Okay, time to get serious. Lobster season is over, the traps all stowed away until September and the entire fleet is now looking to the blue water for a summer’s worth of profit, sport or a combination of the two.

The weather earlier in the week left something to be desired although it does tend to settle down just that little bit quicker and; maybe it is just the longer days, but the ocean looks all that much more inviting than it did even just a few weeks ago.

A few boats took advantage of the less than malign weather last weekend to do a bit of dragging and although pickings were slim, the main message was in what was caught rather than how much was caught.

It was already established that there were wahoo on the offshore grounds. Argus Bank had proven promising with a couple of boats enjoying a modicum of success but it would come as no surprise for the fish to have suddenly shifted themselves over to Challenger or even onto Bermuda’s Edge.

Remember the spring run is very short-lived with the fish covering large tracts of water on a daily basis. Following these fish can be a mission of its own.

The situation with regard to yellowfin tuna was similar although it will be a while before the tides around the Banks make chumming realistic. What was interesting was that the trolling turned up species such as dolphin and barracuda which are more associated with summer conditions than winter or even spring.

All taken together, something big could be about to happen. Keep an eye on the commercial fleet as they will be the ones to figure out what is happening first.

Although some of the Facebook pages and other forms of multimedia that deal with angling and tournaments often mention bonefish and Bermuda frequently features in the proceedings, without a doubt this is one of the finer game species that barely rates a mention at any of the local angling clubs.

This is a bit of a shame and may be a sign of the times, even though that may not be a good thing. Some of the inshore game species have much to offer and whether it is because they have been overshadowed by the offshore giants such as marlin, tuna and wahoo or simply forgotten, they should not be ignored. In fact, there is much to be said for them.

There are those of us who remember when Mr Roy Outerbridge, of the Blue Waters Anglers Club, almost without fail posted the largest pompano of the year on that club’s scoreboard. There was little doubt that he was the master at catching the largest of these fish that any local could manage.

Similarly, there were a limited number of specialists who routinely got their bonefish on the board. For the most part, these were caught on spinning tackle which was about as adventurous as most locals would get although there were a very few who would attempt to present a fly that might meet with the fish’s approval. Back in those heady days noted international anglers and writers were the ones most likely to indulge in this sort of pursuit and; happily, the outcomes were almost always very positive.

Something which is no longer as obvious as it once was, are the mounted fish which, back in the old days, were often bonefish. Now, one really has to think about where there are fish on the wall. Years ago they were almost ubiquitous in restaurants, bars, even shops as well as hotels and other public places and bonefish was certainly one of the more common examples.

Coming back to the present, there are still a couple of operators who recognise the value of this species and the fact that there are still some purists who make the trek to areas of the world where good results can be had. Bermuda, by no means, competes with the numbers to be found in Kiribati or certain parts of Venezuela or even the Florida Keys and the Bahamas. What Bermuda does offer is big fish. In many far-flung foreign locations bonefish in the three to five pound range are considered large; here, fish weighing double figures are not out of the question and fish over five pounds are routine.

This is the time of the year when they invade inshore shallows on sunny, warm days and can be found with regularity on the grass flats off the North and Western shores.

Old-timers will say that you have to use cockworms, but while the use of bait might be preferable to any artificial lures, bonefish will definitely take bits of fish or shrimp and the good old standby, a piece of squid, will also elicit a bite from the grey ghost.

One thing really neat about this sort of fishing is that almost invariably, the fish is returned more or less intact to return again another day to provide yet another angler with Tight Lines!