Despite the recent passage of an errant cold front here and there, the weather did swinging into a more summery mode. The calendar alone insures that slowly, but ever so surely, the number of boats going overboard and a burst of slippage activity means that the summer boating season is at hand. The traditional start of summer is but a little more than a fortnight away and everything will fall into place, as it has every year.In fact, at least one foreign sport fishing boat has already arrived and there are more due in before the end of May. Such arrivals suggest that there will be an early start to the high season, if only because those boats almost totally concentrate their effort on billfish.The wahoo and tuna really don’t do anything for them, other than providing the odd fish dinner and, even then, why dirty up a luxury craft?In the meantime, local craft will variously set out to troll or to mix in a troll with a bit of chumming. The reason for the latter is the presence of yellowfin tuna on the Banks.Several boats have managed to get into double figures and the fish themselves are a nice selection of middleweights up to about 75 pounds. Not exactly giants but certainly catchable on things like 30-lb test. Not that there is a whole lot of that getting a workout these days. Commercial-style fishing seems to be the norm with 50-pound and better being the test of choice.Trolling just now should pick up some wahoo with the possibility of the spring run not really having kicked off yet. If it is yet to come it will be a flurry of activity with the action moving quickly around the Island in the space of about a week from start to finish. Although short-lived, it does give the full-time commercial operator a shot at tying up the local market.The key is to be ready to take advantage of it, if and when it call comes to pass. A dirty bottom and an engine that has been largely ignored for a few months do little to help at this juncture.Trolling along the drop-offs at this time of the year usually turns up a few surprises. The odd dolphin should please, when least expected; and, there may well be a small billfish or two. White marlin usually show up at the beginning of May and there have been some sailfish caught around this time of the year as well. These fish usually run with small schools of wahoo, so it is not uncommon to get a multiple strike with two or more species providing the action.Beware of the deep, as the big blues arrive as the month progresses and even though the satellite data suggests that the water is a bit cooler than normal for this time of the year, it will take more than the odd-degree or two to dissuade these beasts on their annual migrations. By month’s end, there should be regular encounters, so the tackle should be of the right variety as well.Trolling regular baits and lures will get its share of fish but sometimes a bit of variation can make for interesting action and some rather nice catches.Something that may pay off would be a return to some of the tactics of bygone days when trolling was de rigeur during the early part of the season; when the likes of Capt. Boyd Gibbons ran the Coral Sea and most of the then whippersnappers are now middle-aged or worse (!).One of the more productive tricks was to use a daisy chain to catch small mackerel. The mackerel in question were not of the late season/frigate-size range but were somewhat bigger than those preferred live baits while still being smaller than the average mackerel caught while chumming during the summer.Why this is the case is a bit unclear. It might be that the fish that were ideal bait size last October are now still running in largish schools and still in a feeding mode that involves actively chasing baitfish rather than taking a more docile approach to life and living off chum slicks.In any case, a daisy chain fished just below the surface should grab a few mackerel that make effective, if rather larger than usual, live baits.The tackle required is usually a mite on the heavy side; say, 50-lb test or better; not that that is a problem these days. The mackerel is usually double hooked through the back of the head and towards the tail and it is dragged pretty much right down the centre of the wake.A variation on this was to attach an elastic band to the line and loop the band over the rod butt so that the angle of the drag was reduced. In other words instead of the line going from the rod tip on out, it came from the tip down to near deck level with the rubber band acting as a quick release in the event of a strike. Call it a near prehistoric, or poor man’s, version of a deep troll one that only just got the bait below the surface. Bush, as it may seem, it did indeed work and there is no reason why it should not work today.A modern variation on a theme has been to use the same-sized live mackerel on a rod fished off a deep troll. Although it is usually a wahoo strike that is expected; a surprising number of hefty yellowfin are hooked this way. Mostly they are capable of totally inhaling the mackerel and; amazingly, a 50 or 60-pounder is usually capable of this feat. Not a very pretty technique but it can be effective on its day. If things go quiet when you are out there, give it a shot!Tomorrow the competitions get underway with Bermuda Anglers holding one of their monthly fun tournaments.Things move into the club level next week with the Bermuda Fishing Clubs Annual Tournament (BFCAT) attempting to get off the ground on its first scheduled date. This is open to teams from the recognised angling clubs and the word is that the weigh-in will take place at Spanish Point Boat Club.One of the quirks of this particular event is that the various line classes are contested on the aggregate number of points scored by each time on a given line test. So, while there is some recognition for large fish and so on, there is some strategy to a club concentrating its efforts on a single line class. As a result of this difference in rules, the outcome of this tournament is often unexpected and the awards may be well shared between the clubs.At the very least, the effort that will be put in will provide everyone with a pretty good idea of where to best find Tight lines!!!