WOW, some things really are worth waiting for! Although Hurricane Florence did not grace us with her presence until the Monday, it would have been pretty unproductive if the Wahoo Tournament had been held on the first appointed Sunday. Although it could be argued that the sea conditions were fishable, there would not have been too many who would have ventured forth. Smart boat owners were either securing their moorings or taking their craft out of water ? sensible precautions.

Anyway, skipping a week turned out to be just about the best thing that could happen, both for the organisers and the participants. Most of the week was dominated by calm seas and light winds. The odd shower was not enough to deter tournament anglers and, with the tournament open to all who wished to take part, a large flotilla took to the high seas in good fishing conditions.

The longstanding theory is that it takes a fish 60 pounds or better to win the Wahoo Tournament. This year came a fraction shy of that mark when the largest fish brought to the weigh-in was a 59.9 pounder that won Dima Mnushkin the Largest Fish Award. He was fishing aboard Captain Keith Winter's when the strike came.

The line class awards were decided on the basis of points scored. The factor system was in use. This system uses a mathematical calculation that favours the use of lighter tackle. The trick to getting a winner is to catch a fish which weighs a multiple of the line test used.

Martin Estis really got this right when he caught a 52.3 pounder from the boat , scoring 1,899.5 points and securing the 12-lb test award.

The 20-lb test award went to well-known veteran angler, Saul Froomkin who fished aboard . He caught a 55.5 pound wahoo on that line class, earning 770.1 points.

Leslie Spanswick, fishing aboard subdued a nice 51.9 pound wahoo on 16-lb test to earn the honours in that category with 1,052.2 points.

The 30-lb test award was won by Kip Froud, fishing off , when he caught a 46.7 pound wahoo on that class of line and earned 242.3 points.

The Junior Award was very closely contested this year, something that hasn't happened for a while. It was encouraging to see the youngsters participating and anyone who was at the weigh-in has to have the feeling that they will be back next year.

Young Charles Whited emerged the best of the juniors with a magnificent 49.9 pound wahoo. Not only was this a nice fish but he caught it on 12-lb test, proving his prowess on light tackle. Perhaps this is the shape of things to come.

The High Point Boat Award, which is awarded to the boat amassing the greatest number of points from fish weighed in, was Andrew Dias' . With five fish caught on 12-lb test and one fish caught on 16-lb test, the points mounted up quickly, finally accumulating a grand total of 4,045.5 points, well clear of any competition.

A quick look at how the line test changes the points so markedly despite the fact that the fishs' weights do not differ too greatly shows how the factor system really works in favour of the light tackle anglers. Once upon a time, not so very many years ago, this was the norm in club competition and even tournament competition, for that matter.

The weigh-in at Dockyard drew a large crowd and they were rewarded with one of the better hauls that has graced this tournament over the years. In total, 62 wahoo were brought to the weighstation; not a record but definitely one of the better years.

The fish themselves were of a nice class. Of the 62 fish weighed, there were six in the 50 to 60-pound range; six in the 40 to 49-pound bracket while 21 bettered the 30-pound mark. By world standards any wahoo over about 30 pounds is a big fish.

Rounding things out, there were 19 fish in the 20 to 30-pound range and the rest of the landings was made up by nine fish that weighed in in the 'teens.

The frigate mackerel were particularly numerous on Argus Bank and much of last weekend's fishing effort was put in on the northern and western sides of that Bank. The presence of frigates has been reported from numerous other locations around the island with the East End getting a good look in. One has to think that if the juvenile mackerel are numerous, then the predators cannot be far behind.

It is reasonable to expect that the good wahoo fishing will persist for at least another two or three weeks. The weather should offer anglers ample opportunity to get offshore and stock up before the passage of cold fronts and inclement weather becomes the norm and just about everyone turns to alternative pursuits.

The fish will eventually start to spread out and trolling just about anywhere should offer a chance at a fish or two. Traditional trolling will work but if you can locate the live baits, then things should be at optimum.

The Banks will remain the preferred area for the next while and Challenger Bank will probably come into its own. The long run to Argus is a bit discouraging and there has always seemed to be some sort of positive relationship between the action on the Banks. After all, the bait species has moving on in its best interest and to move venue might just keep them slightly ahead of the predators.

Although the use of small mackerel as live bait invariably brings wahoo to mind, it would be a mistake to think that other species including yellowfin tuna won't inhale such an offering. In fact, during the tournament, at least one boat had a billfish come to investigate a live bait fished off an outrigger. It doesn't take a quantum leap to figure out that if marlin can be caught on dead baits such as mackerel or rainbow runner then the presentation of a rather severely hampered live little mackerel has to be pretty tempting.

Don't forget that it is still September, a month that many who apparently know what is going on in the fishy world consider to be the best fishing month of the year. There is no doubt that all the sporting species are present on the offshore grounds even though they may be in the process of moving out. Continued good weather and the presence of bait species will hold them here a bit longer so maybe now is the time to slip out and grab some autumnal Tight lines!!!