AS predicted, there has been virtually no fishing over the last week or so and, happily, most of the pros have not lost any days that would not otherwise been lost to weather. Similarly, there can be little doubt that there won't be much fishing over the week or so.

As has been the case so often in the past, the season just gone by is buried in the mists of time almost before the year has come to a natural conclusion. It is therefore probably worth spending just a few minutes and casting our memories back just a few months to the splendid angling season that has now all but been consigned to the history books.

In short, there is no other way of describing the past year as anything but superlative and this is applicable to almost every aspect of the angling.

The year has been nothing short of spectacular insofar as the wahoo fishing was concerned. First off, you may have to dust off a few brain cells to recall the spring run but it was really excellent. Size was a little lacking but there was certainly no complaining about the numbers.

Things started to show promise in late August and came to fruition in September when the wahoo fishing was neigh on unbelievable. Numbers were excellent with virtually everyone managing double figures and there were plenty of boats that scored well into the twenties.

Size was also good with fish ranging to over a 100 pounds. It was not uncommon to have several fish over 50 pounds in a day's haul and the average fish was considerably larger than the sort of fish that form the mainstay of wahoo fisheries elsewhere in the world.

Further evidence of just how great the wahoo run comes from The Mid-Ocean News Wahoo Tournament that saw the second greatest number of fish weighed in ever. The really big difference between this landmark year and other good years is the fact that the run continued well into November with good catches being recorded just about any day that the weather was good enough to allow the fishermen to get offshore.

Coming with a surprising, yet welcome, late run was a sudden influx of dolphin. These fish were suddenly readily available from about September onward and seemed to coincide with the heavy inundation of seaweed. Whether or not one was related to the other is questionable but there is no denying that there were no complaints when a rod keeled over and a gold and blue-green fish exploded out of the water. What will be interesting to see will be whether or not any of these fish hang around here for the winter? Although they really are a tropical species, they are pretty wide ranging and, as long as they can find sufficient food, they are unlikely to want to travel.

The summer months saw some top class action from the blue marlin. Actually, the fish showed up fairly early, toward the back end of April and the action continued into September where it quickly was deserted in favour of the wahoo action. One suspects that continued effort would have seen even more releases than the many that were recorded with Captain Allen DeSilva's DeMako leading the hit parade.

The Bermuda Big Game Classic was a resounding success that came down to a nail-biting finish, even though qualifying fish were weighed in each of the three days. This marked success came hard on the heels of Bermuda yet again providing the international winner of the 2003 Blue Marlin World Cup.

The Sea Horse Anglers Club Bermuda Billfish Tournament also proved to be a monumental success with lots of blue marlin being released and the real trophy fish brought to the weigh station.

Despite shuffling the scheduling of tournaments including the International Light Tackle Tournament in order to take advantage of the tuna action, for various reasons the yellowfin tuna were not up to the standard that has come to be expected. Part of this was a lot of days when the chumming circumstances were less than ideal and the abundance of billfish was a serious distraction.

Although not gaining much press, late in the season, the black fin tuna gave a decent account of themselves.

Nearer the shore, the less glamorous species showed to advantage. The bonitas and amberfish were well represented in the fish boxes of those who bottom-bounced or who concentrated on the inner bottom. The grey snapper got a working over by the pros but the yellowtails got away with murder yet again. Too late now, but there is always next year. Don't forget to take advantage of it! Although you probably did not do it this year, there is some fishing to be had all year round. Just standing on the shore and looking at the boat is no substitute for actually going out and trying your luck. Enjoy.

It would be remiss not to draw attention to the remarkable success scored by the Bermuda Anglers Team in the Baja California, IGFA Rolex Championship. Locals Danny Fox and Bobby Rego did a great job adapting to a completely different style of fishing and acquitted themselves in fine fashion, winning the event outright.

Another notable success came last month on the Off Piste which taught the Cubans and others how to catch wahoo. Again, a great job of keeping this little island in the forefront of world fishing activity.

As might have been expected there were some sombre notes. While there was so much positive about this year, not everything was perfect. Early in the year, there was the tragedy that saw two local fishermen lose their lives in unforgiving seas. Weighted against that was the near miraculous rescue of another lucky individual who remains a well-known figure on the local angling scene.

And all too sad was the loss of another well-known commercial fisherman who also sadly departed this life. All too often we forget the immense power of the sea and the infinite potential of what can go wrong at sea. It is all quite amazing at how things can go wrong on the ocean.

In the final analysis, it was a fabulous year that more than just a few failed to savour. And therein lies the ultimate truth: if you don't go fishing, you will not have any great days, so, work it into your new year's resolutions, get out of bed, get on the water and look out for some Tight lines!!!