So just where are we? The summer is progressing a lot more rapidly that we would like to think and before you know it, Cup Match will be here and then it will be time for the “Back to School” sales.This is surely what no angler has in mind but it is high time to start getting organised and getting offshore before we are totally overcome by events..The fishing report has been a mite mixed, due largely to the miserable weather that dominated most of the week. The holiday and Tuesday were definitely on the blustery side and while this need not deter anglers it can make for some discomfort and be a disaster if you are prone to mal de mare!The fact that the oft-promised rain has not materialised has been a bit of a disappointment but there are more than just a few of us who ardently dislike fishing in the rain.Pretty much making rain even more unlikely is the Bermuda-Azores high pressure ridge that is presently setting itself up. What this pretty much guarantees is blue skies and calm, calm, calm, conditions. It also means that things will warm up quickly and that has to favour those species that thrive in the tropics.Enter Mr. Marlin and some of the other true tropicals like skipjack tuna. The probably resident blackfin tuna also seem to come to life as things warm up and more of these will be caught by chummers on both the Banks and particularly on Bermuda’s Edge especially along the northern side.For a while at least, the yellowfin tuna will continue to please. Things seem to change as summer progresses. Many experienced anglers have noted a marked reticence on the part of the Allisons to venture toward the surface during the hottest times of the day and the best action is usually early and late in the day.The largest fish seem to show up as the late summer sets in, with August being a prime month for some of the serious rod and back benders. A few such beasts are encountered by boats working the deep water for marlin but this simply doesn’t happen as often as one might think.There is some speculation that there is a genuine difference between the types of lures favoured by the two species. This could be related to the pattern run by the lures or by their action. A very few seem to work on both species but the boom line is that there are not too many yellowfin caught by boats working the deep for blue marlin. Once again, over the next few weeks, we shall see.Wahoo usually tend to take a back seat to other species as the summer progresses and while most would agree with that observation, just lately, the wahoo have been red hot with some boats managing 20 or more. Even better, amidst the surfeit of tuna, the average size of the wahoo has been considerably larger than the usual run-of-the-mill “lizards” that weigh in the low to mid ‘teens.One must suspect that this happy state of affairs won’t last much longer but it is probably worth a troll along the edges over the next few days. Traditional bait rigs seem to have done the producing and, if the wahoo are really going nuts, many artificials get results as well.There is plenty of organised fishing action as we look ahead to the next ten days or so. Tomorrow has the Bermuda Anglers Club hosting their Annual Tournament for their members. Mostly, they will be hoping for good light tackle action from the tuna.Earlier this week the private tournament organised as the Brien/Pallot Fly Fishing Tournament has been on and the fish could not be any more suited to such angling. Tuna are very susceptible to a well-presented fly and most of the Allisons out there are of a size that most fly rods can handle. The story gets a bit different when the tuna starts making the hundred pound mark. That means work on heavy tackle and is a mammoth task on any sort of light line. So far, these have avoided the chum slicks, making the sporting aspects of tournaments more realistic.The Bermuda billfish season officially gets underway this weekend with the Bermuda Billfish Release Cup. A two-day event, this more family-oriented tournament is based at the Royal Naval Dockyard and serves as part of the build-up to next weekend’s 7th annual Bermuda Billfish Blast.Originally a two-day tournament designed to augment the Blue Marlin World Cup (July 4), the Blast has now been modified to have three angling days commencing with the 4th July. The rationale behind this, which is really quite sound, is although the Blast is an all-release format event, the exception is that, on the 4th July, each team may boat a blue marlin over the World Cup’s minimum weight of 500 pounds.This allows a boat/team to fish both the World Cup and the Blast without prejudicing a chance to win both events. Also historically, as a two-day event, when the first day was before the 4th, anglers felt that this put them at a disadvantage because on the off-chance that they might have caught a fish that they were forced to release in line with the Blast rules that might have been the World Cup winner. Now with these wrinkles ironed out, this promises to be as exciting as the rest of the Triple Crown Series.The Blue Marlin World Cup is slated for next Monday, July 4th. As always, this competition sees boats from all over the world taking part; each in their respective time zone. One of the big money events, this tournament is now in in its 27th year with Bermuda having claimed top spot on six occasions. It is a winner takes all tournament with just the one fish winning the lucky angler up to $450,000!The entry fee is a stiff $3000 per boat with an optional additional $5000 entry into another pot called the Challenge. From both the main pot and the Challenge, 80% of the collected totals are distributed to the winners.In the unlikely event that there isn’t a winner, the main pot money is rolled over to the 2012 event while the Challenge money (less 20%) is returned to the punters. None of this is for the beer budget crowd, that is for sure!So, the weather outlook is great. The fish are cooperating, for the most part it all depends where you go looking and for what. The mandatory family weekends are out of the way for a bit. So, what other excuse can you come up with to avoid going offshore and indulging in some Tight lines!!!