The organisers of the Bacardi Tournament could not have wanted for better conditions than they got last Sunday. Bright sunshine, fairly calm seas and light breezes made a real change from what had been a nasty, wet and blustery week.Unlike the billfish and wahoo tournaments that tend to concentrate effort on just one species, this event actually encourages more novel approaches to the actual fishing. It was not just a matter of deciding whether to troll or chum but it even allowed the option of bottom fishing or working a live bait down deep in the hope of snagging one of the other eligible game fish species.It was because of this that spectators and organisers were treated to a really rather remarkable selection of fish at the weigh-in.In the final analysis there were 24 boats that weighed in. This was out of the 57 that had registered for the event. This is actually somewhat better than expected because most tournaments usually see more like 30% of boats entered actually coming to the weigh-in.Of the fish weighed in, there were 39 wahoo, 32 yellowfin tuna, 16 bonita (Almaco jack), eight amberjack, five dolphinfish, five blackfin tuna and a number of barracuda and even a large rainbow runner. Unfortunately, some of the blackfin, the barracuda and the rainbow runner failed to make the minimum eligible weight.Still, all in all, there was lots of variety to please the crowd which was largely made up of visitors who had not seen such denizens of the deep before. In fact, a few came over and posed in front of the gallows for pictures that they could use to indulge in that favourite fisherman's past time, lying!Among the notable catches were those made by Sierra Dowling, who while fishing aboard Paradise One, managed to catch an 81.5 pound Allison and a 43.3 pound amberjack along with a wahoo.All together this earned her the overall High Point Female Angler with 145.7 points. Winning the overall High Point Angler was Scott Barnes whose three best fish (two nice yellowfin tuna and a large wahoo) taken together scored a total of 145.9 points, allowing him to win by the narrowest of margins. Scott's efforts plus some of those scored by Andre Durham aboard Capt. Michael Barnes' Vitamin Sea earned that boat the enviable award of Overall High Point Boat in the form of the Bacardi Rum Trophy.In the small boat class, Class A, the winners were: Sonia Mello for High Point Wahoo with a 43.3 pounder; Richard Rossomme won High Point Tuna with a nice 77.3 pound yellowfin, and Greg Dietz took the High Point Other Species prize with a 35.1 pound amberjack. Capt. Darius Martin's Phuket was the Class A High Point Boat with Capt. Tim Proctor's Line Out taking the runner-up spot.In the larger private boat class, Class B, the honours went to Dan Vickers with an award-winning 71.3 pound wahoo; the High Point Tuna was won by David Pantry with a 60-pound yellowfin and the Other Species category was won by Patrick Pedro with a 46.8-pound amberjack.The high Point Class B boat was Capt. Hamish Burns' Scatteraction with Capt. Anthony Lightbourne's O-Fish-Al sliding into the runner-up position.In the commercial boat class, Class C, the awards were as follows: High Point Wahoo – John Portelli, 49.2 pounds; Brandon Lopes won the High Point Tuna award with a 55.5 pounder and the Other category was won by Lisa Cabral with a 42.4 pound amberjack. The High Point Boat was Capt. David Soares' Kerry D and the runner up was Capt. Allen DeSilva's Mako.At the weigh-in there was one other fish brought to the scale that did not figure in the tournament but which could have an important result. Fishing aboard Martin Estis' Wasabi, Andrew Dias had caught a splendid grey snapper on 20-lb test that weighed in at 12.3 pounds, some 0.7 pounds heavier than the existing line class world record of 11.6 pounds.All told, the event was a huge success and a great time was had by all the participants and the organisers were able to heave a sigh of relief for another twelve months. Shifting that sort of responsibility to another body, this coming week sees the Bermuda Anglers Club International Light Tackle Tournament take pride of place. This prestigious tournament does have important ramifications for the Island as a whole and this has been recognised by the Department of Tourism which has provided sponsorship. This is in recognition of the economic contributions made by the ILTT which means charters for local boats as well as a need for accommodations and hospitality for many of the competitors.Already recognised as one of the tournaments that qualifies for the IGFA Offshore Championship, an additional step has been taken this year to allow the use of both 12-lb and 16-lb test lines.For the first time in a long time, the weigh-in will be held in a place that is easily accessible to the general public who might just want to “ooh” and “aah” at some of the catches that will be brought in.Unlike the billfish tournaments that feature an incredibly high incidence of catch and release, this sort of light tackle tournament is usually decided by fish that are actually brought to the dock.This year the weigh-in is at Barr's Bay Park and the public is welcomed. Refreshments will be available and there will be opportunities for non-fishing aficionados to chat with some of the participants.Work is also in full swing on the BAC Junior Tournament scheduled for August 19th with some of the ILTT proceeds being used to fund this event aimed at fostering the sport with the younger set. Additional information can be found on the internet at http://www.bermudaanglersclub.com.The billfish brigade is waiting in the wings to take the main stage. This weekend has had many of the would-be arrivals hold back as the Newport race takes precedence and that means that most of the berthing space will be given over to the 'blow boats”.Most of those will depart during the coming week and be replaced by the battlewagons that have visions of record-breaking blue marlin. The Blue Marlin World Cup on the 4th July will be the first of a series of tournaments that will see the briny churned by multi-million dollar wakes. Whether the fish will be as impressed by this demonstration remains to be seen.It officially becomes summer this coming week and if that isn't fishing time, it will never be. Regardless of whether your bag is wetting a line off a dock or working the deep blue for sea monsters, now is the time to put your cares aside and indulge yourself in some Tight lines!!!