How to fish for Mahi
Im taking my son out on boat for his birthday to go fishing. He wants to catch Mahi. Does anyone have recommendations to go out just to target mahi? Troll with skirted ballyhoo on weedlines? I guess my question is if you were only going out for mahi what would you do?
Replies
Trend seems to be running and gunning. Run till you find something fishy; stop to fish.
http://www.stefanbaumann.com
http://www.sebastianstrong.org/
the weed and debri you could hope for and no
fish.Stay on the reef and live bait will be your
best chance to get a Mahi.
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Feel free to PM me your number if you'd like and I'll be more than happy to help you out!
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1.) Look for several boats stopped in one small area and race over to them.
2.) Follow a larger boat running with radar and let them take you to some birds/fish feeding.
3.) Keep your eyes peeled and if you see a boat turn around or stop, race over to them.
etc etc. and etc.
this is really funny, and really true which is in turn really sad.
1) Birds - Dolphin and other predators chase the bait to the surface and the birds dive on them as they try to get away. Good set of binoculars is a must! Frigate birds diving usually means something and flocks of seagulls.
2) Look for anything floating on the surface IE log, rope, pallet, buckets, etc. Anything that can hold baitfish!
3) Look for Weedlines. My experience has been that on many trips, the smaller fish(schoolies) are on the weedline and the bigger fish are usually away a short distance.
4) Current rips or slicks.
5) Life - Weeds with small fish on them. Flying fish scattering. Birds. Frigates.
If we see something then we put out a spread of Ballyhoo with skirts, Dolphin Delights or Jr's, and other dolphin lures.
Later in the day we tend to find a fishy area and troll the spread and hope!! Such as a weedy area with birds and sporadic weeds and patches of weeds.
If all else fails on the weekend when the weekend googans are out, then resort to mooching as stated above!!!
This is what most do. So sad. Please don't do it especially with a kid on board.
So true. I predominately deep drop and every time we stop on a spot we get swarmed. Sometimes it is just googins thinking you are on Dolphin but often it is people trying to mark your spots. Often we have to put it in gear and leave quickly but with the modern electronics it is futile. Fishing has become a game now where you try to out wit the other arseholes. I am getting sick of it.
“Everyone behaves badly--given the chance.”
― Ernest Hemingway
I actually have a solution for that if you want it. I was at the mouth of Pass A Grille 3-4 weeks ago at the tripod, and my motor wouldn't start. So I pulled the cowling and....you want to see roaches scatter when the lights come on? Be in a crowd of boats and pull your cowling, there won't be a boat in sight :rotflmao
Next time I;m out on a spot and I see boats approaching, i'm gonna pull the cowling and pretend I'm working on it.
That's a darn good start right there. Pretty much everyone else has given good advice on top of that. With mahi, you just have to find them. They are constantly moving around. The signs to look for have been pretty well listed already. When fishing for mahi, watching the waters around you is as important as anything else. You really want to pay attention to your surroundings & keep looking for the signs.
Those greedy little fish actually bite on almost anything when they are lit up & hungry. Yesterday, I had them taking tuna plugs & Mylar flashers, which are normally not the best choice of bait for going after mahi. Live baits are usually the best. Trolled dead ballyhoo are great too & are probably the most popular choice. They can be skirted or naked. Some days the fish want them one way & other days they prefer them the other way. Skirted strips often work well. "noisy" lures like chuggers & jet heads work pretty well bare, if you don't want the mess of dealing with natural baits. Flashy stuff like spoons can sometimes get them too, but are more likely to attract things in the mackerel family.
If you troll natural baits like ballyhoo, your trolling speed will be limited to like 6 or 7 knots max. They last longer at speeds closer to 5. With the artificial baits, you can move a bit faster & cover more ground. Covering more ground makes it more likely that you will find the school. The natural baits are more likely to get bit if you do find the school. That's the basic trade off in bait selection.
Up off of PB, we have a bunch of schoolies that are borderline-legal in length swimming around right now. I found them about 5 miles out the other day. Another guy that I spoke to found them within a mile of shore. Like I said, they move around a lot. You need to look for them.
De-scale them and break the backbone on back end of bait..drag them around.. grab some pilchard and have two live bait Rods ready.. maybe a popper if you're really on them and want to see some awesome bites. Good luck
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ETA. It's Japanese Feather Jig
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