The eleventh Bermuda Big Game Classic was another markedly successful event with Click Through winning the event with 1900 points. In second place was Uno Mas with 1500 points and Georgie Girl took third having a like number of points with time establishing the order of finish.As always, there were plenty of hard luck stories including a double header of whites for Capt. Brooks Rans’ Mattanza, both of which shook the hook before points could be scored. Such a capture would have moved Mattanza into a clear second place finish. With the amount of prize money at stake any recognised place brings with it a not inconsiderable amount of cash.For some reason, and unlike previous years, there were very few eligible fish caught. The 500-pound minimum is not usually a handicap considering that large numbers of huge fish are generally seen during the month of July. This year, no fish were brought to the dock on the first day and so that day’s jackpot rolled over into day two. The visiting boat Reel Estate made a brave call when the team caught and boated a blue marlin that cleared the minimum weight by 17 pounds, earning the enhanced jackpot. Although they could not have known it, they would end up picking up all three days jackpots and the overall with just that one fish. Late, on the final day, Shakedown boated a fish and headed to the weigh-in to try and earn a share of the prize money but it was not to be. Failing to make the minimum weight, they were awarded negative points and all the prize money reverted to Reel Estate.The largest game fish prize was won by a 64 pound yellowfin tuna caught by Uno Mas. There were actually a few entries in this class and this provided the crowd at the weigh station with some welcome excitement. After all, it is pretty hard to call it a weigh-in if nothing gets weighed in.The event was a clear release success with 39 blue marlin, 32 white marlin and a lone spearfish being released. There were additional releases but the occasional catch is not accepted due to inconclusive evidence of the catch itself or the species identification was unclear. Short of using independent observers this is as good as a release tournament can get and the sheer numbers of fish kept the Classic’s reputation as one of the world’s premier billfish tournaments intact. Look for more participation next year.Quite apart from having the distinction of being Bermuda’s oldest billfish tournament, the Sea Horse Anglers Club Billfish tournament is the critical final leg of the Bermuda Triple Crown. Despite all the points scored in the Bermuda Blast and Big Game Classic, the door remains open for just about each participating team.Leading the competition but by no means free and clear is the Sea Toy with a total of 2,700 points. Right behind them is the Click Through with 2,600 points. To make the competition even tighter there are three other boats with at least 2,000 points with the fleet not all much further behind. This could lead to a close finish, or even a totally unexpected one. Time will tell.There are 23 teams in the Sea Horse event. This is a respectable total considering that some of the foreign boats have returned to commitments on the East Coast or in the Caribbean and the arrival of named storms reminds them that the tropical season is well and truly upon us. When you are talking about a multi-million dollar floating gin palace, insurers don’t take kindly to their risks being left in dodgy locations without proper moorings and sheltered areas. Thus, this is another factor contributing to the drop in the number of boats.Given the level of investment required to play in this game, some of the local entries have opted out so that they can lick the wounds inflicted on them by the Blue Marlin World Cup and the Classic. With the improving sea conditions and the likelihood of increased activity, the catches should be at least on the par with the Blast and Classic. There will probably also be a similar percentage of white marlin even though there does not seem to be any clear explanation for why there are so many of them around at all.On day one of the Sea Horse, following directly on a bit of hard weather, things were a mite slow in terms of quantity but it rather looked like the tournament was going to turn up some big ones. That this appeared fairly obvious was quickly reinforced on day one, when Queen of Hearts, after labouring in on a single engine brought a 560 pound blue to the Barr’s Bay weigh station. This came hard on the heels of a report of a really large blue that had been hooked and fought for close to three hours for the boat only to lose the fish as the leader came up.The passage of the first near call, the Bret tropical system, upset the offshore scene somewhat but, on a positive note, it and some associated systems brought some welcome rain to an otherwise parched island. The fact that Bret is now gone off into the North Atlantic means that the Bermuda High will try to re-establish and the seas will calm down, setting the stage for the August doldrums when the fishing slows down and the emphasis on billfish fades into memory.Although the marlin will remain on the grounds the fishing effort for them will be markedly diminished as the foreign boats leave and locals start to look to catching more valuable market fish. Among the things to look forward to should be the influx of some large yellowfin tuna. While these make for some fast chumming action, they can be real pole benders and light tackle aficionados had better take note. Depending on the size of the fish, something heavier might be called for. Every so often, the yellowfin that show up remain pretty much in the deep water where they can be caught on baits and artificial lures, often by boats trolling for marlin. Surprisingly enough, marlin gear is suited to these 100-pound plus tuna but, funnily enough, most of the better marlin-producing lures simply do not get a tuna’s attention. There are some lures that tuna like; ones that mimic squid or flying fish. Best results are usually had by fishing natural baits with flying fish being a choice.Live baiting for tuna can work as well but it often means having to catch the baits in one place and then transport them to the area that is home to the tuna. This can be difficult, depending on the configuration of the boat, its live well or other provisions for maintaining life in the baits. Some anglers work on the bais that if there is plenty of bait here, then there should be plenty of fish and while they might not be the real trophy Allisons, they are likely to provide both the sport and the fresh fish required. In addition, there should be loads of smaller game fsih to provide entertainment and some fresh fillets.So, a nice long, long weekend next week. Those not exactly enthralled by cricket or the distractions of the Cup Match festivities should not have any problem treating themselves to the variety of fish offshore and the thrill afforded by Tight lines!!!