It must be spring! Easter and the Ag Show have come and gone and, all of a sudden, it has warmed up and turned positively summery. That for which many have awaited with varying measures of patience is at hand. April is behind us (just where were the showers it was supposed to bring?) and May is about to commence, bringing with it yet another recognised sporting season.Ever since Bermuda started actively marketing itself as a sport fishing destination, May was heralded as the start of the season which was billed as running through November. If the truth were to be told, it was pretty much done and dusted by October, but tourism marketers do have a way with words and are known for being somewhat economical with the truth.In any case, the first Sunday in May was given special recognition as it was the first tournament of the season. Again, this was part of the marketing ploy. There was a fleet parade past Albouy’s Point with the boats decked out with colourful flags and other trimmings. The quid pro quo was that taking part in the parade made you eligible to enter fish in the Opening Day Tournament. Failure to take part guaranteed exclusion from the competition.Although this did provide early risers and visitors at the Princess Hotel with a pretty sight, it was not particularly popular with some of the charter operators and other boaters who wanted to take part in the tournament but weren’t too keen on travelling from various outposts to Hamilton Harbour only to make their way out through Two Rock Passage at a time considered too late to allow for the early morning working of the prime pieces of bottom. Remember that this is back in the day of wooden clinker built hulls and boats with hull speeds of ten to twelve knots. For many, an eight o’clock departure from Hamilton meant looking at close to ten on Challenger Bank.Things really turned nasty as more and more fast fibreglass boats came on to the scene. What had been seen as a disadvantage pretty much equally shared by all participants suddenly turned into a handicap favouring the newer, quicker boats. The fact that many of the Opening Day Tournaments took place in poor weather conditions added to the disgruntlement. For the obvious reason that a postponement meant that it would not really be the opening day, the event took place rain, blow or shine, regardless of the participation level until the event just fell by the wayside. There were attempts to keep it alive by inaugurating the Louis Mowbray Tournament but all to no avail. Through the years other tournaments have taken advantage of the day and all the present events include alternates, some several weeks removed from the original scheduled date.Coming fast forward into the present, the offshore reports seem to be a bit mixed. Most of the tuna activity consisted of school-sized yellowfins but just recently there have been mentions of respectably sized tuna in the near 100-pound range. Almost always the subject of troller activity, a fish of this nature can make a complete mockery of light tackle and is a justification for the commercial man’s insistence on heavier stuff. As to the concentration of such fish, there is little information but the deduction has to be that when school fish are concentrated there have to be at least a few more.The wahoo continue to be just what you might expect: mostly small with the occasional larger fish. As the effort increases, we will have a better handle on where the fish are and where the larger specimens may lurk. Finding a bait concentration generally pays off in the long run. Sometimes the effort to stick with it in the absence of immediate gratification can test your mettle.Something worth remembering is that sometimes locating the fish may be a little more complicated than it might seem. For instance, there are times when a good concentration of wahoo might be found but despite decent numbers the fish are all on the small side. What needs checking out is whether or not larger fish are grouped up somewhat deeper below the school of small fish and the trick is to get the bait down to them.Anyway, given that it is early days yet, and fish can be expected to arrive on the grounds over the next few weeks, the ‘cover the water” approach is probably justified. The point was proven this week when Capt. Kevin Winter’s Playmate caught a spearfish, a usually infrequent visitor to this venue but nonetheless a billfish. As things start to happen, the picture will emerge and, rest assured, the commercial boats will be way ahead of the amateurs. But there should be enough for everyone, even though it may not always seem that way.Even though the competitive angling season is due to start on Sunday, the long-range weather forecast must raise a few doubts. The scenario calls for so 12-18 knot breezes, shifting and dropping a bit from the northwest (not the happiest of directions) followed by the possibility of an increase in velocity later in the day.While such conditions are not too terrible for trolling, they do suggest that dropping the anchor might, at the very least, be a bit uncomfortable and there is a more than slim chance that the chumming might leave something to be desired. Rapidly changing conditions usually lead to inferior tides (actually currents) that don’t usually bring up much in the way of desirable fish. Chances are the tournament anglers will be opting to troll, even with the lighter classes of line that are favoured by the tournament rules. This is even more likely if seas are a mite sloppy and there is some advantage to running off them thereby avoiding a pounding. This can backfire when locating fish that will only bite on the upwind leg, but that will remain to be seen.Actually, the early season is usually given over to trolling. Although many local anglers don’t enjoy this type of fishing, it can have its moments. One supposes that the theory is that during the early season, the bait and the migratory fish are still in the process of arriving and sorting themselves out. This means that they are on the move. Moving fish are likely to be feeding fish, which is good from the angling standpoint but their locations can be unpredictable. Hence the value of moving around in the hope of coinciding with being in the same area as a hungry fish at the same time. That should equate to a strike. Funny, but fishing isn’t really a theoretical application. A good measure of luck can go a long way to making things happen. And when it comes to light tackle tournament fishing, luck is an essential factor in any sort of Tight lines!!!