failed to develop and this was a real downer for the commercial fleet since many rely on a good catch of wahoo during September and October to carry them through the winter months.

In actual fact from about that time on, the fishing has been exceptionally poor. Apart from a few dolphin and tuna, along with the ever-present small numbers of wahoo, there have been no really notable catches. Just about the best hauls made were very occasional multiples of wahoo, but the dearth of activity quickly had the commercial fleet moving into winter mode and concentrating on bottom fishing for hinds, coneys, barbers, ambers and bonitas.

What to look forward to over the next couple of months? For now, good days are best spent bottom-bouncing for something for the pan. Anytime now the porgy specialists will be getting their water glasses out and roaming over the blue holes in search of the big blue-boned porgies that make such a fine chowder. The troller will be risking a certain fuel bill against an uncertain wahoo strike along Bermuda's Edge while the Banks increase the investment but likewise fail to guarantee a return. The latter does, however, offer the odd shot at a yellowfin.

The key to winter fishing is to keep your ear to the ground. Every so often something does come to life; two years ago it was a run of yellowfin tuna off the East End; other years there have been wahoo all over Argus Bank that were more than willing to please. In the absence of any other significant fishing, the word gets around fast and you have to be in a position to drop everything and take advantage of the action.

Otherwise, there are the Superbowl, the Miami Boat Show and other couch-potato-related activities to look forward to. Eventually, the skies will clear and the seas drop out and the next fishing season will commence bringing Nature's bounty to our shores once more. In the meantime, here's to a Happy New Year filled with Tight Lines!!!