4/29 - offshore with dad

Saltwater Offshore Reports
1

Went fishing with dad on his grady yesterday. Left Shem Creek at 8:30-ish am. Mission: mahi mahi

Saw a splash at about 135 ft, stopped to take a peak, and sure enough - dorados. Saw about 5, decent size, so broke out the spinning rods. Got a mahi to chase a jig, looked promising, but all the sudden fish went bye bye.

We continued out to about 300 ft where we put in lines. After we had all lines out, see a bunch of tuna breaking in the distance. Unfortunately, they were gone by the time we got there…

Had a hit shortly thereafter - line starts screeming, wahoo?!? Soon enough, fish goes bye bye… :face_with_head_bandage:

Pulled up to a weed line, saw a big dolphin, but he had no interest in our spread.

Very little action most of the day - but tons of bait, flyers, you name it. Saw a huge hammerhead swimming under a weedline which was cool - and even cooler we didn’t hook it. Saw a couple sunfish. Such a beautiful day… all we needed was… FISH! lol

Getting late, so started heading back in towards the ledge and at about 280 ft, fish on! Hit the rigger, I start reeling, then fish jumps over the center line, swims under the flat line and jumps again back over center line (or something like that) - uh oh… no worries - all it took was a little team work, and soon enough we had a very nice mahi in the box! Trolled back to the ledge, picked up lines and headed home.

On return trip saw birds feeding, so stopped to check it out. Mahi mahi everywhere - I have never seen such a large school, hundreds of them, all over the place. We break out the spinning rods, and start at it. Lets just say these dorados had no interest in ballyhoo… They did not want anything to do with it. We had to work for the slingers, trying a number of different jigs to get their attention. It was frustrating, when there are literally hundreds of fish under the boat, jumping around the boat, putting on a show, and they will not bite your hook… Finally got their attention with a couple rusted blue

2

Congrats on an exciting day. We’ve done well in the past with small chunks of ballyhoo on a hook all by itself while chumming up the water with lots of little pieces at the same time. Seems to get em excited. Works well with squid chunks too. I don’t think we’ve ever had trouble getting dolphin to bite when we saw them like that. Usually if they’re willing to stick around, they are willing to eat.

www.baturinphotography.com

3

We had chummed up the water with a lot of little pieces of ballyhoo… literally dropped it right in their faces and they didn’t care…

I shouldn’t have eaten all of my cocktail shrimp… I had a feeling we may need them for bait but being a slow day I ate them…

With rates so low, now may be the perfect time to refinance or purchase your dream home. If you are thinking about home financing give me a ring!</font id=“blue”>

Heather Leman
Direct: 843-343-8169
NMLS# 279616
hleman@primelending.com
www.shakeyourbouy.com

4

where did u fish thanks

5

We use the belly from a previously caught phin. What was the water temp.?

6

Bonita always works for me, caught fresh is best but i usaully have one frozen from a previous trip, to use in cases like that. Cut it chunks toss some with and without hooks. the aforementioned mahi belly from previous catch sometimes works as well in a pinch. Poppers ripped on the surface has worked for me as well. catch one keep it it the water till another is on you know that drill i’m sure. Squid another stand by. I never use my good brined ballyhoo on schoolies.I have had them pass up several things then go crazy on something else. Throw everything in the boat till you hit on what they’ll eat is my best advice. Also sometimes when they are shy or slow to bight down size line leader , hook and bait. Can get sporty on really light gear but somethimes they won’t hit anything too large. Simply picking up and putting the spead back out and trolling the area sometimes picks em up when bailing isn’t working. Thats all i got.

“Destiny” 35ft
Contender and “Scintilla” 20ft Keywest, Manning SC

7

Sometimes got to piss em off to eat, wait till one comes swimming up looking at bait, then quickly pull the bait away from them, making them chase after it. Splashing the water with a running hose, gaff, pole tip seems to work too to keep them interested, also allways leaving one hokked in the water helps to keep em around. And ya know them few real big ones that seem to hang under the schoolies but never seem too interested in eating anything? Well, there’s a way to get them interested too, but that’s for another time…

Russ B.
www.joinrfa.org
God is great, Beer is good, People are crazy

8

We headed straight out. We were pretty close to Royal Terrace when we pulled lines and headed in.

Water temp where we ran into massive school of phins… I don’t know… Too busy trying to figure out a way to hook them.

We tried to keep a schoolie hooked up and in the water while attempting to hook another. We tried this 3 times, and after losing the 3rd one… we started to flip them in the boat when lucky enough to get one to bite.

With rates so low, now may be the perfect time to refinance or purchase your dream home. If you are thinking about home financing give me a ring!</font id=“blue”>

Heather Leman
Direct: 843-343-8169
NMLS# 279616
hleman@primelending.com
www.shakeyourbouy.com

9

Try a spear gun!!! No bait required

O
O ______ O o
O(__/ __) o
O o (o) o < o ))) ><
260 Glacier Bay - 2x150
FISH FOR THE FUTURE:
Selective divers set their sights on only those few prize game fish they will enjoy eating

10

We got into them like that in the Keys a couple of years ago, hundreds of them and we could not get them to hit anything, trying all of the above methods. Plus some. I got so frustrated that I finally tried a Gulp shrimp, in electric chicken color, on a small jighead. Instant results :sunglasses: We went on to catch about 30 more, all on Gulp shrimp. They wouldn’t touch another thing. Keep trying everything you’ve got until something works.

We got back to the marina that evening and another boat came in saying the same thing, dolphin everywhere but he couldn’t get them to eat. I gave him a handful of the electric chicken Gulps to try, and the next day he filled his cooler with dolphin, and so did we :smiley:

Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats

11

We went to the same place yesterday, temp was around 76 in 200ft.

Fish just did not want to eat, trolled for 6hrs, ended up with 2 15 lbs dolphins (caught @ 130ft/73degrees both on pink)

Great day with brother and friends.

12

No matter what the catch…It’s always a good day when we get to fish with our daddy’s. :wink:

miss’n fish’n

212 SEAHUNT CC
Sea Squirt 16

13

Penny, I hope that’s what my girls say…

“The good fisherman is surprised when he doesn’t catch fish: I am just the other way around.”
Gene Hill, Passing a Good Time.

14

Have had dolphin refuse to eat squid, bally and bonita. Cut up an entire bonita once and fed a school, and every bit of it went to the bottom without being touched at all by hundreds of p nuts.

The only thing I’ve found in those circumstances to get them to bite will sound silly to you, but it works.

It’s all about instinct. When the school isn’t moving fast, feeding, or anything else exciting, then you need only do something to change the mood.

Cut on fast paced, loud music. Crank an engine and rev it. Throw a large lure into the school and RIP it as hard as possible… not to catch one but to make them think another fish is in feed or fright mode. They’ll instinctively compete with what they think is another fish. It won’t work over and over, but all you need is for a few to play along with you. Once that happens, then any particular one you’ve got hooked will be struggling and having others follow it around wondering what’s going on. Then, you’ll hook more as they’re “excited” for lack of a better term.

You get them edge a little, and they will start reacting to things faster rather than lounging around being skiddish. The fish don’t exactly know what you are, but they know it isn’t normal for food to be falling off a big white object floating above them. The little p nuts we’re talking about usually are less than a year old. It isn’t that they’ve learned, it’s that the more aggressive ones of the species do get caught more, so genetics sort of pushes them towards be less prone to harvest by the easier methods, i.e. handlining at the boat. Anyways… all fish are that way. They’re wild game and respond to hunting/fishing pressure. All you have to do is respond in kind if you want a different result.

Throw out only a few pieces of bait to get the scent out. Tossing out 10 lbs of cut up squid does no good when they aren’t in the mood. They don’t feel like eating, and attracting them isn’t the problem. The mood is the problem.

Toss your line out with a chunk of bait and RIP it fast. If it’

15

And when all else fails, break out the long gaff! lol

Russ B.
www.joinrfa.org
God is great, Beer is good, People are crazy

16

Nice trip !! Its frustating when they won’t bite. Sometimes there on a small bait like glass minnows and you have to match the hatch, try something small and shiney or small and clear like a clark spoon or cristal minnow on floro and like others have said rip it fast.
Jeff

17

x2 I use only topwaters when sight casting to dolphin. Like Phin said, the aggressive action is key in getting strikes. Work the topwater as hard and fast/erratically as you can.

quote:
Originally posted by Phin

Have had dolphin refuse to eat squid, bally and bonita. Cut up an entire bonita once and fed a school, and every bit of it went to the bottom without being touched at all by hundreds of p nuts.

The only thing I’ve found in those circumstances to get them to bite will sound silly to you, but it works.

It’s all about instinct. When the school isn’t moving fast, feeding, or anything else exciting, then you need only do something to change the mood.

Cut on fast paced, loud music. Crank an engine and rev it. Throw a large lure into the school and RIP it as hard as possible… not to catch one but to make them think another fish is in feed or fright mode. They’ll instinctively compete with what they think is another fish. It won’t work over and over, but all you need is for a few to play along with you. Once that happens, then any particular one you’ve got hooked will be struggling and having others follow it around wondering what’s going on. Then, you’ll hook more as they’re “excited” for lack of a better term.

You get them edge a little, and they will start reacting to things faster rather than lounging around being skiddish. The fish don’t exactly know what you are, but they know it isn’t normal for food to be falling off a big white object floating above them. The little p nuts we’re talking about usually are less than a year old. It isn’t that they’ve learned, it’s that the more aggressive ones of the species do get caught more, so genetics sort of pushes them towards be less prone to harvest by the easier methods, i.e. handlining at the boat. Anyways… all fish are that way. They’re wild game and respond to hunting/fishing pressure. All you have to do is respond

18

Not a bait that one would normally have on an offshore trip but a fat live shrimp will not be refused.

19

Second Oneal. Live shrimp and copper penny gulp will make it happen. Cleaned a 50lb dolphin a few years back that was filled with nothing but 3-4inch orange, rock shrimp. He was picking them off the big grass mat we were trolling around.

Do not tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don’t tell them where they know the fish.

  • More Maxims of Mark, Johnson, 1927

31’ Contender
Twin 250 HPDIs

20

how many mahi can you fit in that 12 ft cast net??