Avast, you slumbering anglers and crawl out from whatever crevices you have been hibernating the winter away.

The new season is upon us and there are preparations that need to be made. And not just for the angling season that is dawning but also for the mandatory picnic outing that the Bermuda Day festivities will bring.

All this is not as far in the future as it seems and, as everybody knows, that all things nautical always take longer than expected. To start with, the Bermuda Game Fishing Association has already released the 2025 tournament schedule and the more progressive angling club has already staged the first of their events.

Some of the more noteworthy features of this year’s schedule include the rather disheartening lack of events organised by the Bermuda Anglers Club (Bac). Sadly, that organisation is no more, taking with it a lot of angling history and the International Light Tackle Tournament which was probably the original premier event in Bermuda angling.

Dating back to the 1950’s when the original event was a government-sponsored competition between Bermuda and the Bahamas, the ILTT was the epitome of the light tackle fishing that originally put the Island on the world angling map. Under the Bermuda Anglers Club, it evolved into a true international invitational tournament involving some of the more notable angling clubs from the USA and beyond. It is now a memory.

Despite the demise of the Bac, one fixture remains on the calendar and that is the very popular Junior Tournament which will be held in August. There are members of that organisation who recognise the value of this event for Bermuda’s youth and are going to continue.

The first inter-club competition is slated for the first week in May and will see the two remaining clubs: Blue Waters Anglers and Sea Horse Anglers vying for this year’s bragging rights.

June sees the Bwac Open, a tournament that should grow in popularity as it is the successor to the once very popular Bacardi Tournament that was discontinued some years ago. This event is the classic Bermuda tournament with the emphasis on light tackle and the traditional game species – wahoo and tuna.

The month of July will be given over to the big billfish tournaments which look to continue to bring in professional sport fishing boats from the East Coast in numbers to compete for the rich purses at stake in the Blue Marlin World Cup and then Bermuda Triple Crown.

August flies by as the summer heat keeps most anglers at home and even the fish seem to lie low with the pacing picking up as the month winds to a close.

Then September will see the reconstitution of the Wahoo Tournament, previously a major fixture on the angling calendar. Details of this will be made known in due course but it is believed to closely resemble the original. Then, sadly, another season comes to an end. Talk about life in a nutshell!

In any case, while most of the anglers have been whiling the off-season away, the commercial fleet persevered, and a new breed of local fisherman has taken to longlining with some fairly surprising results. This winter saw the intrepid few who engaged in this activity catching large swordfish, a species known to be here but rarely caught by any sport fishermen; bigeye tuna another species that seldom takes a local angler’s line and the bluefin tuna known for passing through this area but hardly the target species for all but the most dedicated local anglers.

Now, with the sea warming up and the more predictable fishing starting to come into its own, anglers should be looking forward to a good supply of wahoo spreading themselves over the offshore banks and Bermuda’s Edge.

The spring run, when it occurs and that is never a given, is generally very fast-paced with the fish moving quickly around the Island before dispersing into the smaller numbers that dominate the summer scene. For the most part, these tend to be school-sized fish in the 20 to 30-pound range but there will be odd larger specimens willing to please.

Although keeping on the move is the standard method for pursuing these fish, there can be some advantage to live-baiting, particularly if the daisy chain catches some small mackerel. These won’t be the so-called frigate mackerel of the late season but will make a good live bait for any larger wahoo that might be in the vicinity. Even splashing a rigged dead mackerel can get results although it could also lead to a surprise from an early arrival billfish.

A quick glance at what is happening at the moment is most encouraging. The charter fleet is operational and is posting catches of a variety of fish.

As expected, wahoo are the mainstay with hauls of four or five fairly common with the average fish being school-sized but, on a few occasions, it was apparent that a larger specimen pleased. Catches have included a few yellowfin tuna and they are only going to become more numerous as other bait species start arriving in numbers.

Rounding out the variety have also been a few very welcome dolphin (the fish, not the mammal, aka mahi mahi or dorado – but even that can lead to confusion). All told, there is some reasonably good fishing at the moment, and this is going to improve sharply over the next few weeks.

Sounds like the perfect formula. Decent numbers and a nice variety of fish on the offshore grounds with ever-improving weather conditions; what more inspiration could be needed to get any angler off the couch and back into the boat to search for some exciting early season Tight Lines!!!

BERMUDA GAME FISHING ASSOCIATION

2025 Tournament Schedule

April 6: Bwac Bacardi 2025 Points Series Tournament 1 – Members and Guests

April 13: Bwac Bacardi 2025 Points Series Tournament 1 (alternate) – Members and Guests

May 4: Bwac Bacardi 2025 Points Series Tournament 2 – Members and Guests

May 4: Bermuda Fishing Clubs Annual Tournament (BFCAT) – IGFA Affiliated Clubs

May 4: Sea Horse Anglers Club Annual Tournament – Members only

May 18: Bwac Bacardi 2025 Points Series Tournament 2 (alternate) – Members and Guests

May 18: Bermuda Fishing Clubs Annual Tournament (BFCAT) (first alternate) – IGFA Affiliated Clubs

May 18: Sea Horse Anglers Club Annual Tournament (first alternate) – Members only

June 1: Bwac Open Tournament – Open

June 1: 67th Royal Bermuda Regiment W.O. & Sgt.’s Mess Annual Tournament – Open

June 8: Bwac Open Tournament (alternate) – Open

June 15: 67th Royal Bermuda Regiment W.O. & Sgt.’s Mess Annual Tournament (first alternate) – Open

July 3-7: Bermuda Billfish Blast – Open

July 4: Blue Marlin World Cup – Open

July 5: Bwac Junior Anglers Tournament – 16 years and under

July 6: Bwac Bacardi 2025 Points Series Tournament 4 – Members and Guests

July 11: Bwac Junior Anglers Tournament (alternate) – 16 years and under

July 10-14: Bermuda Big Game Classic (three days fishing) – Open

July 13: Bwac Bacardi 2025 Points Series Tournament 4 (alternate) – Members and Guests

July 17-21: Sea Horse Anglers Club Billfish Tournament (three days fishing) – Open

August 10: Bermuda Marlin Release Challenge – Open

August 10: Bwac Bacardi 2025 Points Series Tournament 5 – Members and Guests

August 10: Bermuda Anglers Club Junior Tournament – 16 years and under

August 10: Sea Horse Anglers Club Fun Tournament – Members and Guests

August 17: Bwac Bacardi 2025 Points Series Tournament 5 (alternate) – Members and Guests

August 17: Bermuda Anglers Club Junior Tournament (first alternate) – 16 years and under

September 7: Bwac Bacardi 2025 Points Series Tournament 6 (Wahoo Tournament) – Members and Guests

September 14: Bwac Bacardi 2025 Points Series Tournament 6 (Wahoo Tournament) (first alternate) – Members and Guests

September 21: The New Wahoo Tournament – Tentative

September 21: Sea Horse Anglers Club Annual Tournament (second alternate) – Members only

September 28: The New Wahoo Tournament (first alternate) – Tentative

September 28: Sea Horse Anglers Club Annual Tournament (third alternate) – Members only

October 5: The New Wahoo Tournament (second alternate) – Tentative

October 5: Bwac Bacardi 2025 Points Series Tournament 7 – Members and Guests

October 12: Bwac Bacardi 2025 Points Series Tournament 7 (alternate) – Members and Guests