dolphin season is almost here

[bonitaboy]

Is anyone else getting excited about the fact it is about time for the mahimahi to be strolling through the east coast of florida soon.Mid april to beginning of june are always my favorite fishing times to hook some big dolphin.I am curious as to some of your favorite lures for trying to catch big dolphin.of course theres the live bait thing thats always productive but anyone got any specific lures that are there favorites.

 

[FrozenFish]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

I thought it was illegal to fish for any type of dolphin or for that matter any type of amphibous marine mammale?

 

[bonitaboy]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

Dolphin is a highly delectable name of a fish that is commonly confused with the porpoise or dolphin as well.It is definitely illegal to do anything to a porpoise.The fish I am referring to is also known as dorado,mahimahi,or in this area just referred to as a dolphin.they range in size from very small which we refer to as peanuts or to 30 to 60 plus #s which are referred to as slammers.they have a incredible metabolism which can allow them to get in the 30lb. range in just a matter of a few years.they are unbelievably fun to catch,imagine a small mouth bass beefed up on steroids.

 

[horndog]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

gosh, I can't wait to move to florida! Only a few months to go! Too bad my boat is too small to go after these fish!

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

Just came back from two weeks in Freeport Bahamas Went deep sea fishing one morning and landed a63" 43lb Mahi Mahi and a 48" one also.<br />How big do they get off of Stuart Florida???<br />We used ballyhoo trolled behind the boat, no lures. They love the white & green skirt

 

[karayj]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

hey flyrod dont forget to give us some stiper reports in 2 months !!!

 

[bonitaboy]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

Flyrod,pat yourself on the back,that is a nice dolphin,a 30# one will get some looks of admiration around here.A couple of years ago I caught a 51 # dolphin out of the st. lucie inlet.We mostly troll with ballyhoo as well,with different colored skirts on them.I caught that particular fish on what is known as a small doorknob over top of a horse ballyhoo.I am getting into trolling lures for them just to try a different strategy.Oh ya,it dosen't hurt to have a friend who works for a tackle company.HE hooks me up with a lot of samples and prototypes so its just a interesting to see what works and does not but ballyhoo is by far the most popular and trusty standby for most any trolling.

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

Karayj If I wait 2 months the stripers would have gone by. Hpoefully I might be able to give you a report by the middle of April. the alewifes should be here shortly and the schoolie stripers should be just behind them. There are alewifes down the cape. I am told that they call them river herring.

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

Congrads on that 51lb fish Must have put up a pretty good fight. Do you catch your own ballyhoo or puchase them?? If you purchase them check out this site www.baitmasters.com You probably already know this company.<br /><br />Have to go. The boss wants to use the computer.

 

[sasham]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

I fish mainly the Outerbanks of N.C. I love catching dolphin on lighter tackle. They aren't much fun on an 80WT though. We also usually just troll ballyhoo with skirts. Those dolphin seem to really like the "hot" colors (At least thats been my experience) Hot pink or red seems to always bring them in. Two years ago fishing in the "Big Rock" blue marlin tournament we were pulling 2-3lb spanish mackeral and hooked a very big dolphin which we released since we hadn't entered the Game Fish division. We also had a very large dolphin eat a peanut that we were bringing in one day. I think they will eat anything. lol

 

[bonitaboy]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

sasham,thats pretty wild about the dolphin grabbing the mackeral,but like you say i think they will eat anything just about.dont catch to many blue marlin around here though ,alot of sailfish and occasional white marlin,although there was a blue caught recently but it was only about 250lbs.still fairly rare unless you get to the other side of the gulfstream on the bahamas side.never caught anything that big except for hammerhead sharks.do you enter lots of tournaments?

 

[sasham]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

I think a 250lb Blue is respectable wherever you fish. Honestly the only tournament I've ever fished is the "Big Rock". I don't own my own boat yet (although I'm looking to purchase one). I fish with a relative who owns a boat on the Outerbanks. He likes to fish the "Big Rock", don't know why, buy I'm always happy to help out. lol He did place 2nd one year not sure of the year, unfortunately I didn't make it that year. Year before last was slow, slow, slow. We only had one marlin in the baits out of our 4 days of fishing. No hookup unfortunately.<br />We usually don't target marlin. He and I both like Tuna fishing, Yellofins, Blackfins, Big Eyes, and especially the Giant Bluefins when they are around. But we like catching dolphin, wahoo, and kings too. Bottom fishing is always fun as well.<br />He had the oportunity to go to Accension Island last November and landed a Blue that was 1000+ lbs. Wish I could have been there for that.

 

[FlyBoyMark]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

ta hell with catchn'em..gimme some to broil an eat...

 

[bonitaboy]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

sasham,from what I have read about accension island it is one of the last places left that is largely unexplored by the charter boat industry or civilians in general.whoever it was that you said fished there was one lucky individual.did he get there on a royal airforce flight through london or what and what all did they catch.did he stay on the mothership or the hotel in georgtown.sorry for all the questions but ever since i have read about the place i have dreamed of going

 

[sasham]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

aquaholic, I haven't had a chance to talk with him for any ammount of time since he went down there. I'm heading down to the Outerbanks to fish for a week here at the end of April and hope to get all the details of his trip then. Be happy to tell you about it when I get the details. I do have a pic of that Blue Marlin that they caught though. Be happy to send it to you if you wanna see it.

 

[bonitaboy]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

sasham ,would like to see the marlin pics.if you have digital images let me know and i will give you my email or something,also dying to here more about accension island

 

[sasham]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

aquaholic, I've got a digital image of that fish. Just send me an email to sasham_69@yahoo.com and I'll send you the picture I have of it. Be sure to let you know the details of Accension Island when I get them.

 

[bonitaboy]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

sasham,check your email,looking for the pics of the marlin

 

[sasham]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

aquaholic, I emailed you the pic of that fish. Let me know if you didn't get it and I'll try again. It's a pretty big file, so might take a little bit to download it. Big file for a big fish I guess. lol

 

[bonitaboy]

Re: dolphin season is almost here

sasham,i got the pic, i emailed you back