Fast away the old year passes; Hail the new, ye lads and lasses. That just about summarises our present state of affairs. And before we fa-la-la-la our way into 2012, time has taught us that it always pays to have a quick review of the summer that sped past and took most of the anglers’ moments with it. There is much to be learned from the past, if only we would pay more attention to it. Here then is the last twelve months in the tightest of nutshells.January and February came and went, largely ignored by anglers and commercial fishermen alike. That is the time for hauling boats, working on engines and gear while commercial fishermen try for a last burst of lobster activity and the majority of anglers procrastinate as their tackle goes back and they await the onset of tournament season.By March, fishing was slowly moving back into the mainstream. The lobster fishery came to an end and increasing effort went into trolling. There was not much in the way of chumming because of uncooperative currents around the Banks and an apparent lack of suitable candidates. Boy, was that all to change!April saw some improvement with some really nice wahoo being caught. Numbers were not huge but the quality of the fish was right up there as several ‘hoos in the one hundred pound plus bracket came aboard boats working both ends of the Island. Definitely some signs of encouragement for local anglers after a long period of quiet.But even that flutter of activity was not the start of great things. Early May saw the onslaught of more winter weather and it was not until the second half of the month that things picked up. Down on Argus Bank, there were some amazing rip tides and this was the site of major tuna activity. Trolling for yellowfin became the norm and this harkened back to the standard techniques of many years ago.By early June the tides had moderated and it was the first major tournament of the season that really came up trumps. The annual Bacardi Rum tournament saw an incredible haul of fish. Over 250 yellowfin tuna and 35 wahoo were brought to the dock by the 32 boats that came to weigh in their catches the fish ranged in size to over 112 pounds for the yellowfin with plenty in the mid-to-large size range while the largest wahoo bettered the 70-pound mark. There seemed to be so many fish offshore that it was nearly impossible not to stage a successful excursion onto the briny.Although the fishing was pretty good by any standard, the billfish action started a little later than usual, waiting until the latter half of June to start becoming serious. By the time July had rolled around the action was thick and fast although, for some reason, there were less than usual of the real monster-sized fish. Having said that, there were enough fish over 500 pounds to make life more than interesting.Unfortunately, the 4th of July was not one of the days that the big gals put in an appearance. It was just one of those things. The lack of any qualifying fish kept Bermuda off the Blue Marlin World Cup scoreboard for the third year of the last five, despite having supplied the winner for two recent years of the event.Early indications had been good with the Bermuda Blast tournament, which included the 4th July event, racking up a total of 28 blue marlin and a surprising 45 white marlin. As it would turn out, 2011 was an amazing year for white marlin with way more than usual being caught. Whether this is a result of more of the Carolina-based boats keeping lures suited to the size and temperament of whites in their spread, so that more were indeed caught or if it was simply a matter of there being considerably more in the local area than usual during the mid-summer months.The showpiece tournament, the Bermuda Big Game Classic was another resounding success with 47 teams, comprised of over 200 anglers catching 39 blue marlin and 32 white marlin. The one qualifying fish that scooped much of the cash on offer was a 517 pounder. Again, lots of action just less than expected really large fish.The final leg of the Bermuda Triple Crown, the Sea Horse tournament, involved 23 teams and caught a total of 34 blues and just eight whites. Again was this due to the predominance of local boats favouring larger lures or had the whites moved on to safer waters. This time the winning landed fish was a 560-pounder, unlike the 700-pound plus fish that had been needed to win in recent years.The combined events made for Capt. Elliott Cline’s Fish On to claim the Bermuda Triple Crown with a total of 4,000 points accumulated. The runners up, each on 3,700 points, were Uno Mas and Georgie Girl.As in other years, as soon as the billfish tournament were done and dusted, the bulk of the foreign fleet headed off and the local sports fishing boats went back to the pursuit of wahoo and tuna with marlin only figuring in a very minor capacity. As this has been the case most years, it is probably related to the fact that there is a fairly ready market for the more traditional game fish. It is safe to say that for most fishermen, charter boats excepted, there is no profit in a released fish.Add to that the fact that August has always been a slow month for most angling. People take their summer vacations then, it is too hot and unless the super-sized yellowfin put in an appearance things remain pretty predictable until the wahoo action starts toward the end of the month or the beginning of September.Things happened according to Hoyle, although as hindsight would have it, the Royal Gazette Wahoo Tournament picked its weekend perfectly with some great wahoo action. As was the case with the marlin the overall size left something to be desired but when a wahoo tournament sees over 70 fish weighed in, there has to be something right.The fishing deteriorated quite quickly right after that and by the time October came around, the fishing was back to sometimey. On a really positive note, the tropical season gave Bermuda a significant break with no major storms buffeting the Island although some associated heavy weather did have some impact on offshore conditions. Better a miss than anything else, though.Once September has ended, the sports fishermen start turning their eye to golf and other pursuits while the commercial man commits more and more of his time and effort to lobsters. Less fishing gets down, so there is less catching and things sort of fade out of the picture along with the onset of the autumn cum winter gales and cold fronts.November, lacklustre as in most years, quietly faded into December with all its diversions. The recent influx of seaweed has deterred even the most determined of anglers and helped fishing effort hit a low point. Now that the weather has the distinctly winter tinge to it, and the fronts come through fast and furious, it looks like a repetition of twelve months ago is on the cards.That notwithstanding, 2012 holds plenty of promise of its own and maybe one of the best aspects of our humble existences is an inability to foretell the future. What does the new year hold? Will it be great or quiet; will it be memorable or lack significance? Who knows? What is known though, is this: here’s wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012; hopefully with your fair share of Tight lines!!!