INDIAN summer or what? It is hard to tell what month of the year it is by just looking outside. About the only tell-tale is the angle of the sunlight with that distinctly wintry light. The grim weather forecast for the mid-week holiday probably put more than a few people off with the end result being very little in the way of offshore effort.

Part of the problem is that we are entering that time of the year when the weather is sufficiently unreliable to make planning an outing a bit of a waste of time. In the normal course of things, Saturdays are used to get the boat fuelled up and ready and then the fishing takes place on the Sunday. Now that the winter (despite the heat of the last few days) weather pattern has set in, while Saturday may be nice, chances are Sunday will be a bust and who can waste a whole one of the two precious days most of us get at the weekend.

Not that there isn't anything to go fishing for. As always, there are some wahoo around and there can be some good wahoo action right up until the end of the year. October was better than expected and a few boats are reporting finding small mackerel offshore. These make excellent live baits when slow trolled and if there are any wahoo around they should take an interest in the proceedings. Happily, the barracuda are fewer in number than they are in high summer, so while you might have to wait for a strike, it is likely to be a wahoo or, if you get lucky, a tuna.

The reason that you would have to consider catching a tuna lucky is simply because this year, for some reason, they have been thin on the ground. We would like to think that they will magically reappear around the beginning of next April but with so much else in doubt in this world who is to say for sure? Regular trolling should get some results but with fuel still a major cost factor, there will be the temptation to try drifting or chumming. The Banks are the best venue for the drift and this can be a quick way to fill up the fish box. The south-eastern side of Challenger Bank is producing good numbers of coneys and while these are not what anyone would call "high class" groupers, they are groupers and make for a nice pair of fillets. Every so often, the bite will be a little heavier and you will be rewarded with a red hind - something that can readily be viewed as a grouper. Rarely, the bite will take the form of a snatch and you will have latched onto a monkey (flag) rockfish. There is a legal limit of one a day for this species and you should consider yourself exceedingly fortunate to have achieved your daily bag limit. There aren't too many around, period.

Chumming over the deeper reefs can be surprisingly productive. Given a nice, calm day, it can be possible to have some pretty much non-stop action. Mackerel and robins generally please and the sinking chum often brings the bottom to life. There should be some nice amberjack around. In fact, some real brutes can be caught in water 15-20 fathoms deep. You don't have to go all the way out to the Edge to encounter a trophy amber. And don't believe that the really big fish only take live baits. They will take plenty of dead baits. Consider using anchovies or even pilchards, a bunch of fry on a single hook, various cut baits and both ambers and bonitas are inordinately fond of squid. They will feed as bottom fish and they will come to the surface in search of the bait mother lode. Gwellys and the lesser (or bastard) amberfish can also be caught in this manner although the latter tends to be a deeper water species, usually caught just over the edge of the drop-off.

Now is a good time to put in some directed effort for yellowtail snappers. These are still quite plentiful and, once attracted, they will hang around a chumline almost indefinitely, making it possible to secure a good haul. There is debate as to the wisdom of using sand. Yes, it does help to get the bait down to where the snappers should be cruising over the reefs but, boy, can it mess up a boat. Sooner or later sinking chum will lure the snappers upward and they will find their way to the source of the bait. Once that happens, as long as there is no major tide change, you should be able to catch them at leisure. Even though the real heat of the summer is behind us, remember to stock up on the ice though; yellowtails can spoil fast. Those unwilling to venture offshore and are just looking for something to do on a quiet afternoon, consider doing a little trolling around the harbours and sounds. This can be a good excuse for having to run the boats engine to keep it in good working order or to just charge up the battery. Speaking of which, if you rely on an electric bilge pump to get the rain out of the boat, then it makes good sense to ensure that the battery is topped up. All you need is a couple of days of rain and you will either be on your way out to bail the boat out or calling the salvage companies.

While it is unnecessary to break out the heavy gear, there are quite a few light tackle possibilities. Rapala® type lures work well when slow trolled and these are pretty much guaranteed to flush out any snakefish (aka lizardfish) that are sitting on the bottom with their eyes focussed upwards as they lie waiting for prey. Most of the youngsters get a kick out of these fish even though they can be a right nuisance for the adult who wants to get the treble hooks out of a squirming, tooth-laden, jelly-like mass.

Dragging a small feather or a daisy chin of small lures often gets results as well. There are plenty of mackerel around and these will come in to investigate just about any wake. On suitable tackle they will give a good account of themselves and can be a lot of fun. There are also some jacks still about and these also make for a good hard pull on suitable tackle.

Don't totally discount the fact that some decent fish live in the Great Sound. There are some nice-sized amberjack and bonitas which are quite common and rockfish do occasionally please. Just this past week, an enterprising Sound-troller caught a really nice yellowtail snapper that was estimated at seven pounds. No denying that that's Tight lines!!!