It is winter, but to be fair the weather has not yet been as downright nasty as it can be. So far there have only been a few winter gales and even these have not been as long-lasting as usual.The worst is probably yet to come but a quick look around the northern hemisphere suggests that this is a bit of an exceptional winter. Ski resorts are reporting little or no snow, record high temperatures are being recorded in unlikely places; global warming is being blamed and no one is really too sure what is going on. Dare we harbour hopes of an early spring?As can happen during the winter months; actually it can happen at any time but it is much more noticeable during the winter simply because effort is significantly less, there has been a sudden burst of fish activity. Most of this action has taken place on Challenger Bank with Bermuda’s Edge having spots of activity. Reports from the few boats making the long run down to Argus have been less than encouraging so most of the effort has been put in on the closer bank.As might be expected, these reports emanate from the commercial fishery because the number of sports fishermen doing the offshore thing at this time of the year can be counted on one hand. Having said that, a few of the commercial operators are really a cross between an angler and a real commercial fisherman because they are mostly sportsmen who use the commercial licence to help subsidise their boating avocation. Because of this much of the tackle tends to be on the heavy side even though a few do make a point of scaling the gear down once a few fish are in the boat.Just what do we have out there? Well, most of the real action has come from a reasonably good class of yellowfin tuna. Although technically considered a tropical tuna, these fish have a wide temperature tolerance and all too often we forget that the offshore temperature here never really gets cold. Cool, yes but not cold, so it is not that unlikely that the tuna will either put in an appearance or even stay in the local area during our relatively mild winters.Some boats have managed into double figures by drifting in the vicinity of Challenger Bank with the tuna showing up fairly quickly and then proving willing to take most any offering. The Southwest Edge has also seen some action and this offers a bit of a bonus in that it is closer to home and less fuel will be consumed, always a consideration in this day and age.The tuna sizes run from the low 20’s to nice fish at about 65 pounds. While a fine commercial target size, any angler looking for some decent action could do a lot worse than to try to give a 12-lb or 20-lb rig a workout. The outcome is likely to be the same but it should provide a few more minutes of action and, in all reality, put less physical stress on the angler.There have been enough wahoo taken along with the tuna to warrant including a couple of suitable troll baits in the spread while moving along the drop-off to another spot; or to justify an hour or so on the troll. If chumming on the drift is the preferred tactic then keep an eye out for a wahoo that might take up residence and examine the slick before causing frustration by grabbing a monofilament leader and stealing the bait, hook and all. A very light wire leader can work and those inexpensive plastic-coated braided leaders also can work like magic. The best guess is that the ‘hoos learn that they can part mono leaders and the plastic coating probably makes the metallic leaders look like the mono, thus causing the fish to make a fatal error.As it happens, although there are enough fish out there willing to cooperate which will satisfy the weekender, the present market leaves something to be desired by the commercial man. The restaurant trade has always slowed immediately after the busy holiday period and, at this time of the year, it isn’t likely that the tourist trade is going to contribute too much to the local economy. In fact, things probably won’t start to pick up until Easter as the weather then improves markedly and locals start to make some inroads into covering their Christmas over-expenditures. This is a bit of a blow to the fishermen, most of whom are glad to have their lobsters to fall back on. The seasonality of those makes them a marketable commodity whenever they are legally available and there is always a rush as the end of the season beckons and people realise that they haven’t had a lobster yet this year.Still, fish can be frozen and while that is an option, most fishermen would prefer to move their catch fresh and quickly. The fact that fish can be stored is one of the reasons why the Government has not seen fit to impose an embargo on fish.The produce embargo works because a crop that is due for harvest can be measured in terms of quantity and quality and the length of time it will supply the populace can be determined with a fair degree of accuracy. Such products are also intended for sale as fresh with potatoes really being the only item that can be stored for any length of time. After all, ripe tomatoes don’t store well and they can’t be frozen; and that applies to most other locally-grown products.Fish can and often are frozen with a view to long-term storage. Even locally caught wahoo and tuna may spend months in a freezer before use. Most anglers have brought home more fish than they can use at one time and it often graces their freezers for weeks at a time. In fact, events like the wahoo tournament often have amateurs packaging their share of the catch proceeds into portioned lots that can be stored separately and used as and when required.Applying the embargo principles to fish simply won’t work because it is possible to stockpile frozen fish well in advance. Most suppliers usually have stores of the various frozen commodities that last for months. In fact, many commercial operations overseas make a point of producing frozen fish for foreign export. Add to that the variety of fish which range from codfish to the exotic and the local fishery simply is not able to compete. Salmon, for instance is sought after by locals but is not going to come from any local source. It would not be popular for the government or anyone else to say to the consumer that in view of the glut of tuna you are going to have to eat local tuna and only local tuna until the supply is exhausted. That is just not going to happen.While there is no promise of great weather this weekend; in fact, Sunday looks more than just a bit choppy, there will be days that will allow anglers to make a run to the Edge or farther. With the promise that right now there is some success to be had from the wahoo and tuna, sooner is probably better than later. After all, a bit of angling success can always be saved for later; the same can’t be said for Tight lines!!!