WOW, it is hard to believe that the Flybridge Annual Junior Anglers Tournament was the 31st such event. This means that at least a generation's worth of present day anglers might have gotten their competitive start in this most worthwhile contest. Continuing this tradition, Sunday saw over 200 youngsters entered and the weigh-in was all smiles with plenty of parents, grandparents and friends all looking to see who had caught a winner. One thing was for sure, all those who took part shared in the excitement and sense of achievement that comes with competitive fishing. In that sense everyone was a winner.

As with all tournaments, though, there have to be some winners that are greater than others and with the format of this event there were plenty.

In the most junior of the juniors (under five years old), the little fishers went to work as diligently as old pros coming up with their share of winners. Fishing from a boat and using rod and reel, Serena Madeiros caught a 1 lb. 6 oz. snapper with Ezequiel Jimenez taking the boy's prize with a 4 lb. 8 oz. porgy. The hand line boy's prize was won by Hezekiah Rampersad with a 1 lb. 11 oz. porgy.

It was no less intense on shore where Morgan Rossiter used her rod and reel to capture a winning 4 oz. grunt and Jayden Woodley won the boy's category with a 14 oz. bream. Tyzayah DeSilva used her hand line to great effect, catching a 13 oz. bream that took the girl's on shore honours.

There was plenty of competition in the 5-11 year old age group. The winners were, in the rod and reel while fishing from a boat category: Charclair Lambe with a 12 lb. 8 oz. barracuda and Marcus Dias with his 10 lb. 9 oz. barracuda. In the offshore hand line section, Rachael Soares caught a winning 4 lb. 7 oz. amberjack while the honours were shared by Casey Truran and Joshua Allen who each caught tasty fish. Casey made it a 5 lb. 12 oz. snapper while Joshua caught a hogfish that weighed in at exactly the same weight.

Fishing from shore, Leaila Caines used a rod and reel to catch a 9 oz. bream while Luke Madeiros took the boy's category with a 2 lb. 4 oz. chub. Using hand lines, Cedtara Simons caught a winning one pound bream and Alexander Faries hauled in a 6lb. 6 oz. hogfish.

In the older group (12-16 years), junior anglers fishing from a boat came in winners as Brittany Ricca caught a 5 lb. 4 oz. snapper on rod and reel. The hand line winner was Amber Farrington with a 1 lb. 13 oz snapper. In the boy's section, Zico Richardson used rod and reel to catch a nice 4 lb.12 oz. amberjack and secure his spot in the limelight.

Shore fishers Toronte Caines and Rebecca Forgesson both came up with winners in the rod and reel category with a 1 lb. 14 oz. turbot (triggerfish) and a 9 oz. bream, respectively. Tyjuan Parris used a hand line to catch a 7 lb. 14 oz. Chub that was also a winner.

With the largest fish in the tournament, the overall winner was Charmaine Lambe who caught a fine 19lb. 8oz. wahoo that was the envy of many including some of the adults watching the weigh-in proceedings.

All participants are reminded that they may pick up their photographs from the Flybridge shop. These make for a nice memento of what had to be an exciting time had last Sunday.

The winners are asked to be at Flybridge Tackle tomorrow, Saturday, August 18 by 10.00 a.m. as the prize presentation will get underway promptly.

Congratulations on a job well done are due Bobby Rego and the Flybridge staff who, for over 30 years now, have put on a wonderful tournament that is truly community oriented.

With the juniors having had their place in the sun, the older brigade will be swinging into action again this week. Although we are moving into the August doldrums, there are still fish to be caught.

The offshore action has slowed up a bit, but with the heat that is not really surprising. There are enough marlin on the grounds to make billfishing a worthwhile mission but, the odd thing is, they seem to be mostly the larger fish at a time when greater numbers of smaller males usually dominate the proceedings. One has to suspect that maybe things are running consistently late and the blues in the 150-250 pound range will show up after the full moon next week. Time will tell.

Big yellowfin tuna are also putting in an appearance and don't be too surprised to have one of these jump on lure intended for a marlin. While it does seem a bit odd, certain lures work better on marlin than they do on tuna and vice versa. It seems that the Hawaiians have got this sorted out better than most. Some of the more generic lures like the wide-range Soft Head® work on both but most local boats are fishing a preponderance of lures meant for billfish, thereby giving the tuna a miss. Dragging baits like rigged flying fish usually get a tuna's attention but that runs the risk of having 500 pounds or more of marlin latching on.

There are also chumming and live baiting options for the big tuna but trolling is probably the tactic most likely to get results.

Boats sticking to the edge and shallower will be trying to take advantage of the wahoo and smaller game that is present in good numbers. Wahoo normally slow up at this time of the year but some good catches, moving into double figures, have been made recently.

Finding some flotsam also offers chances at good hauls of dolphin and wahoo but with the lack of hurricanes or other heavy weather down south, there just isn't too much of that around.

Chumming should see a few wahoo putting in an appearance and there is no shortage of jacks, rainbow runners and other small game. Amberjack and bonita should also be willing to please, especially if you can send a live bait down deep.

Sad to say, it is later than you think and the season finale is nigh but on top of us. The ever-popular Mid-Ocean News Wahoo Tournament is now inviting entries and would-be participants should ensure that they obtain one of the original forms as photocopies are not accepted. The entry forms are on Page 14 of the Mid-Ocean News today and there will also be entry forms on various days in The Royal Gazette.

For casual anglers this is last opportunity this year to take part in an open fishing competition and, assuming that the wahoo do their thing and turn on, there is the promise of some fast action and Tight lines!!!