You know the summer season is coming to an end when you see the hurricanes and tropical storms churning up the Atlantic and everyone starts paying attention to the weather media. Whether planning a party, picnic, trip abroad or a sortie onto the briny, suddenly named features become important and, indeed, life-altering.

Fiona looks like keeping the fleet home this weekend and although a tropical storm is taken by most Bermudians in their stride, there is a positive in that it might bring some much needed rain. As a negative, anyone who was planning on making an experimental run out to their chosen wahoo grounds will probably have to revert to the virtual version of offshore analysis.

Looking to the longer term, with Gaston down to the south, working its way westward, we can be hopeful that it will stay down there and not interfere with our plans for the 44th annual wahoo tournament next weekend. As long as the weather plays along, the only thing that remains a huge variable is the fish and their proclivities.

So far, things have not been great in terms of wahoo even though they are showing signs. A couple of commercial boats have managed double figures and the action seems to be spreading out over the usual fishing grounds. This can mean one of two things: the autumnal run is in the process of building up (that would be nice) or this is as good as it is going to get.

So far, no real sign of juvenile or "frigate" mackerel. No one seems to have any idea of how they got this name. The real frigate mackerel is a species of small tuna that maybe resembles the little tunny (or "mackerel" or more correctly Atlantic black skipjack – fish names are fun and confusing!) but seems to be most common in the Pacific Ocean especially around Australia and the South Pacific where it supports a fish canning industry. The only obvious connection is that the average size of a real frigate is a couple of pounds (so, small) and they do look like our mackerel (not that that name is right, anyway). The question is who, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the juveniles (less than one pound) that show up here in the late summer or autumn should sport such a name and why did it stick?

Those who want to know everything might wish to know that the real frigate mackerel is similar to the bullet tuna, another largely Pacific species.

One more positive way of looking at all this is that an influx of small mackerel (ours) is not absolutely necessary for a healthy runoff wahoo in September. There have been excellent runs when the fish have been taken almost exclusively by traditional trolling or live-baiting with robins. So, frigates or no frigates, we may yet have a good autumn for wahoo. The next couple of weeks will probably show us, one way or the other.

On another positive note, there are some yellowfin tuna offshore. Most of the larger ones have come off Argus Bank but there is no reason to think that they will remain down there and then disappear into the great big ocean. When you think about it, the entire entity that is Bermuda only covers a relatively small area (call it the length of the Island plus about 20 miles to Argus to encompass what we think of as the fishable bottom; the area of this calculated as a circle is about 1,250 square miles. This sounds impressive but is tiny. When you consider that the area of the North Atlantic is something like 20 million square miles or the island of Puerto Rico is nearly three times that!).

Think of it like this, you wouldn't think twice about travelling from Hamilton to St. George so what is the trek between Challenger and Argus like for a fish that is capable of travelling at 20 miles an hour or more for hours on end. So for the fish to move from one bank to another during an overnight period is really no big deal.

Reflecting on the past: back in the so-called good old days, trolling down along the northern part of Bermuda's Edge (say back of North Rock along to Long Point), used to produce a nice class of Allison in the 90 to 120-pound range pretty consistently during September. In fact, this was a favourite with half day charter operators; a run down north fitted the four hour time slot and the possibility of a large tuna in addition to what part of the wahoo run might be there made this a viable prospect. The suspicion now is that there aren't many people doing that these days and so consequently, the fish aren't caught. But, then again, they may very well be there.

Another good thing about September is that the fish are on the move. The migratory species that have ventured north into the canyons off the north-eastern United States and even Nova Scotia are quick to feel the tell-tale changes to the seasons and to start moving southward toward warmer climes. That exodus usually brings them past Bermuda and we often see some really good late season fishing.

While there are still blue marlin and probably a few whites on the grounds, more of both will move through the area as will dolphin and even some of the oddities like spearfish and even sailfish. Although they move through the area, they have no intention of staying and while concentrations of bait will hold them for a few days, it doesn't take too long for the quantities of bait to be reduced to the point where they are of little interest to hungry migrating predators.

One positive is that such fish are often ravenous and will strike at almost any offering, dead, live or artificial. And, inasmuch as the game fish are on the move, trolling works best. Chumming appeals more to fish that have set up shop and intend to hang around a certain locale.

As always, the bugbear of anglers has set in: procrastination. The tendency for local anglers to leave entries to the last minute doesn't do anyone any favours. Anglers generally know whether they intend to fish or not and the organisers need some idea of what they are going to need to provide on the day. Since there are ample postponement days, there is little doubt that the tournament will go off at some point and, with a little crystal ball gazing, it might well go off on the first appointed date. Then all you'll need are the Tight lines!!!