WOW! Time to run out of superlatives! There is nothing more that can be said other than the fishing is absolutely fabulous at the moment. Although it is the billfish that are getting the headlines, there is plenty of action with the smaller game offshore and there are plenty of fish willing to please on the reef and inshore grounds as well. Name your quarry or game dream, pick your tackle, from fly to unlimited and there is action to be had. It simply does not get any better.The trolling for wahoo and tuna has eased off and not before time either. While it is still possible to rack up a respectable number of ‘hoos, the commercial operators have shifted their sights elsewhere as the market is well flooded. There is a demand for tuna which is only just being addressed and there is always a need for the “white” meat species such as hind, coney and snapper.

The best tactic is to put in a bit of trolling along the Edge before settling down to chum or bottom fish and then to repeat the exercise just before coming home. This conserves fuel and saves money while still affording a good chance of catching a wahoo or two. The main effort at this time of the year should be directed into chumming and that, at last, is paying off as it would normally be expected to.

After what seemed to be an interminable wait, the yellowfin and other species are starting to respond in the chum. While there hasn’t been any doubt that the fish were present, it was a bit of a challenge to get any number of them to feed in the chum on anything approaching a regular basis. Maybe now that the weather pattern is more representative of summer, the fish are settling down and moving into the mode where they stick fairly close to the Banks and just move along the drop-off, varying their depth with time of day.

As has long been known, yellowfin avoid the heat of the day when the sun is directly overhead. Cloudy or overcast days often offer the best opportunities to get the fish up and have them stay in the immediate vicinity of the chum. Generally, it is the school-sized fish in the mid-20 to mid-30 pound bracket that provide the bulk of the action but, so far, it is larger fish, in the 40 to 50-pound range that are pleasing.

Just recently, Capt. Keith Winter’s Playmate had a successful day in the chum catching 12 tuna, five blackfin and seven yellowfin with the largest yellowfin, taken on 30-lb test line, weighing in at 97 pounds! Playmate also showed the wahoos hanging around the chum slick who was boss by catching and boating five of them.

That there are some quality tuna around is unquestioned when in the recently fished fly tackle tournaments visiting angler Toquaiah Jackson Carter caught a potential world record yellowfin on fly. This is presently pending before the International Game Fish Association. With such fish around there have to be other opportunities for records; it is just a matter of catching the right fish on the right tackle.

There is plenty of small game in the form of mackerel, rainbow runner and various jack species. Going a bit deeper is producing Almaco jack and some handsome amberjack.

Chumming more up on the Bank sees increased action form blackfin tuna and, if you go right up onto the crown of the Bank, there are some seriously trophy inclined yellowfin snapper waiting to test out suitably light tackle. For the most part, however, the serious anglers are sticking with heavy gear and going in pursuit of the ultimate game species.

Last weekend saw the Bermuda Triangle Tournament Bermuda Open fished with a total of seven teams participating. Unlike other local tournaments, this event uses observers to verify catches and, like most local events, the format is a modified release tournament with the only exception to releases being the landing of a potential world record fish. There is also some emphasis on lighter tackle and this meant that some boats were fishing tackle as light as 50-lb test while going in search of sea monsters. This made for some rather challenging fishing especially when most of us have become accustomed to using 130-lb gear for most marlin fishing.

The first day saw a hot bite with a total of 11 blue marlin and two white marlin being released by six boats. A bit of deterioration in the weather slowed things down for day two when only six blue marlin and three whites were caught and released. The downturn continued on into the third day when the tally was four blue marlin and two white marlin. The winning boat was Capt. Peter RansROverproof, narrowly ahead of Capt. Alan CardRs Challenger.

This was probably pretty exciting fishing because, in actual fact, of the 28 billfish caught during this event, 26 of the catches were made using 50-lb line and just two were made on 80-lb test.

Top angler was Davis Clapp with four blue marlin and one white marlin releases to his credit. Local angler Ian Card was in second with three blue marlin releases. Third place went to Greg Talbott with two blue marlin and one white marlin releases.

The team A-Fin-Ity now leads the overall Bermuda Triangle Series with a total of 2,400 points from five blue marlin and two white marlin releases. All of these catches were made from Capt. Peter Rans Overproof during the one leg of the series that the team has fished thus far. In order to qualify as overall winners of the series, A-Fin-Ity will now have to fish the Boy Scout Tournament in the Virgin Islands and keep ahead of the current second place team On Line with the present margin being just one white marlin release (2,200 points.) It sure sounds like the makings of an exciting finish.

The tournament at the moment is the seventh annual Bermuda Big Game Classic and a record of over 52 boats are expected to compete. The previous record was 45.

Given the number of entrants, there is a considerable amount of cash at stake and the sure knowledge that a “keeper” fish could turn out to be a big money fish. With a 500-pound minimum weight, the emphasis is on scoring points from releasers of smaller fish but the anglers and skippers will be keeping their eyes open for a shot at a main chance at scooping up the biggest pots. Three days of fishing make for plenty of chances at big game action with everything to play for still open up until the close of play on Saturday afternoon. Who knows, maybe an explosion on the rigger in the last dying seconds of the last day will make for some exceedingly profitable and very Tight lines!!!