It is a bit like magic how right after the Easter holiday, summer appears. The seas are calm and bright blue, the air is less than usually humid and the flowers are bursting out everywhere. If you don't park your car in the shade, it will feel like an oven when you return. People suddenly appear, wearing bright colours and no coats.

Even the view over the Great Sound appears inviting and it is still only April: many halcyon days must lie ahead. Maybe. Time flies and before you know it not only will it be high summer but it will be time to gear up for wahoo action and then gear down for yet another winter. Don't take anything for granted.

Another sure sign that winter is past us is the roadside sale of jacks. As spring gets into full swing schools of jacks invade the inshore waters and lure out the handful of fishermen who have the skill and knowledge to use haul nets to catch these schools of jacks. Often very numerous, some fishermen often have to pen up their catches for days at a time. The nets are staked out along an open piece of shoreline or alongside one of the islands in the sound.

The successful fisherman then dips into his catch and removes enough fish on each occasion to meet the public's demand. By no means considered a choice species, jacks do enjoy a lucrative niche market. It is usually the older generation that really likes the jack but, during these economically challenging times, they do offer a lot of fish for the buck, as it were.

"Jacks" is a moniker that can be applied to a great many species. Members of the extensive jack family can be found all over the tropical and temperate regions of the globe. Just about everywhere, they have a reputation for being a game or sporting fish and are important food species in many places. The difficulties arise when the identifications become questionable. There are lots of species of jacks and each one seems to have multiple names that vary according to who is doing the talking. If you don't believe this go to the Florida Museum of Natural History website and search for any jack species.

For Bermudians, jacks generally come down to mean "white jacks" or "green jacks". The white jack is actually the horse-eye jack (C. latus); a species that attains enough in the way of size to get into the world record books. Most of the jacks marketed here are that species but usually of the smaller size range (one to two pounds). While they are commercially caught by nets, they will take small trolled lures including little silver spoons. They can also be caught by casting and retrieving a lure on spinning gear. On suitably light tackle, they put up a good performance not unlike that of a pompano (actually palometa) which is another member of the jack clan.

The green jack also occurs in large schools inshore but usually a bit later in the summer. The green jack is actually a bar jack (C. ruber) and is best identified by a coloured stripe that runs along the back. Depending on the light, the colour can be iridescent green or blue or it can appear black. This species is of little interest to anglers as one of its other names is "never bite".

Now with all this inshore good news, it all falls a bit flat when the word from the deep blue briny is anything but encouraging. Oh, the sea is blue and clear, the waves ever so enticing and the fish so not there.

A fair amount of effort was expended this week with most of the Banks and Bermuda's Edge having been checked out pretty thoroughly. A good haul might have been two wahoo from two strikes. Several boats reported single strikes with varying luck outcomes. Other boats reported having given their lures and baits a good washing. None of this is exactly what the weekender has in mind: finally a chance for a trip offshore only there isn't much reason to go.

Having said that, the offshore scene can change markedly overnight and it will only take a sudden influx of bait or game fish to get the ball rolling. The other thing that might act as a bit of a diversion or excuse to head offshore is whale watching. There still seem to be plenty about, so lots of photo ops with the humpbacks. Some old-timers have muttered that the fishing is usually lousy when the whales are around but who knows for sure? They certainly don't compete with wahoo and tuna for food; they don't chase each other and; basically, they are used to sharing the ocean with one another.

The IGFA have granted a number of new world line class records that should draw some attention from local anglers who have a secret desire to make it into the international limelight. The first of these are a bit academic for us because of the legal size restrictions that are in place here. For black grouper (rockfish to us) the new marks are: Women's 6-lb test is 1 lb 0 oz; Women's 8-lb test is 1 lb 8 oz; and Men's (this is the one we can do something about) 130-lb test class is 63 lb 11 oz.

The other species for which new world marks have been granted is the gray snapper. The new records are: Women's 12-lb fly tippet is 1 lb 12 oz; Women's 4-lb test is 2 lb 6 oz; and Women's 20-lb test line class is 12 lb 4 oz. With the exception of the largest gray snapper record which was caught in Texas, all the other new marks mentioned here were caught in Florida.

Qualified observers are being sought for the new Aruba Presidential Caribbean Cup. This is seeking to become a truly international event and will be fished in Aruba at the height of their marlin season in late October. As always the package prices offered observers are attractive enough to justify the cost of becoming a certified observer. Details can be had from Joan Vernon at joan@preschallenge.com. If heading south to take part in such an event is your interest, then further information can be had on the internet at http://www.preschallenge.com/.

So, activity taking place inshore and a quiet offshore provides a good reason to make preparations that will have you ready, willing and able to head out on to the open sea when conditions shift, the fish decide to please and it is time for some Tight lines!!!