5/31 at the deli

Saltwater Offshore Reports
1

Left dock at 3 am, Weather better than forecast, ran about 28 MPH all the way out. Dropped in 2 high speed wahoo trolling rigs just short of the deli within 5 minutes trolling at 17 MPH we had one strike take line then few seconds later a hookup take alot of line then line broke at swivel before I had even throttled back. Reminder when pulling high speed trolling rig to strip off 10 ft of line and tie a fresh knot! nothing on the remaining high speed wahoo rig so then slowed down and put out a full spread of ballyhoo + one cedar plug at the deli and hooked up within a few minutes on the cedar plug. Fish sounded so pretty sure it was not a mahi and sure enough a Bonita came up. After that hooked 3 more small dolphin, all around 140 ft, then decided to head out deeper to look for better but found nothing all the way out to 240 ft but bonita and barracuda, had a shark come through the spread. Finished the day with just the 3 dolphin and a wish I had tied a fresh knot on that swivel. Scattered weeds and of interest found a large mat of weeds close to Betsy Ross which I am attributing to the strong east winds of the last few days. Another boat reported the fish are out deeper at 600+, anyone else 2nd that opinion?

Separate but related note, I use the NOAA SST maps and best I could tell they did not update over the weekend. Never noticed that before but is that typical?

“Mary Catherine”
Grady White 330 Express
Beaufort

2

Yes from numerous reports, the fish are out deeper! Our day was similar to yours we picked up a few phins between 250-450ft, but guys that went 600ft plus got them!

3

We put 10 in the boat out at 600+. One nice dolphin at 62" and 38lbs

4

They are deep. We caught 33 out in 1400 ft.

5

I can see from the other posts that going deep was key. Is that typical when you fish later in the Mahi season? Trying to figure out how y’all knew to go deep.

So dumb question but when fishing deep that tends to put you into the middle of the gulf stream. I am using to fishing the edges and fingers/eddies that come off the stream where the temperature breaks and weed lines hold fish. What do you look for when out deep that tells you a spot is fishy? Should you still expect to find temperature breaks, rips and weed lines?

“Mary Catherine”
Grady White 330 Express
Beaufort

6

There were several weed lines out there.