WOW! The fishing is nothing short of spectacular with all sorts of action being reported from pretty much all around the Island. Even the East End and South Shore have entered the angling picture with some extremely positive results. The calendar would suggest that everyone should be in chumming mode but there is far more on offer than just tuna and small game. No shortage of the latter, that’s for sure but, for the moment at least, this is an angler’s paradise.The 42nd Bermuda Anglers Club International Light Tackle Tournament (ILTT) came to an exciting finish when the fourth place team on the third day came through to take line honours at the conclusion of the fourth day. Making this exceptionally fitting, the team of Peter Mitchell, Francis Patterson and David Skinner represented Bermuda Anglers Club giving the host club the overall win. The win gets the team an invitation to the 2008 IGFA Offshore Championship Tournament in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The High Point Angler was, surprisingly, not a member of the winning team but was on team The 3-Ds. Dean Rea, fishing with father and son David and David Lines, amassed the most points of any angler and earned the high point title. Together they managed to come second overall. David Fingland, Colin Rose and Neil McKinney, fishing as the Goombay Hookers from the Bahamas gave a creditable performance slipping into third place overall. The High Point Boat was Capt. Reggie Horseman’s Equalizer, a boat that defied tradition and concentrated on an alternative to the usual chumming tactics.

Most will associate the ILTT with light tackle fishing for tunas with the yellowfin variety being of paramount importance. The relative lack of tuna and the abundance of wahoo made for a slick change of plans for some operatoEqualizer <$>caught on to this quickly and then made real progress by live-baiting for wahoo with 12-lb test. This paid off in aces when the team caught some 20 wahoo on light line with the fish coming in at a nice average weight considerably larger than the ‘teens weight fish that are normal during the summer months. This is the only light tackle tournament in most memories where the wahoo catch made the difference between winning and losing. However, despite the late focus on ‘hoos there were some top-quality blackfin tuna, the usual sort of crop of mid-sized yellowfin tuna and some bonita and a few hefty rainbow runners, making for a nice variety of fish at the weigh-ins. All in all, a highly successful international event.

Billfish action is moving into high gear with more foreign boats arriving in advance of the July big tournament month. Thus far, the action has been pretty steady, due in part to the increasing amount of effort being put in. There is no doubt that Bermuda is a hot spot for large, quality fish during June and early July. Numbers have been good with most boats standing a reasonable chance of a shot or two a day. The size of the fish is getting on for awesome. A grander last week and by the mid-part of this week, boats had reported at least two fish over 500 pounds, one that cleared the 600-pound mark and something that looked to be better than 900 pounds. One has to be tempted to think that this year’s World Cup winner might just come from local waters. Best of all, so far most of the effort has been concentrated to the southwest with the Banks figuring largely.

As so many visiting captains point out, just what is wrong with the rest of the Island? As recent years have proven, absolutely nothing with boats like the Southern Exposure catching massive fish off the East End and several boats boasting quality catches from along South Shore or toward the north. The good news is that, for the moment, these lesser-favoured places are largely untouched so there are sure to be at least a few big fish waiting for someone to drag a troll over them. It is a funny thing but as the months progress, the hot bite often starts to deteriorate. There are still good fish around but the action is just not what people come to expect after the first few weeks or fast action. The answer may be as simple as there are only so many fish that are going to be held to this piece of bottom and if enough have been hooked or otherwise interfered with they may well depart for greener pastures. Certainly, the electronic tagging evidence suggests that once tagged, the fish move 100 or more miles away from the scene of the “attack” by humans. There is plenty of debate over where the best blue marlin fishing in the world is. The truth is that most people end up comparing chalk and cheese.

In the Atlantic, it is hard to beat out the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic for sheer numbers. Essentially, all these places are fishing the same long piece of bottom that equates to an area comparable to the Hawaiian islands that is the Pacific marlin hotspot. While there are some days that seem to have blue marlin all over Bermuda’s offshore, the average performance numbers are probably closer to one fish per boat per day. In fact, most of the local tournaments turn in numbers more like 0.75 when other venues work out at 1.5 or better. Where we have the edge is on the size of the fish. June and July see hefty blues around here and previous tournament results inclusive of the 4th July bear this out. The question that has to be asked is whether or not such quality will last. Places like Madeira — lightly fished in terms of marlin effort — went through about ten years of fabulous big fish fishing only to dry up almost completely for five or six, and then starting to make a comeback. In the absence of any hard evidence to the contrary, this might well be expected to happen here at some point. Boats seeking big fish, by the very nature of their quest, shift venues on a regular basis.

An advantage, at least for the fish, that places like Ghana have is that not only do they produce big fish but they are so difficult to get to or pose political or economic situations that deter many anglers from exploiting their waters. Conversely, having big fish and accessibility are a boon to Bermuda’s economy and provide additional tourist-related publicity.

So, looking ahead, this weekend should see the 54th annual Bermuda Regiment Tournament. It’s still not too late to get involved. Late entry can be made through Regimental Headquarters. A great tournament with something for everyone whether you are an experienced light tackle angler or a keen hand liner. No matter how you look at it, this is most people’s best shot at a trophy and almost certainly some Tight lines!!!