THE summer beckons! All the gamefish that anyone could desire are present on the offshore grounds and even the inshore is showing sufficient signs of life to make a trip into the channels or stones a productive venture. In terms of variety, it simply won't get any better until the denouement sets in come September - and that will be sooner than you think!

There was a rather weird phenomenon last week. You may recall the rainy weather that dominated the lead up to the holiday. Well, try this on for size: Capt. Alan Card on Challenger was fishing up behind Chub Heads where he was attempting to teach the wahoo a thing or two; Capt. Keith Winter on Playmate was down on the short course and Capt. Allen DeSilva with DeMako was on Argus. Keith was enjoying a ten-knot breeze, Challenger was being bucked about by 30 knots of breeze and stiff seas and it wasn't until DeMako turned from home that the weather showed any sign of deterioration.

The lesson: it is possible for miniature weather cells to form in very localised areas and for these to be quite significant particularly for a small boat operator. Hence the importance of keeping a weather eye out whenever on the ocean.

Despite the tough conditions, Challenger managed four wahoo anda couple of dolphin, making the beating almost worthwhile. Better pickings were had down on Argus, although a fair amount of water had to be covered to produce the results.

By and large, the wahoo are easing up, even though it is still possible to get into double figures. The norm is nearer the five or six mark and while there are some decent-sized fish around, there is a tendency for the smaller fish in the 'teens to be more likely captures.

Trolling is picking up a few of the larger yellowfin but these don't seem to be very common. Small daisy chains and similar will pick up some tiny yellowfin and small blackfin tunas. Remember that there is a minimum size for the former and that undersized fish should be returned to the sea. Unfortunately, the school-sized blackfin are too bing to be used as live baits even though the thought of rigging one up on a 130-lb. test and going off into the deep conjures up all sorts of scary thoughts.

Chumming should see a response from the small to mid-size Allisons and this offers some good light tackle action. Moving in a bit closer to the drop-off will also see myriad small game that will be more than willing to please. Note though that the barracuda will shortly want to dominate the proceedings and make it difficult to get anything worthwhile to the boat.

If you can get the robins up, then it is time to get the kite out. A live robin fished somewhere over the Edge should get the attention of any tuna that might be lurking out there. Failing a live bait, an open-winged rigged flying fish gets results more often than most would think possible. But there really is no substitute for seeing the robin start to skitter in a swirl of water just before disappearing into a watery explosion.

The bright moon confirmed to those suffering from billfish madness that relief is at hand. Earlier in the week, Capt. Allen DeSilva's DeMako had scored with one of each species: a small blue estimated at about 200 pounds and a white marlin, both of which were released.

The modern exception to Bermuda billfishing is to keep a fish and while it is hard to make a genuine case against any individual killing a billfish, one must remember that this entire business is now governed by law. As one of Bermuda's responsibilities to the International Commision for the Conservation of Atlantic tunas, it was necessary to enact minimum size legislation. In our case it is 250 pounds for a blue marlin and 50 pounds for a white marlin.

Where there seems to be come confusion, stems from the fact that the United States has also had to introduce minimum size legislation. Where the fundamental difference occurs is that the United States has opted to use a length measurement rather than a weight. As so much of the angling literature that Bermuda receives, as well as television, originates in the USA, where there are constant references to the minimum lengths, it is no surprise that local anglers may start thinking in terms of length.

Either way, there exists a possibility of error as estimating the size of a billfish alongside a boat, particularly a small boat, can be tricky business for the novice.

For the record, the minimum Bermuda size for retention of blue marlin is 250 pounds and for white it is 50 pounds. In short, all fish under these weights must be released. In any case, in the twenty years or so since Bermuda came of age in terms of billfishing, the emphasis has been overwhelmingly on release with over 90% of marlin being released. It is really only when a tournament winner or a potential record is on the end of the line that the question is raised and, face it, that only happens a handful of times a year.

Looking further ahead to the summer, the Bermuda Big Game Classic may benefit from a move on the part of the organisers of the Blue Marlin World Cup to raise the entry fee to around the $2,000 mark.

Many anglers will recall that the revision to last year's rules that only allowed the taking of one blue marlin caused some to reconsider entering and now the increased fee may be the last straw. The Classic, on the other hand, is a three-day event with some "hands on" benefits including a kick-off party, weigh-in parties and a banquet. Although it might cost more, that gap now having been lessened, there are some tangible advantages as well as stretching the fun over a three-day weekend period. Also, by all accounts, this year's tournament will be considerably bigger and better than the initial event.

Speaking of tournaments, next Saturday (8th June), Sea Horse Anglers Club will try to get its annual swordfish tournament off the ground. So far only the initial such event ever got off the ground, and, so far, no swordfish has graced anyone's cockpit. In any event, details are available from tackle shops or members of the Sea Horse committee. Given nice, calm weather the thought of drifting the evening away is not without merit as there is a certain peace to be enjoyed on the briny at night. All the better if that peace were shattered by the scream of Tight lines!!!