Finally, the weather is showing signs of settling down to the benign summer warmth and gentle breezes that make angling here such a seasonal pastime. And now is probably optimum for the amateur, with success nearly guaranteed and a wide variety of species readily available.

With the tuna market pretty well taken care of and the wahoo having eased into summer mode, some of the effort is now being directed over the deeper waters where the billfish are the dominant game species. Still early days, but those boats going out looking are meeting with success. Captain Alan Card’s Challenger went two for two on blues and one for two on whites one day, and then a few days later went one for two on blue marlin. Despite the attraction of these denizens of the deep, many charter boats are still making sure to provide their clients with a modicum of tuna fishing simply because the fish are that pleasing and co-operative. There is also no shortage of smaller-game species that can keep the action rewarding and entertaining.

Even a casual observer will note that there are more and more towers and outriggers appearing at the various marinas around the island. The battle fleet of sportfishing boats is indeed arriving for the month of July and the bulk of those will replace the sail craft that the biennial Marion Bermuda Race will bring in over the next few days before departing again.

For so many, sportfishing for marlin is just another of the many different events that take place on this island, largely out of sight and having little impact on the general population. But is that really true?

Here is some insight into the value of billfish tournaments. Last weekend saw the annual Big Rock Tournament in North Carolina. With the entire coastline historically tied closely to big-game fishing, especially for blue marlin, the particular port involved in this event is Morehead City. This boasts a population of just over 8,000 but the whole place comes alive for this annual event. It is of great significance to the region in both social and economic terms.

In contrast to Bermuda, events that draw anything up to about 50 boats, the Big Rock this year had 272 competitors. Since all these tournaments involve large sums of money, a big tourney is going to boast big prizes. In the case of the Big Rock, these would be in the millions of dollars. In addition to the revenue derived by the city from fuel, accommodation, food and other products, the tournament also had a charity element that benefited local organisations.

With such on the line each weigh-in would draw hundreds, if not more, of spectators and considerable media attention. In particular, this year’s big winner was Big Trouble with a 517.1-pound blue marlin. This catch earned the winning team a total of nearly $2.3 million out of a total purse of more than $6.3 million. Primarily a release tournament fished on the same format as Bermuda tournaments, there is a minimum weight of 500 pounds for a boated fish. There is also a state law that limits boats to boating a single blue marlin a day.

Not that this tournament did not have its own controversy this year. Before the landing of the 517-pounder, another boat weighed in a 653.7-pound fish that looked to be a winner and stirred a great deal of excitement. The issue was that it was fairly obvious that the marlin had been mutilated by a shark, and under both tournament rules and the IGFA rules which were applicable, any fish so damaged must be disqualified. This led to an outcry that made for interesting reading on social media primarily from those who only follow angling from a distance. Considering the amount of excitement generated at the well-attended tournament weigh station, there was plenty of publicity for the tournament. To round out this story, there were prizes for the number of releases and for the largest wahoo, dolphin and tuna that were brought to the scales.

The sheer number of boats involved made for admirable numbers, as a total of 420 billfish were released overall: 238 blue marlin, 109 sailfish and 73 white marlin. Before drawing direct comparisons with Bermuda tournaments, also note that with that many boats involved quite a large expanse of continental shelf waters were also covered — ie, a big chunk of ocean.

This small circle of the Atlantic will play host to some of the most dedicated aficionados of the search for the ultimate blue marlin in the Blue Marlin World Cup, slated for just under two weeks away. The only number that matters in this event is the weight of the fish, and recent years have indicated that this needs to be approaching four figures — a big fish by any standard anywhere.

Back to present reality, and a favourable forecast has it highly likely that the Bermuda Regiment Tournament and the BWAC Open Tournament will take place tomorrow. These more traditional events limit catches to those of wahoo, tuna and a few other recognised game species, but exclude billfish. Both events offer a wide variety of prizes that are up for grabs by any of those lucky to snag some Tight Lines!!!