The halcyon conditions continue: light to moderate winds, bright sunny days with little cloud cover and, much to the frustration of farmers and tank-watchers, no sign of rain. Absolutely ideal fishing conditions for those who fall victim to the lure of the offshore. And this is likely to continue until the first of the summertime "tropical" activity puts in an appearance.

While no one wants a 'cane, a tropical storm that dumped six inches of rain on us certainly would not be totally unwelcome. In the meantime, take advantage of the fishing.

While the deep blue water effort is increasing with both visiting boats and local craft searching for a visitation form the mighty blue marlin, there has been a flurry of activity from the smaller variety, the white marlin. Normally whites were never really numerous in Bermuda waters; they were common enough but it wasn't usually worth going looking for them. They would occur in mixed schools with wahoo and tuna during the early summer months and then fade off as July approached and the blues came in on the scene.

In recent years, the July billfish tournaments have revealed much larger numbers of white marlin than were expected and, at the moment, they are certainly the dominant species offshore, in terms of numbers.

To some extent this is a shame because the boats working the deep water are carrying gear intended for big blue marlin. Certainly the local boats show little interest in white marlin and while some of the foreign boats will carry a small lure or two in their spreads, their emphasis is on the bigger fish.

The white marlin is a spectacular fish in its own right and on anything resembling light tackle (30-lb test or less) gives a great account of itself. For this reason it may well be worth carrying a lure or bait in your spread that will maximise the chance of a shot at one. They like really bright colours such as hot pink. Where they can be a nuisance is they can come into a spread and "window shop" behind every offering, poke at couple and then just fade away, leaving a frustrated angler who has just had his ten cents worth of excitement!

Sticking with more traditional fishing for this time of the year in advance of the marlin madness that gets underway next weekend with the Blue Marlin World Cup being the main event on Sunday, July 4, is the chumming situation.

This had started slowly with the yellowfin being spotty and the blackfin providing most of the action. This all hanged later in the week as the Brien-Palliot invitational tournament got underway. Seemingly, all of a sudden, there were good numbers of middle to heavyweight Allisons on Argus Bank. The tournament boats found themselves surrounded by highly marketable fish well suited to the usual commercial gear of 50-lb test or more but with a boatload of paying clients who were determined to use light fly gear. Not surprisingly, the rest of the commercial fleet availed themselves of this and fresh local tuna appeared in most of the supermarkets and on restaurant menus. About time, too!

From the sporting standpoint, there was plenty of good news as well. Local angler Cindy Mitchell caught a potential record on 20-lb tippet in mid-week only to have the fish bettered by the end of the tournament. Having said that, the quality angling continued and when the dust had settled, Bob Brien reported that the tournament had produced four potential IGFA records and a potential new Bermuda record for fly-caught dolphin at 37-plus pounds.

Now for the bad news: after that flurry of hectic activity the tuna again seem to have disappeared, no longer being found in numbers on Argus where they were. Two possibilities: one, they may have departed the area although this is unlikely – too much bait to warrant leaving. Two, they may have started to spread out as the bait does not merely remain in one place just waiting to be eaten. Bait species also have a survival strategy and this usually means spreading out. When the bait spreads out, so do the predators. So it is now likely for schools of tuna to start showing up in their usual haunts, like the southeast point of Challenger, along the inside edges of the Banks and maybe even down on the northern side which is where the really large tunas have usually taken up residence. What the case will be should come to light over the next few days, so we shall see.

Those less interested in the fishing but still full of wonder for the mysterious creatures of the deep, there are a few oddities around at the present time which might be of interest.

Along the southwest edge a rather large hammerhead shark has been seen cruising along. Once very commonly occurring here, this species has kept a low profile in recent years, despite being one of the most recognisable of all sharks. The distinctive head shape is a dead giveaway.

There have been repeated encounters with a large whale shark and certain individuals have taken advantage of the situation and gone for a swim with the behemoth yet docile plankton feeder. Apparently a safe proposition, it is not one that comes too highly recommended for the amateur. Far better to watch from the safety of a boat or through a waterglass. Again, virtually impossible to mistake, it is absolutely huge – like of whale proportions – and covered in bright white spots.

The third stranger to the local area is at least one manta ray. This has also been spotted along Bermuda's Edge and it is either very busy, being in several locations almost at once or there may be more than one of them in the vicinity. Again think large, anything to about 10-15 feet across. The head is often associated with horns, hence the sometimes used moniker, "devilfish" and may exhibit areas of white in the head region or on the fin tips. They can and do leap clear of the water, making a huge splash that should get the attention of anyone boating anywhere near close to the spot. Again, this species has been recorded here on many occasions in the past but they just aren't that commonly seen.

It's summertime and the living is supposed to be easy, at least according to the song. For sure, it is a great time to get in some blue-water fishing before the heat gets to be too much for both the anglers and the fish. There are still some wahoo willing to take trolls, there is plenty of small game for chummers and the yellowfin will turn up again. All in all, this is a great opportunity for some Tight lines!!