Well, the fishing is at one of those impasses that occur every so often. Some days they bite and some days they don't and just lately there seems to have been a run of the latter with most of the fleet giving up on the usual game species and concentrating on the bottom-dwelling species that at least justify the cost of a trip offshore.

To be sure, there have been a few nice wahoo caught, not particularly numerous but of sufficient quality to encourage the effort. A few tuna have pleased adding evidence that there might be just about enough of them to justify chumming, but that hasn't really worked either.

Out in the deeper water, there has been some action from white marlin with last weekend recording a couple of releases. Now that it is June, the charter fleet will be dragging heavy gear across the Churn and between the Banks in the sure and certain knowledge that, on one trip or another, a large blue will put in an appearance.

Not that that is going to be of any help this weekend.

This Sunday is the appointed date for the Bacardi Rum annual tournament.

A hugely popular event, this tournament draws support from a broad cross-section of the angling public from first-timers to professionals and this year is going to be even more challenging than this particular event usually is. The deep water is off-limits because billfish are not eligible, so they are best avoided.

The Bacardi tournament is highly competitive with the different classes of boats and the recognised species making for numerous opportunities to produce a winner. The challenge this year would appear to be fishing a fish in the first place. That is where there might well be a few strategic decisions made.

Most boats will probably head southwest, troll along southwest edge and then either run over to Challenger and drop the hook on the south-eastern turn in the hope that the tide and fish will cooperate. That is something that just hasn't happened lately.

The others will quickly troll around Challenger ad then run on over to Argus where it will either be stay on the troll (a pricey option for most) or chumming.

The East End also offers options and winners have come from there in the past. Wahoo are as common down there as they are anywhere else and the area does offer more bottom than most people think.

It is a good long haul from Kitchen Shoals to the back of North Rock and fish have been known to live there. The south-eastern point has had its moments for tuna and one should not forget that, in most years, some large Allisons have been caught along the north-eastern portion of Bermuda's Edge.

The only caveat would be that later, like August, would appear to be the better time. Still, with there likely to be lots of boats out everywhere for this competition, it might well pay to take the road less travelled.

Another specialist area is Long Point, down north. Easily accessed via Western Blue Cut, the drop-off allows for some trolling before the bottom topography makes for a lie that lets a boat have its chum head out into the deep in almost any wind/tide conditions.

Add to that the fact that it is close to home and that spot has some potential as well. We shall see what Neptune has in store for us.

As always, we should count our blessings. Maybe the fishing is a bit slower than we would like but we haven't had to cancel or postpone fishing tournaments like they have in the Gulf.

This is because the federal government in the US has closed about a quarter of the Gulf to fishing as a result of the massive oil spill that has poured millions of gallons of oil into those normally productive waters.

We don't often think about it but the Gulf of Mexico produces its fair share of trophy marlin, wahoo and dolphin.

The communities along the coastline derive an important addition to their economy in the form of beach tourism, marine sightseeing and, of course, sport fishing.

Let's leave the commercial fishing for snapper, grouper and shellfish like shrimp out of the equation entirely because this industry is probably going to suffer some long-term effects which may take years to rectify. Pelagic fish like marlin at least have the ability to leave a polluted area and to head for the open sea where they will survive and live a more or less normal existence. Not so for some bottom dwelling coastal fish that really has nowhere to go or for shrimp that are confined to certain estuarine areas.

Just by looking at the sport fishing scene with all its spin-offs in the form of hotels, motels, bars, restaurants, marinas, it isn't hard to conclude that this year is nothing short of a financial disaster for an area that has depended on seasonal tourism for much of its income.

Now think about what the effect of even a 20,000 gallon spill would be to Bermuda's reefs or the South Shore beaches. How do you even start to quantify the financial losses?

Worst of all, it could happen at any time and probably as a result of something over which we have little or no control. So, be grateful for what circumstances we find ourselves in today.

If you actually want to think how bad this situation could be, then you might really be trying to imagine the impossible. The Exxon Valdez spill was around 10 million gallons of oil while the Torrey Canyon was more than three times that!

Both of these highly publicised spills were dwarfed by some of the others with ones originating from oil wells that went wrong.

The Bermuda Fishing Clubs Annual Tournament (BFCAT) did go off as planned on Sunday gone but it turned out to be a bit of a non-event. For various reasons, the only team actually taking part was a team for Bermuda Anglers Club. The fish also failed to cooperate and the only eligible catch turned out to be a small tuna release.

The release would have scored tournament points but left the team with little to show for their efforts. Although the organisers have a little hemming and hawing to do, the outcome looks to be BAC retaining the trophies until the 2011 challenge and that would seem to be a fair result.

Looking further ahead, next week is the signature International Light Tackle Tournament, organised by Bermuda Anglers Club.

With the participating teams looking to do battle primarily with yellowfin tuna, the outcome of the Bacardi tournament will be closely monitored in hope of shedding some light on the most likely whereabouts of next week's Tight lines!!!