It is later than you think. For one, the boat is not going to get itself sorted out before the family starts demanding their annual 24th May outing and it is still sitting in the yard because all the trailer companies are booked solid. As are the outboard mechanics and everyone else who you are going to need. And didn’t this come as a surprise last year too?

Well, the cloud does have a bit of a silver lining. The arrival of May does indeed herald the recognised start to the angling season but, thus far, it really has not gotten under way although that could burst forth at any time. So, not much has been missed, but it will soon be a thing of the past.

The recent weather has played havoc with offshore excursions from the charter fleet and, as a result, it is hard to judge the actual state of affairs on the deep blue briny.

Most of the forays have continued to have some luck with wahoo and there have been enough yellowfin tuna to keep the market supplied with fresh material.

Numbers have been relatively low, strongly suggesting that the spring wahoo run has not yet materialised but that event is often so quick that it can be easily missed should the weather plays up.

What is expected is that, seemingly all of a sudden, there will be schools of wahoo that will be in a most receptive mode to anglers’ offerings, allowing trollers to catch double figures or more. Most of the fish will be around the 15 to 25-pound mark with little variation. These schools usually move around the drop-offs quickly before equally suddenly disappearing, leaving the remaining fish spread out over the local area.

The arrival of the numbers of wahoo brings with it other species as well. Notably, for some reason, white marlin frequently run with the schools of wahoo and are often hooked during the pursuit of the former.

While they are somewhat unpredictable at this location within their range in the Atlantic, the use of brightly coloured lures or baits, particularly hot pink, often get their attention.

This contrasts with the wahoo’s tendency to prefer darker colours such as blacks and purples. For certain, there is no hard and fast rule when selecting baits or rigs but at this time of the year when trolling using a bit of a shotgun approach, carrying a mix in the spread can pay off. Early season tuna often favour reds and red-white combinations.

Some of the reasoning for that is that the tuna are often thought to feed at depth on the krill-like crustaceans that occasionally abound here in the spring. Cutting open a small tuna or mackerel often revealed quantities of the brightly coloured creatures in the bellies. Maybe the old fly fishermen’s adage to “match the hatch” had some solid reasoning behind it.

Also to be taken into consideration is the fact that the water is warming up and while this might not be the main reason for the influx of these pelagic species there must be something that brings them up from farther south.

Basically, whatever motivates the wahoo probably also drives the other species as well even though their various arrivals might not be as pronounced as to warrant being termed “a run”.

Additional confirmation that it is indeed angling season should come this weekend as the first inter-club competitive event takes place. Subject, of course, to the weather, the Bermuda Fishing Clubs Annual Tournament will see the two remaining angling organisations take on each other for the ultimate bragging rights.

This event differs from most other tournaments in that it is less about big fish and more about the number of points each club can accrue on each of the recognised line classes.

Each club can field up to four teams, each consisting of up to four anglers. All the line classes are in the light tackle bracket and there is a formula for awarding points for each pound of fish caught.

Lighter line such as 8lb test scores more points per pound, so there is a strategy to matching the line with both the fish expected and the skill of the angler involved.

There will be winning teams on each of the line classes as well as for the overall points scored, which will secure the main trophy for the year. In addition to the high point boat award, there are also individual awards for the high point fish and high point angler.

The organisers of this tournament have scheduled an alternate date, should the weather not please, two weeks later on the 17th. Obviously, a lesson has been learned from the past, when the unfortunate scheduling led to the event occurring on Mother’s Day and, thereby causing all sorts of less than desired very Tight Lines!