ALL eyes will be on the weather this weekend. In anticipation of The Mid-Ocean News Wahoo Tournament there is a cold low coming down from Canada, an occlusion off the mid-Atlantic states and a wannabe hurricane by the name of Edouard. This little lot could combine to force a postponement of the season's finale. On the other hand, Sunday could dawn clear and calm. This remains to be seen.

The optimists will, of course, be preparing regardless. Just what they will be preparing is open to conjecture. The traditionalists will be making up trolling leaders and, for the most part, favouring larger hooks (9/0's and larger) and double hook rigs. The latter can really perform if the angler has been able to obtain some local garfish. These usually range from 12 to 14 inches and can easily accommodate a pair of 10/0 or 11/0 hooks. The downside to such rigs is that they are best suited to 50-lb. tackle or better. The 30 lb. maximum gear allowance for the tournament pretty much precludes using such hefty baits.

Believers in double hook rigs would do well to use considerably smaller hooks. It is possible to take a combination of 6/0, 7/0 and 8/0 hooks and make a double hook rig that fits snugly into even one of the smaller-sized imported garfish. These hooks can be made needle-sharp and are deadly even on 12 lb. test.

Single hooks can be effective too, and a decent single hook set into a naturally-rigged flying fish makes a particularly useful outrigger bait. This performs best when fished long but, make no mistake, on a flat line or downrigger, this rig will get results.

Fast trolling artificials has some potential, especially if the sea conditions are suitable. Combination rigs using plastic skirts are the best bet and the proof of this stems from the fact that on many successful boats the skirts merely consist of "eyes". Try using wall plugs for spacers. They are readily available invarious sizes; are cheap and dispensable.

Some people argue that offset hooks work better than straight hooks. While the theory sounds good, there really is not too much to pick between them and they both produce on days when plastic works.

On a disappointing note, the frigate mackerel have not appeared in any numbers and this means that the live bait fishing will probably not be up to par. It might also mean that, yet again, the autumnal wahoo run will not be anywhere as good as it was three or four years ago. That, though, is still an open question at present.

Inasmuch as things are unlikely to change radically between now and Sunday, live baiting will mean getting the robins up and then trying to trade up. On the Banks, this should be easy enough as the various static moorings seem to have resident populations that appear after just a couple of handfuls of chum have been tossed overboard. The trick is keeping the baits alive long enough to get them to the wahoo. Again, not so difficult, even for a small boat, when the venue in question is the Banks but the Edge can pose a different situation.

The good news is that the seasonally protected areas are open for fishing and that means that there is some extremely choice bottom available. The bad news is that the lack of fishing effort over the summer will probably make it hard to locate a school of robins and lure them to the surface. Still, spending a bit of time might well pay off and such tactics are well suited to the small boat angler, unwilling or unable to go farther offshore.

Chumming for wahoo is the other option. Silly as this sounds, it can and does work; and, on at least one occasion, has provided the winner of this particular event.

All things taken into consideration, it is the traditional trolling that appears to be the best bet. Based on the recent track record, Argus is the place to go and there is a distinct advantage to being on a charterboat. At least that is the way things have gone the last few years. All told, there are plenty of exceptions and the winning fish can literally come from anywhere.

Although the focus will be on wahoo, the dominant species as of late has been the yellowfin tuna. There are plenty of tuna around, ranging from schoolies right on up to fish that better the 100 pound mark. These fish are great on light tackle and Bruce Dilke is to be commended for a great catch that he made aboard Capt. Allen DeSilva's "De Mako". This took the form of a 106 pounder with the catch being made on 30 lb. test! Great stuff!

Other notable catches include a scad of points racked up on 12 lb. test by Leslie Spanswick. Fishing aboard Bobby Rego's "Sandpiper", Leslie used 12 lb. test to catch four yellowfin (12 lbs.; 12 lbs.; and 16 lbs.) and one blackfin tuna (released).

Complementing the tuna schools offshore are numbers of skipjack. These fish are also capable of giving a good account of themselves and there is also such a thing as a juvenile skipjack. Much like a frigate mackerel, these make a great live bait so it is worth dragging a daisy chain. Although it is still a bit early, juvenile blackfin tuna are probably the ultimate live bait.

Revisiting the deep for maybe the last time, be reminded that there are still blue marlin on the offshore grounds. September fish tend to be small males in the 100-200 pound range but don't get too complacent. Alan "Heads" DeSilva and his "Treasure Isle" reportedly released a fish at the weekend that was estimated at 800 pounds!

After all the hard luck marlin stories this summer, here comes one from the Carolina region. A huge blue, estimated at 1,500 pounds, was legitimately brought to boat side but the crew could not control the fish despite having the leader numerous times. Over 14 hours and some 30 miles later the line parted - that's Tight lines!!!