fishing for Mahi Mahi

[nwtroutguy]

Hi Larry,

I just returned from Andros. We fished for dolphin one day around a buoy and I hooked one trolling and that was it. I noticed the skipper had a minnow looking lure for his spin rod, but I wanted to hook up on my 10 wt and I could not seem to get them on a floating line. What do you recommend for these fish in terms of flies, fly lines and techniques? Is there a better place I can go to have more shots with these?

Thanks,

NW trout guy

[jbird]

Go to la Paz, Youll catch em til you dont wanna catch any more. Best way to do it is to find floating sargasso weed and start throwing out live chum (sardinas). Dont over do it with the chum tho...the right amount is a fine line. If theres no sargasso you can do the bouye hustle. Theres shark boueys as far as the eye can see.
Once the fish are lit up on chum. just get your fly out there and hang on. EP flies and Sea Habits are a great choice.

Jay

[nwtroutguy]

Hi there Jaybird,

Are you saying just go to each buoy and then chum the water? And I assume you are talking about LaPaz, Mexico right?

Thanks,

NW trout guy

[SeattleRichard]

Jbird, you recommended an EP pattern, but you didn't say which one/version/size (or color combo) . . . ?

[jbird]

Hay Guys!

Yes, La paz, Baja Mexico. If there are sargasso rafts in the area you can A. Troll along the edge with a big hootchie until you hook up with a dorado. Have your captain reel the fish in but keep it in the water near the boat. 99 times out of 100, there will be other "lit up" Dorado around the hooked one that will be in an aggressive mood. B. Just start chumming small amounts of sardinas around the sargasso and the darado will show up quickly. If you catch it right, you can find open ocean schools of dorado crashing bait balls. Keep your eyes open for diving birds and boiling water. There will often be skipjack tuna and even sails in the mix of these bait blitzes. Wahoo on occasion as well.

If you play the bouy game, just cruz from one shark bouy to the next. Throw one handful of sardines and circle the bouy once. If the fish are there, youll know immediately. If not, head to the next one.

As for flies, I tie my own. Here is my Sardina seahabit.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/ ... C00060.jpg

And this is my EP Sardina


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/ ... C00143.jpg



If you want tying instructions, send me your email address.

Jay

[dahlberg]

Hi Troutguy,
The deal with all pelagics is not just where, it's when and where.
There are jillions of places that get large concentrations of Dorado.
One thing they all have in common is that they relate to any flotsam or jetsam in the watar.
THe main deal with getting them to bite on a fly is usally speed. Obviously if they're bunched up they're in competition with each other and are usually more positive.
The oldest trick in the book is to hook the first fish any way you can and rather than bring it in the boat you leave it in the water where it often attracts the attention of the rest of the school, and cast your flies to the crowd it attracts.
I've also had good success in shutting the boat off and tying it to the large log or tree that's holding the fish, then just drifting along and casting the perimeter.
This way you don't spook them as easily or pull them away from their cover, plus the boat becomes part of the hiding place that holds the bait they're after.
best,
L