Rain, rain and more rain! All that should have given us some sympathy for Noah, but then throw in a midweek blow and the fishing scene has had little to offer this past week or so. Even the commercial fleet has been hampered by these unseasonable conditions. Fortunately, it is still August and a period of improvement is not yet out of the question.

Perhaps the monsoons and hurricanes will give us a rest and allow us to get some proper angling in. No doubt about it, this August has been pretty much unlike any other; at least, in the past decade or so. Talk about putting a damper on things and reminding us that we do live in an area that is subject to what is generically referred to as tropical activity. A real euphemism for what can be some of the nastiest weather on the planet!

On the more optimistic side of things, the rainfall and lower temperatures have probably made this neck of the woods a little less desirable for the storms, even though we still have to get through September without attracting their attention.

The Bermuda Billfish Release Tournament will be considering trying to go ahead this weekend, although the forecast is not all that encouraging. An event that is intended to be fun and to involve as many locals as possible is not going to benefit from heavy seas and generally uncomfortable conditions. The postponements, while making a world of sense, keep pushing the window when marlin are common farther and farther back, and this runs the risk of overlapping with the September action when there is usually action from all the migratory species as they start to move southward ahead of cooling conditions. Still, some fair weather is overdue us now and the sea may settle down enough to allow the event to take place.

Still on the subject of tournaments, what is pretty much the season’s swan song, the Royal Gazette Wahoo Tournament is slated for Sunday, September 7. Entries must be made via the forms that are available in the newspaper into next week. The deadline for entries is 5pm on Wednesday.

This is one of the Island’s more popular angling events, usually drawing 40 or 50 boats with their respective crews. Unlike the other events, this one is species–specific and only wahoo are eligible. There is a rationale for this that goes back almost 50 years.

The month of September is usually the height of the autumnal wahoo run. The reasons are unclear: it could be because the fish school up to spawn en masse; it may be a migratory thing, or it may be because a reliable bait source becomes concentrated, basically inviting the fish to follow the ready supply of food. If you think about it, the open sea does not even look like there are loads of different food sources. It is not like an estuary, coastal area or coral reef, where there are all sorts of plant life, crustaceans and other living things that can be eaten by both herbivores and carnivorous species.

Whatever the case, it has been long recognised that the wahoo show up at this time of the year in fairly large numbers and on a reasonably consistent basis. There is a similar pattern shown by numbers of juvenile little tunny (mackerel) that often show up in large schools and are undoubtedly a significant source of food for all predatory species.

The problem comes from there being no guarantees that either of these species are going to show up on time or even show up at all. Sometimes we forget that Bermuda is an isolated oceanic pedestal, basically in the middle of nowhere. It takes the main body of migrating fish only to miss by a few miles and they would probably never be exposed to the local fisheries. Given the size of the ocean, that they ever come close to us is a bit of a miracle itself.

Whatever, the combination of circumstances that is needed to make for some of the really fast wahoo action simply has not materialised the past couple of years and there are plenty of fishermen, recreational and commercial, who are waiting to see what this coming month will bring. Realistically, there are probably only three or four weeks of fishing ahead before the wintry conditions start to dominate proceedings.

Tomorrow, the Bermuda Anglers Club will again attempt to get the third annual Junior Angling Tournament off the ground. Intended as “rain or shine” event, it was wisely decided to postpone it when the forecast for last weekend was more than enough to keep anyone sane indoors. Happily, the outlook for this Sunday is a lot better and the juniors, aged from toddler to 16 years, should be able to catch something to bring to the weigh-in tomorrow at the Flagpole between 3pm and 5pm. Fishing starts at 8.30am.

Those who were unable to enter for the first date, can still enter via e-mail to bacajft@gmail.com or by stopping by Flybridge Tackle today before closing time. There are plenty of categories in which to find a winner: these are based on age, sex, land or boat, rod and reel or hand line. All species are eligible except for billfish, sharks and those protected by law. Taking those out of the equation still leaves a plethora of possibilities for the younger set’s Tight Lines!!!