BACK to the briny. After a brief respite courtesy of Bertha, the fleet has resumed plying their trade and the fishing is once again the focal point for local and visiting anglers alike.

The main event last weekend was the 8th annual Bermuda Big Game Classic which drew entries from 46 boats. All of these put in a determined effort to catch fish worthy of the winner's circle. The fishing was excellent with all but nine managing to score at least a white release and quite a few did considerably better. Such contention made it close at all stages because with three days of fishing and the ability to score 500 points from the often quick release of a blue marlin, standings could change rapidly and without warning.

The approach of hurricane/tropical storm Bertha probably had something to do with the pattern of the bite with mornings proving to be the best time but with a not insignificant bit of action in the afternoon. Fears of the offshore sea conditions being unruly were not realised with a large swell and moderate breezes being all that the participants were subjected to. The third and final day saw things slow up but by that time there had been plenty of billfish raised, hooked and caught. At final count, 46 blue marlin had been caught; of these 42 were released and 23 whites were caught and released.

Captain Sinclair Lambe's Mega Bucks lived up to its name by catching a whopping 832-pounder on the first day that secured a nice chunk of the change at stake. Day Two saw Bree collect the daily jackpot with a 658 pound blue. Another respectable fish was weighed in at 657 points by local boat Lone Star. An undersized blue was also brought to the weighstation, resulting in a handicap from negative penalty points for the boat involved.

The fact that the tournament was largely predicated on releases made this practice the name of the game and the red hot Que Mas continued to score and rack up points, 2,000 of them. This put Que Mas into first place for the Classic and gives them a commanding, yet assailable, lead in the Triple Crown.

Mega Bucks added a blue marlin release and two white marlin releases to their tally and came second with 1,732 points. Weez in the Keys came third with 1,700 points. There were plenty of boats with sufficient points that a last-minute fish could have put them into the frame but it was not to be.

The largest game fish award was won by a nice 58.1 pond wahoo caught by Ricky Sousa on board local boat Touchdown. According to some reports the wahoo bite was also hot and anyone wishing to concentrate could have managed double figures. Having said that, the local commercial fleet is way more interested in species other than wahoo. The spring run was so good that the market was quickly saturated and lots of deep freezer space has been given over to wahoo and there is only so much demand. White fish like rockfish and snapper always have a place in the market and, right now, there is a sad lack of yellowfin tuna.

The action this week continues with billfish. The final leg of the Bermuda Triple Crown is underway with the Sea Horse Anglers Club Billfish Tournament being fished. This is the Island's oldest billfish event and carries a long and quite illustrious history. As with the other events, it is a modified release tournament with points being scored for releases and one point per pound for landed blue marlin that make the minimum weight.

The prognosis for the Sea Horse tournament is excellent as the storm is now long gone and the moon is in the phase most favoured by marlin anglers. Today and tomorrow should see some first class action and there is every likelihood of a real trophy fish being brought in. An afternoon excursion down to the Barr's Bay weighstation will see anglers and wannabes swapping fish tales and maybe there will be the excitement of a big fish being weighed in.

Those tiring of hearing about marlin will welcome the fact that this Sunday is set aside for the annual Robinson's Marina fishing tournament. The emphasis is on fun and community with the public invited to a fish fry following the fishing. Most participants will be looking for bonita, amberjack, rainbow runner, wahoo and tuna. A fair few will also do some bottom bouncing in the hope of catching some of the smaller grouper species including red hind and coney. Maybe these don't grab the limelight but they sure do make for a nice, firm, white fillet ¿ the reason that many anglers go fishing in the first place.

Species worth putting in some effort for are the snappers. Both the yellowtail snapper and the whitewater offer plenty of potential for good eating and a bit of sport as well. Now is the preferred time to go in search of these with the channel water being the place to seek the latter and the deeper reef areas being the most likely spot for the yellowtails. Happily, both are species that school so there is a good chance that the location of the fish will pay off with a decent haul. Just remember that there are restrictions on the number of whitewaters that can be caught by amateurs and there are also minimum sizes for both species.

Chumming is particularly effective for yellowtails but it does help to have a clement tide running off the stern. If really hefty yellowtails are the target consider working the crown of Challenger Bank. The fish often stay deep there but they can be coaxed to nearer the surface. Fresh fry works well as chum but while the snappers are usually willing to please, there is the matter of the sharks that inhabit the crown also taking a liking to fresh fish. For this reason it may be worth using slightly heavier gear so that you can get them into the boat before the sharks extract their tax. Should you be lucky enough to avoid the predators, good sport can be had on spinning tackle. Bait fishing using anchovies or fresh cut mackerel or robin is the norm but artificial lures can work as well. Bank yellowtails come in trophy sizes and now that they are recognised as line class game fish by the IGFA, there is every chance of setting a new mark. Note that most of the world records are smaller than the existing Bermuda records, so it may well be worth weighing any suitable candidates before taking the knife to them. In any case, provided that the tackle is suitable, the yellowtail snapper will oblige with Tight lines!!!