May is upon us. Summer is but a stride away. College students are arriving back in droves. Winter wear is relegated to the mothballs and the beach is once again fashionable.Observers of history and traditionalists will likewise note that this week would have been seen as the official start of the 2012 angling season. Sadly, the season is no longer recognised as such. It sort of just happens as the weather moderates, temperatures warm up and individuals think to venture forth on the old briny.Once upon a time, it really was official inasmuch as a government body actually recognised the month of May as the commencement of the sport fishing season and the first Sunday in May was given over to a tournament which the government sponsored.The only catch, as it were, was that participants had to take part in a parade before actually going fishing. This was fine back in the day when the charter fleet in particular was concentrated in the Hamilton area and there wasn’t all that much difference between the boats and their respective speeds.As things evolved, the parade left the slower boats at a horrible disadvantage; boats were based in Somerset and elsewhere and were unwilling to undertake the added trip to Hamilton variously because of the time commitment and, gradually, the increase in the cost of fuel became an added vexation.Government involvement declined; the fishing clubs attempted to keep the event alive for a few years but the handwriting was on the wall. Of course, the prizes were deemed insufficient to garner the serious attention of the charter operator; individuals preferred just to go fishing rather than having to abide by rues that seemed nonsensical and there ended the tournament.One vague remnant of the tournament start to the season comes later this week when the Bermuda Anglers Club get their season off to start with one of their “in house” fun tournaments. The inter-angling club events wait until the 13th before wetting competitive lines.While awaiting the acknowledged tournaments and point-gathering events, there is indeed some life on the offshore grounds. Boats are reporting catches of wahoo and tuna and while these are not spectacular, they are consistent enough to warrant some attention.It doesn’t look like the spring wahoo run has really materialised. It is possible that it slipped by unnoticed but that is unlikely. Large numbers of unreceptive wahoo have been seen cruising just below the surface. No one is sure what this behaviour is related to: it maybe a prelude to breeding or simply part of the migratory process that is normally unseen. What it does mean is that there are a lot of wahoo around and, sooner or later, they are going to move into feeding mode and that is when they become the target of trollers.For the most part, early season fishing has traditionally concentrated on trolling although success can be had utilising other modus operandi.This has been demonstrated by several operators who have resorted to chumming on the eastern sides of the two banks. The yellowfin tuna have been pleasing with some hauls making it into double figures. Many of the fish are decent middleweights; up to about 70 pounds, with smaller schoolies fairly common as well. So far, there hasn’t been much action from blackfin and although they do prefer warmer water, they should be active enough t this point to provide a bite or two.Sticking with trolling does have a few advantages in that it does allow one to “test the waters” as it were and to try a number of locations. In the absence of any definitive information on where the fish are located this can be a useful strategy.The target species are yellowfin and wahoo but it is not unusual for a billfish, usually a white marlin although no one is about to discount big blue, to put in an appearance or for a dolphin to latch onto a troll. The theory is that with the winter having mixed up the water column and led to all kinds of incursions and eddies further confusing distribution patters, just about anything can and will show up whenever it pleases.One technique to try and stack the odds somewhat in the angler’s favour is to troll a variety of lures and baits. Something with a bright colour such as hot pink often gets a billfish’s attention and yellows and greens have long been known as the colour of choice for dolphin. Wahoo will take either although they often have a marked preference for darker colours like blacks or purples.Carrying a naturally-rigged bait on the outrigger, preferably one that does more swimming than skipping, is also a good tactic. Just rig up a natural flyer or garfish and remember to attach a chin weight. If it still tends to skip rather than swim try dropping it back a bit farther or fishing it with an outrigger clip that is not pulled to the top of the halyard.If you really want to guarantee a swimmer (this may not be the wisest of moves because both live flying fish and garfish do skip occasionally) then a cigar-shaped trolling weight will keep it in the water. Far better to use a flat line rather than wasting an outrigger on this sort of presentation. Anglers who know, realise that an outrigger, like a deep troll, is a valuable tool that is more than just a means of fishing multiple lines.This was the time of year that made Bermuda famous for light tackle angling. Before the chumming became the high summer norm, it was trolling lines of 30-lb test and less to catch wahoo, tuna, mackerel and whatever else happened to provide the action that made a name for the Island.Old magazine articles and fishing books that mentioned Bermuda almost always had photos of the mixed bags caught on such gear. Can you imagine what must have been lost? Slim wonder why marlin were considered incidental catches at best and the odd successes made for great tales of angling daring do!The gear has well changed and the concentration moved from angling prowess to fish in the cooler but then again so has the price of fuel and fish also changed. And not necessarily for the better.Still, on a positive note, some things that have not changed are the thrill of the chase and the burst of adrenalin that comes with a strike have not changed for those of us who go continue to go in pursuit of Tight lines!!!