Mahi Mahi Fishing Rigs, How to Catch Dolphin

I like to fish for something that swims in saltwater, but I’m an offshore man at coronary heart. And whereas I’ve spent many years chasing marlin, sailfish, tuna, swordfish, wahoo and dolphin, everybody has their favourite sport fish, together with me. If somebody pressured me to slender my favourite to only one species, I’d tightly squint my eyes, take a deep breath and say, “dolphin!” I doubt I might be alone on this choice.

There’s simply one thing about dolphin fishing that evokes hundreds of offshore anglers to purchase all types of rods and reels, fishing traces, hooks, mahi lures, baits and gaffs in anticipation of the upcoming season. And for excellent causes: Here’s a fish that’s plentiful, is available in all sizes, places up an amazing and oftentimes acrobatic combat, generally blitzes in faculties or pairs (bigger fish) and is downright scrumptious to eat. Dolphin are so widespread that it’s scary to think about what our business would seem like in the event that they ceased to exist.

I’ve taken a deep curiosity in mahi mahi fishing and have perfected my techniques over time. Whether or not it’s determining the most effective lures for dolphin fishing or testing which mahi trolling rigs prime all of them, my willpower to search out what works has paid off. If you wish to know methods to catch mahi, you’ve come to the correct place. Once I set forth to focus on them, the next dolphin fishing rigs rank amongst my most potent dolphin catchers.

Horse Ballyhoo for Dolphin

I desire to headhunt for bigger fish when trolling for dolphin and would fairly take one 30-plus-pound dolphin than a dozen 3- to 5-pounders any day. Subsequently, my unfold consists principally of enormous and horse ballyhoo, every rigged to a number of ft of 110-pound-test fluorocarbon chief and a single 9/0 long-shank hook.

The rationale I take advantage of this rig is that huge baits get rid of the smaller fish. You recognize the drill: College dolphin blitz a diffusion of smaller lures and baits, and all of the traces go down. After the fish are boated, the boat strikes alongside and the traces return out solely to hook up with some extra schoolies; you in the end spend most of your time coping with small fish. College dolphin are intimidated by massive baits. Outdoors of presumably pecking, they’ll go away the larger baits alone. And this unmolested soak time dramatically will increase the percentages of attracting bigger dolphin, which haven’t any downside consuming huge baits.

Rig Ballyhoo Weedless

Anglers rapidly tire of choosing weeds off their baits in areas of closely scattered sargassum and sometimes head off seeking cleaner waters. But these within the know stick it out, particularly if bait abounds beneath the grass mats.

In such a state of affairs, I deploy a diffusion of weedless ballyhoo, that are equally rigged to the massive ballyhoo baits outlined beforehand. The principle distinction is that the hook level is inverted again into the bait, the place it gained’t snag weeds, and the wire tag that often sticks up by means of the bait’s invoice is reversed so it factors down into the bait. Thus, the bait is rigged very similar to a plastic bass worm.

To rig it, run the hook level by means of the ballyhoo’s gill slit and instantly out its throat. Pull a lot of the hook shank by means of, after which reverse the hook level and insert it again into the bait. As soon as the hook is positioned the place it’s not binding, push the pin rig by means of each jaws of the bait and safe the bait and hook with a strand of Monel wire. To do that, cross the wire by means of the bait’s eyes after which make a number of tight wraps across the head, behind and in entrance of the pin, and all the way in which down, ending with a few wraps on the chief.

Add a small skirt over the nostril of the ballyhoo to deflect weeds from its invoice, and scale the bait’s midsection and stomach close to the place the hook level is resting; this can “soften” the bait and facilitate the hook’s pulling out and latching right into a fish in the course of the strike.

Ballyhoo Pitch Bait

One of many deadliest techniques for giant dolphin is maintaining helpful a 20-pound-class spinning outfit rigged with a medium to massive ballyhoo. Ought to a big dolphin seem on the periphery of a college of smaller fish, beneath particles or beneath working birds, instantly pitch the ballyhoo or slowly troll it across the working birds on an intercept course with the fish. When a dolphin strikes, free-spool the bait, let the fish swallow it, after which interact the drag and have enjoyable!

I rig my pitch-bait rods with a brief Bimini twist, adopted by a Bristol knot to hitch that Bimini to about 4 ft of 50-pound-test fluorocarbon chief. I’ll use a loop knot to hitch an 8/0 live-bait-style hook to the chief. The ballyhoo is connected by merely operating the hook level beneath and out its jaws. Another choice, for casting distance or dropping all the way down to deep fish, is to impale the ballyhoo on a 3- or 4-ounce yellow bucktail jig.

Add Dredges to Your Trolling Unfold

One among my favourite trolling additions, a dredge helps create the phantasm of a baitball within the water column. I fish a dredge off every cockpit nook of my 28-foot middle console, they usually complement a floor teasing association of a spreader bar and a big hookless lure.

The sight of two 96-fish Stripteaser dredges unfurling within the water is thrilling. They’re fished simply far sufficient again and simply deep sufficient that we are able to nonetheless see them and may react to any fish that is available in on them. Normally, that candy spot on my boat is about 15 ft again and about eight to 10 ft deep. We’ve had dolphin as massive as 40 kilos come up in these dredges. And curiously sufficient, they work equally as properly after we’re shut down and catching college fish — simply cleat them tight to the transom, the place they’ll flutter and mirror gentle simply beneath the boat.

Catch Baitfish on the Weed Traces

When angling strain or a full moon retains dolphin from feeding, attempt utilizing their pure forage. That’s, use a bait quill rig to amass a number of of these banded rudderfish and different small specimens that cling tightly to weeds and particles. These comprise the dolphin’s pure forage and sometimes produce when “import” baits, comparable to pilchards and sardines, fall quick.

Drop these baits right into a five-gallon bucket of seawater to maintain them on the prepared. Then impale one on a 2/0 or 3/0 live-bait-style hook that’s rigged to a 20-pound-test fluorocarbon chief and a lightweight, 8-pound-class spinning outfit. The sunshine outfit pitches the bait a good distance, and the sunshine {hardware} lets it swim enticingly.

Jigging for Dolphin

One other methodology for pulling up dolphin which have sounded is dropping a flutter-style iron some 100 ft deep after which radically jigging it again to the floor. This iron, rigged with 4 ft of 50-pound-test fluorocarbon chief and joined to the quick Bimini twist within the fishing line with a barrel swivel, may be dropped straight beneath a weed line or particles or fan-cast across the boat and allowed to sink. Good shade decisions are blue-and-silver (flying fish), pink-and-white (squid) and green-and-orange (dolphin).

Trolling Lures Imitate Flying Fish

Small Trolling Lures

When operating and gunning for dolphin, maintain no less than two outfits rigged with small, blunt-headed trolling lures. The perfect shade combos are blue-and-white and green-and-orange. If you discover birds working, pitch out the lures, throttle as much as a quick trolling pace and head towards them. These lures mimic the scale of flying fish, favourite dolphin forage, and stand up to the trials of quicker trolling speeds higher than pure baits.

If you attain your goal or discover one other probably spot, comparable to a floating board or huge weed patch, gradual the boat to an inexpensive trolling pace and make a couple of passes. If dolphin are round, they’ll ambush these lures. Small lures fished this fashion have yielded many massive dolphin for me. And naturally, these lures are mainstays in catching college fish. I desire to rig my lures with 6 ft of 110-pound-test fluorocarbon chief and a single 8/0 long-shank hook that’s positioned with spacer beads to trip close to the tail finish of the lure skirt. I’ll both crimp or tie a loop on the finish of the chief and maintain a half-dozen of those lures shut at hand, if not already on an outfit or two.

Minimize Baits for Dolphin

This dolphin customary, often reserved for when the magic runs out of the jigs, remains to be a favourite for catching college fish. A bit of ballyhoo is solely impaled on a 4/0 to six/0 live-bait-style hook connected to a 50-pound-test chief on a 12- or 20-pound-class spinning outfit. Usually, for dolphin-bailing, the chief is between 15 and 20 ft lengthy. This fashion, when the chief turns into abraded after catching a fish or two, you merely lower it again a couple of inches, retie the hook, rebait and catch one other fish in brief order.

However chunking for dolphin tuna-in-the-canyon fashion is a lethal and little practiced tactic. If you occur on a weed line or an space the place you’ve seen a dolphin or two and trolling isn’t reducing it, go on the chunk. Float out a couple of traces, every baited with a piece of ballyhoo, sardine or squid. Add a couple of ounces of weight on one line with a rubber-core sinker or an egg sinker rigged with a rubber band in breakaway vogue (6 to 10 ft above the chief), adopted by a balloon float some 30 to 40 ft up the fishing line (primarily based on how deep you need the chunk to fish). Deploy two extra outfits, one deeper and one free-lined on the floor. Minimize up your further ballyhoo or sardines, and toss over a couple of chunks till they fade from sight. Then repeat the tactic. If dolphin are within the space, ultimately one among these baits will get eaten. And oftentimes, you’ll convey up a college of energized fish and set off a feeding blitz.

Stay Shrimp for Dolphin

Stay Shrimp

A “secret” taught to me at an early age was to take a number of dozen stay shrimp when dolphin fishing. We’d put the shrimp in a conventional live-bait bucket after which place that bucket into the boat’s livewell. The bucket enabled us to get to the shrimp rapidly fairly than chasing them with a internet within the massive, open livewell. After we uncovered cussed dolphin or when a college grew clever to all different choices, we’d pitch out a stay shrimp rigged in a approach just like the sunshine spinning rig I described earlier. I’ve but to see a dolphin refuse one. The truth is, my most vivid reminiscence of this tactic occurred 30 years in the past, after we occurred upon a big college of fish that might not contact a factor – together with stay pilchards. Dejected, we rigged with a stay shrimp, considering our closing possibility would even be ignored. Some 34 fish within the field later, I used to be shocked at simply how potent a bait it proved to be.

Use Poppers for Dolphin

A constant trick to convey dolphin again to the boat and rally their feeding intuition is to fan-cast a big chugger over a big swath of water. Radically work that chugger quickly, making it chug and spit water because it races again to the boat. The enticement right here is twofold. First, the deep chugging sound permeates far and vast by means of the water to pique the dolphins’ curiosity. Second, the sight of the chugger fleeing as if from a predator triggers the dolphins’ aggressive nature. As soon as the fish rise to the chugger, pull the lure from the water and pitch a conventional bait.