Wahoo! That is what this weekend is all about and for good reason. The season’s final major tournament concentrates on that species exclusively and its abundance can make for some of the most exciting fishing to be had.

The wahoo is one of the very few pelagic species that enjoys a range that includes the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans as well as being found in the Mediterranean Sea.

The wahoo is an important food fish throughout its extensive range and is vitally important at some locations including Bermuda where it is the dominant blue water species throughout the year.

The wahoo is one of the Scombridae, a group of fish that include the tunas and mackerels. Considered one of the mackerels, it is closely related to several other species, some of which are also found where the wahoo occurs. These include the king mackerel and Spanish mackerel, among others and contribute to the confusion that surrounds these fish.

As a result of its wide range, the wahoo has collected a number of names, and this is where the fun can begin. In Barbados where it is a commonly taken food fish, it is called “kingfish”. The king mackerel, a separate although similar species, is also called kingfish along the US East Coast where it is commonly featured in magazines and on television. Throw in the fact that the wahoo was once called the “queenfish”, a name which still turns up in older literature, to try and separate it from the kingfish.

In the Pacific, around the Philippines and adjacent areas, the important mackerel is the “tanguigue”. Unfortunately this can be any one of several species including the wahoo. So, sometimes the fish is the real wahoo and sometimes it isn’t.

It does not get too much better here although the problem is far less pronounced. The kingfish does occur here, rarely. At least two such fish taken off the site of Argus Tower years ago were positively identified as such and there have been repeated accounts of “funny-looking” wahoo. Mostly because their jaws were bent, “probably from chewing on deep troll balls”. More likely, funny looking because they were not wahoo in the first place. Wahoo can and do attack the balls, but all this does is leave tooth imprints in the soft metal. They do not redesign their jaws as a result. To be fair, a kingfish thrown in with a bunch of wahoo of similar size might well go undetected. Fortunately, some of the other related species like the Spanish mackerel do not occur here, keeping things a bit simpler than they are elsewhere.

The origin of the English language name is unclear, usually ascribed to the sound made by one of the early sports fishermen who latched on to one. The Hawaiians, who also valued the wahoo as a food fish, called it ono which translates to sweet or delicious, tasty. In places where Spanish is the vernacular, the local term is usually peto. A slang expression used in the US and elsewhere is ‘hoo. The wide range helps to account for why there are so many names, not to mention the confusion between species.

In any case, here is a fish that is highly rated as a sporting adversary. Noted for speed, close examination will reveal some of its adaptations. The dorsal fin which runs a good length of the body, fits into a groove so that it actually disappears. With the body seriously torpedo-like (or is the torpedo fishlike?) when the fins are either flush against the body or down in the groove, there is only the tail fin to provide propulsion and the tiny little finlets to adjust direction. Add this to sharp eyesight and incredibly sharp jaws and there is a lethal predator. That the eyesight is sharp is borne out by the number of baits that are cut off immediately behind the hook even when trolling at speed.

Something else to be aware of is the razor sharp jaws of the wahoo. Not only are they sharp but they are hinged differently to allow for an incredible amount of shearing power, allowing them to slice through most things and posing a danger even when they are lying in a boat’s cockpit.

So, this will be the target species for this weekend’s big tourney. As a wahoo tournament has been held at this time of the year for over half a century, there is plenty of data to reflect on. The overall winning fish has, historically, weighed between 65 and 75lb. Winners have been caught just about every way imaginable: trolling, live baiting and even chumming.

The emphasis on light lines makes this event exceedingly competitive as successively hooking a large wahoo on light line is a challenge. A challenge much decried by professionals who prefer the hooking power of the heavier line classes. With the tournament allowing for a wide selection of tackle, there are likely to be plenty of fish at the weigh-in which is set for Dockyard tomorrow afternoon. This will be open to the public and will make for a spectacle, as this tournament has always provided a fine display of the fruits of the day’s Tight Lines!!!