Spring has sprung! The vernal equinox has occurred and we move toward summer, believe that or not! Despite the windy conditions that make the offshore anything but inviting, there are lots of positive signs.

Sure, the weather may feel on the cool side although the sun is warming. Not only does it warm the individual up on an otherwise chilly day but it is continually pouring heat energy into the ocean in the form of solar insolation (nice word, that).

Heat input into the ocean proper takes a long time and is supplemented by the movement of bodies of water from other locations that retain their heat as they travel either from warmer areas to the south or spin, or eddy, off from the Gulf Stream.

These eddies, as they are generally referred to, are often quite large and sometimes carry numbers of more tropical fish species within them as they move through cooler regions. For this reason, dolphin, billfish and even wahoo are often caught by sportsmen fishing the canyons and other areas considerably farther north than one would expect the fish to normally travel.

There is actually a science to this using satellite imagery that follows these spun-off warmer bodies of water as they incur into cooler regions. East Coast fishermen often study such information and there are businesses that actually make money out of predicting fish movements and availability using such data.

Although there is some such information available for the Bermuda area, the distance from the Gulf Stream often has resulted in eddies dissipating or generally mixing into the local area with less defined temperature breaks.

Occasionally, however, some boats equipped with temperature measuring capabilities, usually as part of the depth sounder array, can detect changes in water temperature and, even more occasionally, correlate these with the presence of fish. Suffice it to say, the techniques are poorly developed here where most boat operators are creatures of habit and go to the same areas day after day, hoping that the fish put in an appearance.

Where the increase in solar input is noticeable is in the inshore waters and this is clearly reflected by the daily water temperatures given in the weather reports. This measurement is taken inshore where the volume of water is more rapidly affected by the sun’s heat input.

The more rapid increase in inshore water temperatures is what is associated with the influx of fish from the deeper reef areas.

These include the schools of jacks, mackerel and even the bait species which tend to spend the summer months inshore and then move offshore to deeper water where the temperature is more consistent through the winter months. What is supposed to separate summer and winter is spring but, here in Bermuda, both the spring and autumn are not prolonged and it is almost more like just having two seasons. As a result changes can come quickly and the observant angler should be on the ready for such developments any day now.

The same scenario is true of the offshore but with most commercial fishermen either trying to eke the last out of the lobster season or giving the boat its annual overhaul, the sum total of recent offshore effort has been small.

Perhaps not surprisingly, so have the catches that have been made. The wahoo have come in singles and twos, and the tuna have been exceedingly spotty, to say the least. Between these otherwise dominant species there is not enough to warrant the expenditure of fuel by any amateur.

What commercial success there has been has really come from specialised fisheries, neither of which really lends itself to the wants and needs of the weekender.

These are the longlining which entails deploying something like 15 miles of totally unsporting gear or trolling the shallows for rockfish, which although productive not particularly exciting.

A sporting option available to anglers and one which should just about be coming into its own despite having been largely ignored in the recent past is bonefishing. This species moves inshore about now and can prove to be both elusive and a real challenger on light gear. While most anglers locally do not stretch to fly fishing, spinning gear is a good tool to use and there are some real trophy bonefish in local waters.

This last bit is evidenced by the two fish in the local record book that better the 13-pound mark. One was caught in December and the other at the end of February. Other local line test records were caught in May, August, October and November, suggesting that the availability of a large bonefish might really be year-round.

For those interested, it has been nearly ten years since a Bermuda record bonefish has been caught (that was on fly) and the 16-pound test category is currently vacant.

The world all-tackle record is a bit of a tall order, coming in as it does at 16 pounds compared with Bermuda’s best so far, a 14-pounder. An alternative form of angling to consider; it is suited to days that may be too blustery for the offshore and the fish in question certainly capable of providing Tight Lines!!!