Bermuda wins! Again — for the eighth time, not to mention back to back with the 2012 winner also being caught here! The competition: the international Blue Marlin World Cup. That, in a nutshell, is the headline but there is a lot more to the story as the drama unfolded. So, let’s start at the very beginning.What is probably the most remarkable thing of all is that the fishing in general had been exceedingly slow for the last week or so. Although there were some catches of wahoo and tuna made these were simply not what anglers were expecting and, even for the commercial operators, things were at best, poor. Finding the deep blue water that pelagic predators call home was a bit of a problem as well and many boats favoured working the East End of the Island.It is funny how some things work out. Despite the rather slim pickings being had by the fleet of visiting boats in their “practice” runs for big blue marlin, it came down to the day before the start of the tournaments that something notable took place. In a way this was unfortunate because it raised a lot of criticism, fuelled no doubt by a bit of jealousy. On the eve of the Blue Marlin World Cup, a local boat had gone out and caught and boated a 690-odd pound blue marlin, for no apparently good reason. Naturally, that point is totally debatable: it might have been that the fish came up dead or there may well have been other matters at issue; but many considered it the waste of a fish that could have been worth a great deal a mere 24 hours later.The Bermuda Blast, fished in conjunction with the World Cup, got off to a quick start when a mere 18 minutes into the tournament saw Capt. Nick New’s Reel Hot hook up with a white marlin that was subsequently released. But even earlier than this, Sea Toy had hooked into a blue that took half an hour to catch and which was quickly boated and hurried back to the scales where it checked in at 547 pounds.All this action was followed, in quick succession, by three blue marlin releases by various boats in less than the ensuing hour with Blank Check hooking a blue that took over an hour to boat before being rushed back to the scales where it weighed in at 668 pounds.As the action continued to pick up pace, Capt. Peter Rans’ Overproof hooked into a fish that took some 213 minutes to boat. Judging by the mathematical formula this fish was over 700 pounds but, rather than running back to the weigh station, they elected to keep fishing and were rewarded with a blue marlin release about two hours before “lines out”. Just about then, 43 boats started to fish the Hawaiian Kona Coast and the pressure was on.At the afternoon Barr’s Bay Park weigh-in, Overproof’s fish came in at 641 pounds, on the losing end of the 10% error that the formula allows. By now the pressure on Blank Check increased.The thrills and chills continued as word came from Hawaii that a fish had been boated. Speculation mounted and nerves frayed until, late that night, the word came back that the best Kona had managed was a 660-pounder giving Capt. Danny Hearn and his Blank Check the 2013 World Cup honours!At the end of the Blast’s fishing day, the tally was 18 billfish: 15 blues and three whites. Not at all bad, especially with a World Cup winner included and considering the doom and gloom had had preceded the tournament. Thirty-six boats with 204 had elected to take part and this was just after the first day!At the midway point of the tournament, the catch had increased to a total of 36 billfish, 27 of which were blue marlin with nine whites. In first place with a comfortable but certainly not unassailable lead was Sea Toy with 2,047 points from three blue marlin releases and the 547 points scored by the fish weighed in. With no further taking of fish permitted within the tournaments, the scoring would be limited to 500 points for a blue release and 200 for a white release, making the extra 47 points a nice little insurance policy. Overproof was second with 1141 points and Waste Knot and Paradise One were tied on 1,000 points apiece with the former having the lead on time. It won’t be until it is all over that anyone will be able to say for sure what the result is going to be. Hence, the excitement that revolves around this type of event.For those who simply cannot get enough, the frenzied action continues starting on Wednesday, 10th July with the Bermuda Big Game Classic. Another three highly competitive days will see an even larger fleet in pursuit of trophy billfish with more honours and another load of cash up for grabs. Largely similar rules although here more big billfish can be boated as there are daily jackpot prizes for really big fish. A 500-pound minimum applies but, as has been well established, Bermuda produces some really large fish, making this one of the really outstanding billfish capitals of the world.For those unperturbed by the big game focus, there should be some tuna and a few wahoo around the Banks. Wahoo normally slacken off as the summer progresses and the trolling for them is not the most judicious use of fuel. Chumming on the Banks also has the option of fishing down deep for amberjack and bonita, both species seem to be abundant and of good size. While waiting for the tuna to put in an appearance, the small game should provide some action and there is always the chance that the robins will show up and then live-baiting becomes a real possibility. Finally, if all else fails to amuse, then bottom-bouncing for hinds, coneys and barbers will at least provide a bit of fresh fish for the table. As many anglers are acutely aware theses days, not all fishing is about sport.Also worth noting, is that the big amberjack (156lbs. 3 oz) caught by Roderick Williams back in June has been submitted to the International Game Fish Association for consideration for the all tackle and 50-lb test line class records. The ratification process usually takes a while and is subject to verification and the testing of the lien used. If the application is successful, it will again give Bermuda bragging rights for this species. After all, it isn’t just big blue marlin that provide the Tight lines!!!