AND who says that it is time to give up and put the boat into mothballs? While you might have to pick your day, there is still some good fishing to be had and there is an almost constant stream of reports from all around the Island bearing witness to the great season that 2003 has been.

The only downside is the sheer volume of seaweed offshore which might well be enough to diminish the spirit but the quality of the fishing is certainly more than sufficient to counter such negative thoughts.

Wahoo continue to lead the hit parade. Although there are now rather more smaller fish than there were a few weeks ago, the overall quality is still pretty good and, at times, absolutely excellent. One commercial boat managed an 84-pounder one trip last week and that is a big wahoo by any standard.

Numbers are also good. Most boats are managing at least three or four and some are doing considerably better, even getting into double figures on occasion.

Virtually all the wahoo are being caught using the standard trolling methods and rigs. Rigged garfish with or without colourful additions are getting the attention of enough of these fish to make trying anything else a squander of good fishing time. Stick with a couple of artificials if you want but expect the rigged baits to do the job both on the deep trolls and nearer the surface. Taking the same baits and mixed in with the wahoo are tuna, both blackfin and yellowfin. The former are not particularly numerous and are probably accounting for about a quarter of all the tuna being caught. Unfortunately, there is nothing to counterbalance the small numbers such as exceptional size. All the blackfin seem to be small and not small enough to be suitable as live baits. They do make for some nice fillets that bake well but beyond that there isn't really too much to recommend them ? certainly not from a sporting perspective anyway. On the other hand, the yellowfin tend to be more numerous but they aren't really boasting much in the way of size either. Figure the average fish to be about 20 pounds. One suspects that there may be some larger fish around but these may be actively avoiding trolled offerings and are more likely to be caught by chumming. This has been the case in the past but the bottom line is that the sparse numbers of larger fish make such an effort hardly worthwhile.

While cause and effect has not been established, the presence of the seaweed offshore probably has something to do with the numbers of dolphin that continue to be caught. There has been nothing short of a great late season run of this species and it doesn't look like slowing up just yet.

Some boats have been catching reasonable numbers of this species which is normally less than abundant locally. The average size is between ten and 20 pounds and there may well be occasions when the catching of a dolphin will reveal a mate or even a small school. On such occasions, don't pass up the opportunity to toss a bait to them or even flip a spinning rod in their general direction. This is one species that does not have a reputation for being fussy! Although it is not actually sport fishing, it is a good time to try to work the bottom for some food fish. Strictly speaking, the tide conditions have not exactly favoured drift fishing of late but this is very likely to change and there is good reason to give this form of fishing a shot. After all, in another week or so the festive season will be upon us and there won't be much opportunity for the weekend warrior to do any warring.

Toss in the weather factor and things are likely to be decidedly unpiscatorial. Before you know it, it will be January and fishing will have taken a definite backseat to more comfortable pursuits.

In the meantime, you can expect fish to become scarce and the surfeit of turkey and had slated for the next month or so may well have you wishing for something different.

The Banks are the ideal place to do a bit of drifting. This is simply because you can drift for an hour or more and continually cover new bottom.

This should translate into more fish but you would be amazed that there are times when it seems that there just aren't any fish out there.

Given a bit of luck, it should be possible to catch some hinds and coneys both of which make for some nice white fillets. Drifting a bait a short distance off the bottom can lead to strikes from ambers and bonitas and, every once in a while, a monkey rockfish. Don't count on the latter, though.

If you are limited to the Edge or deeper reef areas, do not despair. One species is incredibly common and willing to please. The barber is, in fact, a member of the grouper family and fishermen will be forgiven for thinking that they come in one size only. Really, it seems that all barbers weigh within a fraction of a pound. As such they yield up about one-third of a pound of prime white fillet.

What is really nice about barbers is that you can usually catch lots of them. They are nothing short of abundant over the deeper reefs and it takes a lot to put them off their food.

It is well worth remembering that the barber got its name quite honestly.

Actually, it is really the Creole fish but the Bermudian name has long been "barber". The origin of the local name is not clear. Some authorities, notably Graham Faiella's Fishing in Bermuda, cite the sharp edge of the gill plate (i.e. a razor) as the reason for the name. Others believe that the name refers to the way that the fish trim or barber the bait off the hook, often without getting snagged. In any case, it is best to avoid the latter situation.

A good trick is to use small circle hooks and to stick five or six on a drop line. Make sure that the hooks are sharp and you will find that the circle hooks virtually guarantee that nibblers get hooked. Use tough bait such as squid or octopus (scuttle) and be sure not to leave big bits hanging off as the barbers will indeed trim off such pieces.

Although bottom bouncing for barbers may not be the sportsman's idea of exciting fishing, it can have its moments. Every so often an amberjack or other game species will grab a bait meant for lesser species, often while it is in the process of falling to the bottom. Don't laugh; even tuna have taken such pieces of bait well below the surface. So don't discount the fact that if something other than the expected latches on then you could be in for some surprisingly Tight lines!!!