Still stuck on land? That can soon be remedied; with a fine weather forecast for the weekend and knowledge that the offshore action has very quickly settled into that which is to be expected at this time of the year. The water, which is continuing to warm up, has brought out the tuna in numbers while the wahoo bite has started to slow up as the fish spread out over the local area and often seek the cooler water just a few feet below the surface.

In response to the changing conditions, most local charter boats have reduced their trolling effort and have started to put in more time chumming. The positive sides to this strategy include the saving of fuel and the virtually sure-fire results that will please most anglers. Numbers of yellowfin tuna are almost certain to arrive in the chum line, and these are perfect for just about any angler on any class of tackle. Most of the fish are in the 20 to 50-pound range and are capable of giving a good account of themselves against an experienced angler and nigh-on crippling a novice.

Apart from the yellowfin tuna, there is usually an abundance of smaller game that will keep clients occupied while waiting for the main feature to show up. Included in these are the blackfin tuna which revel in warm water and can be selectively sought by directing the chum slick into the shallower waters on top of the Bank.

Another common member of the tuna clan is the false albacore or what is locally termed “mackerel”. While most are fairly small, they are ideally caught on light tackle or spinning gear and are exciting, fast-moving and welcomed by most anglers. They can get fairly large, up to 30 pounds or more, at which stage they become a serious workout.

Tuna success can be a double-edged sword for most skippers. While it is a readily marketable commodity, there is a limit to the amount that the local market can absorb at any one time. Sadly, when the fishing is this good, that is rapidly achieved, and the current market is pretty well glutted. Sadly, an alternate of an overseas market does not really exist for a number of reasons; two of which are the high cost of transporting fresh fish overseas and the foreign market’s demand for fish larger than those normally caught here by the hook and line fishery. As has been the case in the past, this usually sorts itself out as other species become the focus of much of the angling effort.

The visiting boat Ironbird, skippered by Captain Morgan McKnought, was fishing off the South Shore last week when they encountered what must have been an eddy off the Gulf Stream that had meandered its way here. Pretty much a normal occurrence in this part of the Atlantic what was significant about this was the variety of fish that it seemed to contain. In a short period of time, the crew caught and released four white marlin, something that is a bit remarkable for Bermuda. Perhaps there was a school of whites cruising through the eddy without actually leaving it. An oceanic eddy can be considerably larger in size than most people conjure up in their minds.

While it is the right time of the year for whites to be fairly regular catches here; in general, blue marlin are the more common species although that may be the result of how local boats, in particular, fish for billfish.

The difference comes from different viewpoints and selection of equipment. Most visiting boats which are pretty much professional billfish hunters, carry a selection of gear ranging from 50-lb test rigs intended for “pitch bait” tactics through the 80-lb test class on up to the full-sized 130-lb test gear. As these boats are mostly larger craft, they are usually able to carry a wider spread than many local boats which means that there may be some smaller baits or lures being used. Some of these will prove attractive to white marlin and even the occasional wahoo or tuna. In contrast, many local boats focus exclusively on catching big blues and, as such, carry only about a spread of four or maybe five very large baits or lures. The scale of some of these is enough to frighten a white marlin away, which in part accounts for the paucity of whites in the catches of local v. foreign boats in the billfish tournaments.

Probably a fair few fathers who had plans for Father’s Day have had those scuppered as the Regiment Tournament has decided to postpone the event until the 22nd when it will coincide with the Blue Waters Open Tournament. One positive has been the extension of the deadline of entries for the former until Wednesday, 18th June. This may create a dilemma for those wishing to fish both tournaments but apparently some arrangement has been made between the organisers to allow a single weigh-in to count for both. It will be interesting to see how this will interpret the many possible combinations of successful Tight Lines!!!