Wow! If you thought last week’s weather was unseasonable, this past week really was a turn-up for the books. The almost wintry blasts of cold northern air brought on by gale force northwesterlies had people grabbing for winter coats, sweaters and boots at a time when they should be contemplating plans for the 24th May holiday.Inasmuch as that falls on a Tuesday this year, there are probably plenty of requests for the Monday off and a more than reasonable likelihood that the number of people calling in sick will be greater than usual.With the poor weather forecast for this weekend, perhaps the most productive thing is to make sure that the boat will be ready for next week. There is not much worse than a mad dash to clean up the boat, find things that were put in a safe place last October and be ready for the 24th.With the weather the way it has been, the fishing effort has been severely restricted and the amount of actual sport fishing effort has been all but non-existent. The few reports that there are speak disparagingly of tiny wahoo and the apparent disappearance of the tuna.We say “apparent” because we know that just because we can’t seem them does not mean that they are not still there somewhere. A change in the currents or an influx of cooler water can send the tuna as little as just a few hundred yards from the area of the bank where they were found, or down a bit deeper and, Poof!, they are off the radar, as it were. All it takes is another subtle change and they can be back in numbers. To be fair, things have not settled down enough during the last few weeks to allow for any concerted chumming effort.Most of the wahoo that have been caught during the last week or so have been in the low ‘teens’ and there hasn’t been even one mention of a hefty specimen. That, in and of itself, is a mite questionable because, in the normal scheme of things, the spring and early summer is normally a good time for large wahoo. Granted, the majority of the fish are school-sized but there should be some 50-pounders mixed in to the overall pickings.Things will improve as soon as the weather settles into its summer pattern. The return of the prevailing southwesterlies and the onset of the Bermuda-Azores high will re-establish those Bermudaful days that characterise our summers. Expect the tuna to become commonplace and for other small game to become as numerous as ever. Mackerel, rainbow runner, and maybe even some skipjack provide action for light tackle anglers and serve as a draw for larger predators including the big blues that make our summer fishing special.Although most will find it a mite chilly, do not forget the inshore fishing that is there to be had. Maybe not the sporting action that the offshore offers, but the docks and bridges should be home to grey snappers which seldom please but can offer hours of diversion as you attempt to outsmart a finny lawyer.If the weather moderates a bit and the northerlies do allow you to get out on the South Shore, the shallower reef areas should be good for yellowtail snappers and bonitas. If you are lucky enough to get some robins up, then using them as live baits a little closer to the edge of the deep can produce surprises. If there are any wahoo in the vicinity, a live robin should get its attention and there are usually a few blackfin along the southern drop that will inhale a robin in a heartbeat. So, it might be possible to stir up some quality action without having to venture too far offshore.Those yearning for an away match with a bit of classical prestige rather than sheer money might want to give the 61st “Ernest Hemingway” International Billfish Tournament a shot. This event is fished out of the Club Náutico Internacional Hemingway de Cuba in Havana, Cuba and it has already drawn teams from twenty countries.What makes this classic is that big game fishing got a huge shot in the arm after World War Two when Hemingway popularised the sport. One of the fish most ardently pursued and the stuff of daring exploits was the blue marlin. While the Bahamas got a mention from some of the early proponents of the sport it was Hemingway fishing from his home in Cuba that early caught the imagination of the public. Although the fish were not huge by today’s standards, the father of the skipper of Hemingway’s boat told of a fish so big that Hemingway immortalised it in The Old Man and the Sea. Throw in a film with Spencer Tracy and the thrill of billfishing was in every town in America, creating a magic that fuelled an interest in sport fishing that has grown to the mammoth proportions of today.Just in case you wondered, after seeing the movie, how big was the fish, here are a few facts. First off, the fish is not a blue marlin. After several months of trying to get footage of a really big blue, the producers were convinced to try filming off the coast of Peru. The crux of the matter was that Peru was home to massive black marlin rather than blue marlin. Back in 1958, Hollywood figured that no one would know the difference. As it happened there were plenty of cameras on site when the big marlin grabbed Alfred Glassell’s line. The entire thing was caught on film and provided the excitement in the movie and then again, later the same footage was used in the 1977 movie Islands in the Stream. The really important aspect of all this trivia is that the black marlin is the same 1560 pounder that, in 1953, became and still is the all-tackle and 130-lb test world record.But we deviate from the Hemingway tournament of the present so let us return to the focal point. While both the entry money and prize money are minor compared to most other billfish events, it does boast exceptional camaraderie and exposure to a culture that is quite different to elsewhere and very different to the standardised western culture that Bermudians are used to. The fishing is particularly fast but marlin will please. Size is also not exceptional but, well, you never really know. Big blues turn up when and where they feel like it. The event is scheduled to be held from June 6 to 11. Further details can be had by e-mail from the IGFA Representative in Havana at www.hemingwayyachtclub.org .Looking ahead at the local scene, any time now, the advertisements and entry forms for the Bacardi Tournament should start appearing. The date for this ever popular event is June 12 so the deadline for entries will be toward the end of May. For many casual anglers this will be their first opportunity for some of this year’s Tight lines!!!