To paraphrase Shakespeare’s Richard III, oh, but the winter of our discontent is upon us.While most of us languish ashore contemplating a bright, sunny, and calm future expedition or two, the reality is that the professionals are always ready to take advantage of a situation as and when it develops.As mentioned occasionally, the so-called spring wahoo run occurs whenever it wants to. In the past, the month of February has often figured in the equation and this year seems to fit in quite well with that assumption.The weather has not really been horrendous and there have been some beautiful days even for landlubbers; so while we were shedding a layer or two of clothing, the commercial men were headed offshore to seek their fortune.Things have been pretty quiet on the edge and on Challenger but several boats hit pay dirt out on Argus bank. Just sticking to conventional trolling has had members of the commercial fleet making their wahoo hauls into double figures. While it has been a bit hit and miss, the prospect of catching a dozen or more ‘hoos is tempting indeed, especially for the commercial market as most other fresh fish is a mite on the scarce side. Catches of as many as sixteen have been made and while it has not been replicated by all boats nor on a consistent basis, the results are plenty good enough to entice the fleet out to Argus.The quality of the fish has been surprisingly variable. One pro reported that on the first day that he had a good haul about one-half the dozen or so that he got were what are termed “spring fish”.No, that is not because they are caught during the spring run but it is more intended to refer to the fact that they are what scientists usually term ‘young of the year’.Although used widely in scientific circles and especially when relating to freshwater species, it is a bit inexact. It works a bit better in lakes and other bodies of water because they tend to hold limited populations that breed at some point in each year and the hatchlings generally grow at about the same rate, notwithstanding getting eaten or meeting with other untimely fates.Scientists are then able to class a certain size of fish together based on the belief that they were all hatched out, say, last summer and by the following summer are x amount of inches long. Actually that is a very unscientific description but you should get the point!The same theory can be applied to marine fish although pelagic species offer lots of questions including where and when do they spawn. Is it a single annual event or is it dependent on the correct circumstances occurring such that maybe some years some fish don’t spawn at all.In any event, making the assumption that wahoo spawn during the summer somewhere (we do catch them with large roes here at certain times and they must be going to do something with all those eggs) and they probably grow pretty rapidly (or their chances of survival would be pretty limited), it stands to reason that the small class of fish that occasionally is the norm caught locally are all around about a year or a season old.To return to our present situation, the so-called ‘spring fish” are in the 12 to 15 pound bracket. Sometimes available in good numbers mixed in with other fish o, at times, the normal wahoo.When it happens that there are numbers of them during the early summer, they are often referred to as “lizards’ but despite their relatively small size as compared with big ones bettering 40 pounds or more, they are by no means disdained or released.Just to keep to the truth, there are a few fishermen who have put really small wahoo back. Rest assured this is not common practice as evidenced by the number of school-sized fish that are brought ashore by commercial and recreational fishermen alike.Balancing off the story, some of the reported catches have been made up primarily of larger (30-40 pounders) fish and this has to be even more encouraging. It also suggests that there may be a variety of year classes (more scientific jargon relating age to size) offshore. Just how much they might mix is anybody’s guess and then, of course, where you actually fish may have something to do with which bunch of fish you encounter, also making it possible to catch some of each size grouping.Variety offshore is supplied by a number of yellowfin tuna that are pleasing. These have pretty much all been taken while trolling for wahoo. Again, they are not giants, most coming in at between 20 and 30 pounds. There have been a few stories of quite small tunas in the less than ten pound bracket but anglers will have to take care because there is a legal minimum size regulation.One must suspect that there may be some rather larger Allisons around. These often occur in schools considerably smaller than their more numerous smaller counterparts. Older fish tend to be larger fish and the yellowfin is known to be a rapidly growing species. They are also well-travelled being found in all the world’s oceans in temperate and tropical regions. Surprisingly, despite their widespread distribution they are not found in the Mediterranean Sea.Larger tuna are usually caught here by trolling and it is during the summer that really hefty ones often end up taking trolls meant for marlin. Some large tuna have been caught in the so-called off season and if the number of wahoo offshore is any indication of just how much bait there might be out there then the presence of some large tuna is not to be dismissed.If you do make the run offshore don’t expect anything other than wahoo or tuna to lease. The real summertime species have not yet put in an appearance and while anything can happen at any time, it should be fairly safe to use middle to light tackle. Sadly, most anglers have settled pretty firmly on the line class of 50 lb. test or more, reducing the sporting aspect of fishing. Perhaps for too many of us that is an unaffordable luxury, especially when the opportunities are few and far between.On the happier side of things, Shakespeare’s line goes on to say “..made glorious summer…” and that is what we have to look forward to. The skies will clear, the seas will warm and before we know it; well, before most of us are ready for it, the fish will be biting and it will be high summer replete with tournaments and club competitions. But in the meantime, good weather and fine conditions should provide the occasional opportunity for a trip offshore to search for the more elusive wintry Tight lines!!!