Are you missing the boat? The fishing is top class at the moment with all 17 of the locally recognised game species readily available offshore and inshore. Honestly, the fishing season does not last so long as to allow repeated procrastination.

The wahoo have already eased off and no longer form the bulk of most hauls although they remain a regular catch. Half-day charter operators are still managing to catch a few on Bermuda’s Edge which is about as far as they can go with the limited time in hand.

As the trolling along the drop-offs has eased, some charter boats have taken to concentrating their effort by chumming in the shallower water over and near the Banks. Here they have harvested good numbers of some of the lesser game species such as blackfin tuna and bonitas (Almaco jacks). Captain Barnes’ Hakuna Matata has done extraordinarily well on his last few trips. The big advantage to catching such fish is that they have considerable food value in addition to their sporting prowess.

Captain Alan Card’s Challenger works the deep water hard and continues his winning ways with billfish. In the past week, they have caught and released a double on white marlin, then did the same with blue marlin including a fish estimated at 500lb. Late in the week, they had an amazing day, turning loose a blue marlin that they conservatively called 750lb and then tangling with a full-sized yellowfin tuna that was a real head turner.

The fish, which dressed out (gills and guts removed) at about 150lb, was magnificent enough but augmented with the bright yellow streamers was truly a sight to behold.

Yellowfin or locally, Allison tuna, have been a mainstay of Bermuda sports fishing going back to the day when not only were the Pacific and Atlantic yellowfin tunas thought to be two separate species, but Louis Mowbray was convinced that the fish normally found in Bermuda waters was different again and renamed the species in honour of a friend, Mr James Allison.

In time, the taxonomy got sorted and it was realised that the yellowfin tuna in both the Pacific and Atlantic were the same species and that the Allison was, in fact, simply another yellowfin tuna. In Bermuda, however, the name stuck and it is still not uncommon to hear fishermen refer to those tunas bearing the amazingly bright yellow fins as “Allisons”.

The Pacific variety seems to be consistently larger than the Atlantic version. Over there they have topped out at more than 400lb with the largest one caught sportfishing weighing in at 424lb. As a result, almost all the current IGFA-recognised world records are from the Pacific or Indian Oceans with a handful from scattered spots in the Atlantic, including at least one light tackle fly record from Bermuda.

Most of the yellowfin caught around Bermuda are school-sized fish ranging up to about 100lb. The really large fish are sometime occurrences here and this past week was one of those times.

On other occasions, there have been schools of large tuna feeding on masses of bait around the Banks. When fishermen become aware of those, they work those schools, but they seldom last very long. Interestingly enough, there have often been reports of schools of large yellowfin tuna in areas not far removed from the Island. These reports have come from sailboats and other craft transiting the vicinity of the Island, such as during crossings or the Newport Bermuda race. Whether these schools totally bypass the island or break up into smaller groups is unknown.

For the record, the largest yellowfin in the Bermuda record books is just shy of 200lb pounds, at 199lb 12oz. Many an angler or commercial fisherman will swear to having had close run-ins with fish larger but that is the number to beat and it was set a while ago in 1985.

There is a similar situation in the 12lb test category. The Bermuda record stands at 99lb 10oz. Another challenge just begging to be bettered.

The Royal Bermuda Regiment fishes their 72nd annual tournament next week, when the Bermuda Release Challenge will also take place. A cash-prize billfish tournament, this is on a lighter scale than the Triple Crown, with all fish having to be released. It encourages participation of local boats not equipped with the latest sonar and other electronic marvels.

Looking further ahead, due to feedback from the fishing fraternity, Blue Waters Anglers has again shifted the date of their Open Tournament to July 12. Entry forms and rules are now available from marine fuel stations and tackle shops.

With this being Father’s Day weekend, one might think that the briny will be chock-full of male anglers indulging their avocation. Sadly, this is not true as most will be ashore being feted by family and friends, thereby depriving them of any Tight Lines.