Soon back to normal. The past month has proven why boats come here from overseas and why the fishing attracts international attention. While maybe not so widely recognised as other events, this is a major tourism draw, attracting the finest boats and wealthy anglers from all over the world — a short-lived entity but offering high value rather like the tourism that originally built Bermuda.

The final leg of the Bermuda Triple Crown, the Sea Horse Anglers Club Billfish Tournament, provided its share of action and was a significant component of determining the winner of the Triple Crown.

After three days of hard fishing in near perfect conditions it was Captain Brent Gaskill’s Builder’s Choice that emerged victorious in the Sea Horse with a total of nine blue marlin releases, scoring 4,500 points. In second place with 3,000 points was Captain Sean Dooley’s Viking 82, while also on 3,000 points and in third place was Captain Rocky Hardison’s Wolverine.

Builder’s Choice took both levels of the Billfish Release Points category, with Viking 82 taking the winner take all Overall Billfish Releases jackpot.

Anita Jean, skippered by Captain Peter Watson won the Non-Sonar Jackpot with 600 points, with Unwined in second place. The largest game-fish category was won by a 49.7-pound wahoo caught by Billy Farrington on Wolverine.

The High Point Junior Angler was Jack Ricks, releasing two blue marlin on El Cazador. The High Point Lady Angler was Taylor Lambert, fishing on Reel Tight and successfully releasing two blue marlin. The Overall High Point Angler, releasing an incredible eight blue marlin was Harris Huddle on Captain Brent Gaskill’s Builder’s Choice.

The Largest Blue Marlin Jackpot was won by Captain James Barnes’s Reel Lax with a 589-pound blue marlin. The fish, caught by angler Lester Petracca, struck without warning even though the boat was equipped with side-scan sonar electronics. Unlike many billfish that battle near the surface, this particular fish dived down into the deep where it died, causing difficulty for the angler.

It can be hard to tell if a fish has died and is slowly sinking into the abyss or if it is alive and swimming down deep in its effort to escape. It is much easier to deal with a live fish than a dead one, and it is important to recognise when this happens because it radically changes the tactics needed to raise a dead fish. As the fish sinks, line will come off the reel, often suggesting that the fish is actually moving of its own accord. Bottom line: the angler had a mammoth task raising the fish about a foot at a time, making the task all the more admirable.

When all the points were counted, the winner of the Bermuda Triple Crown was Captain Sean Dooley’s Viking 82 with an astounding total of 8,222 points, which is massive, accrued over the three tournaments.

Winning the Triple Crown’s Three-Marlin Jackpot was Captain Eddie Rabbitt’s Big Deal, with the Largest Marlin Jackpot going to angler Edward Russo for his 673-pound blue marlin caught on board Big Deal.

And a special award this year, the 20th Anniversary Release Points Bonanza, was won by Captain Colin Oxnard’s Fender Bender with a total of 7,600 points. After all the excitement of the prize presentations, there was a palpable relaxation of all the crews, anglers and organisers as thoughts turned to next July.

All told, the three tournaments caught 310 blue marlin, 39 white marlin, three spearfish and a single sailfish. And not only is that a lot of billfish, how about all the others caught or hooked and lost on the days when there wasn’t a tournament and boats fished for fun? Beyond any shred of doubt, Bermuda seasonally produces blue marlin in excellent numbers with a goodly proportion of the fish being large — as in over 500 pounds.

This brings to light another aspect of the fish’s life history. Large fish, generally anything over about 300 pounds, are almost always females while the smaller fish are the males. Both sizes occur here at the same time of year and are occasionally seen or take lines in pairs or threesomes. These usually consist of a large fish and one or two smaller fish, suggesting that they may spawn here at this time of the year. Generally, as the season wears on here, the smaller fish seem to become more numerous.

With the big tournaments now over and much of the foreign fleet bent on running back to the mainland or farther south, the marlin may think that they are in for a bit of a breather, but it is not to be. The Marlin Release Challenge, a single-day release-only event takes place on Sunday and will once again see the deep-blue briny well worked over.

People sometimes forget that the summer is the best time for local fishing and there is plenty to be had at the moment. Inshore, big bonefish stalk the shallows, palometa are widely available off the South Shore and the reef areas are producing hefty snappers, several species of jack, as well as ambers and bonitas. The Banks and drop-offs around the island continue to offer wahoo consistently, while both yellowfin and blackfin tuna remain in good numbers. Simply stated, there is no excuse for not getting some Tight Lines!!