Dolphin

Often called mahi-mahi or dorado, the dolphin is a great fish for both beginners and seasoned anglers. Dolphin provide high flying action, as they are very acrobatic once hooked. Their colors are dazzling as well with hues of green, blue, silver etc all mixed in. Besides the color and high flying action, dolphin are absolutely great table fare.

Dolphin are another fish that can be caught year round, but the tactics used can vary season to season. Most often, dolphin are caught while using live baits on the “edge”. The edge is typically from 100 feet in depth to 250 feet, and where the blue offshore water meets the greener inshore water. This edge is only a few miles from shore. Most often we will be targeting sailfish on the edge, but quite often a few dolphin will join in on the party.

Dolphin can range from only a few pounds to upwards of 50 pounds. Some of the larger dolphin are usually taken while kite fishing with live baits. The second tactic used for targeting dolphin usually occurs in the late spring and summer. Vast schools of dolphin can be found offshore in the Gulfstream. These schools can be a few miles form shore or upwards of 30 miles offshore.

Typically when dolphin fishing in the Gulfstream, we are looking for diving birds or large pieces of debris. The debris can be almost anything and large patches of Sargasso weed are good as well. The seaweed or debris attracts bait, which in turn will attract dolphin.

The dolphin that are found in large schools are typically much smaller and average from a few pounds to schools of 10 pounders. What they may lack in size though, they can make up in sheer numbers. You can hook a dolphin and look down and literally see hundreds of other dolphin in the school.

Trolling offshore in the Gulfstream also works well and many big dolphin have been taken that way as well. In the summertime in South Florida, it is not uncommon to have a few dolphin tournaments every weekend. Dolphin are a very popular fish and rightly so!