OK, now we are ready to start talking about the off season. Doubtless some of you probably feel that this season has been off since about mid-September, but rest assured that there have been far worse.

One of the best indicators of the state of the sport is the number of fishermen out conducting roadside sales at the weekend. For the record, the last few Fridays have seen them at just about every major junction and they are offering quite a variety. Contrast this with the situation in February when it is all that one can do to get a piece of fresh fish.

At the moment effort is reasonably high, the weather has been unseasonably cooperative and the offshore sea temperature is still warm enough to hold some of the more tropical species.

On the Banks, there is a large number of small tuna, mostly yellowfin. Not a whole lot are being caught because most trolled rigs are a bit on the large side for them and no one is doing a whole lot of chumming. Commercial operators aren't particularly interested because the fish are small enough to make getting a decent yield of meat off them a problem.

With their incredible growth rate, these fish could be 25-pounders come next February or March but that will require that they remain in the general vicinity and not seek greener pastures. At present, some good light and ultra-light tackle action can be had and this is a great opportunity to practise some tag and release on young fish that are likely to turn up somewhere else in the ocean.

Trolling continues to provide a modicum of wahoo action. The fish are variable in size and a day's effort should make for at least a few shots.

This could improve markedly over the next few weeks. In many years there has been a spate of hot activity from decent-sized wahoo along southwest edge and on Challenger Bank. The action has often been hottest just a week or so either side of Christmas.

Those who depend on catching fish for a living are concentrating on drifting on the Banks where coneys, hinds, bonitas and occasional amberfish are providing the bulk of the pickings. Very occasionally, a monkey rockfish will make the trip to the surface attached to someone's hook but these happy occasions are not numerous. If getting something for the larder is the object of the exercise, it is hard to better this tactic. A couple of hours bottom bouncing should provide enough fish for most families.

Chumming over the deeper reefs around Bermuda's Edge can provide a nice variety of fish with some gamesters putting in an appearance. A favourable tide well worked should lure mackerel, robins, bonitas and, hopefully, yellowtails.

These snappers persist into the early winter months and can often be caught in reasonable numbers. Although they can be caught on the crown of the Bank, the sharks up there are nothing short of fierce and it is difficult to get a yellowtail up in its entirety. The areas along the south-western edge out to Sally Tucker's, Western Blue Cut and off the East End are all preferred spots and some joy should be had by anyone willing to put in a bit of time and effort. Best of all, the fish themselves should be in the three to five pound range. A nice yellowtail by any standard!

There are a surprising number of local anglers who believe that the yellowtail snapper is recognised by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) as a line class world record species. Sadly, this is not the case.

The IGFA does hold an all-tackle record for yellowtail. At present it is an 8 lb. 15-oz fish caught in North Carolina, USA in 1999. Forget that Bermuda yellowtails are frequently considerably larger than that. The point about all-tackle records is that they are held for everything even the common goldfish! It is the line class species that are recognised for their game qualities and it is indeed sad that, thus far, they have not seen fit to include the yellowtail in this august group. There has been considerable lobbying from Bermuda over the years and, because the IGFA does amend the classes from time to time, some faint hope that it will eventually be included.

In the meantime, the yellowtail continues to be recognised locally as a game fish and the Bermuda Game Fishing Association maintains records, almost all of which better the official world record quite considerably.

That alone should be reason to go in search of, maybe not a world-beater but some top-class fillets.

One of the criteria used by the IGFA on selecting line class species is its relative availability to the anglers of the world. In this respect, the yellowtail is one of those species that is essentially limited to the tropical western Atlantic and Caribbean.

The IGFA recently underwent such a re-classification. Although this dealt primarily with freshwater species a number of salt-water species were affected. While none of these has a direct impact on Bermuda fishing, there are a couple of points worth noting. Travelling anglers should be aware that the records for snook have been split into Atlantic and Pacific categories. Places like Costa Rica that have coasts on both oceans and are home to snook will benefit from this new distinction. This species has never occurred at Bermuda and given its estuarine nature, probably unlikely to do so.

Another new species, actually a collection of species, is the ladyfish.

This fish occurs in most tropical and sub tropical waters and is something between a bonefish and a tarpon in terms of game ability. They do not reach large sizes but have long been popular with anglers. There has only ever been a single fish caught in Bermuda and that came to rest in a fisherman's net some 30 years ago when his astute eye picked out this oddity. Based on that it is not impossible that one day a local beach caster might happen on one.

Not a whole lot to report but there are a few opportunities for some fishing action. The problem is that is pretty much essential to have access to a boat to get at least over the reef areas. The bridge and jetty fishing is just about all over and it won't take more than the passage of a cold front or two to knock that notion out of most peoples heads. Still, some continued good weather should see the hard-core angler find some Tight lines!!!