Hey folks, anyone planning on getting after mahi on Wednesday? Conditions looking ideal!
I’m new to trolling for mahi, so hoping to glean some wisdom from this group. What’s my best strategy for right early May to get on some fish? I know to look for weed mats and temp breaks, but curious if anyone has more detail on either. How deep are folks seeing weed mats right now? Is there an ideal temp or change in temp that I should be looking for? Do y’all just head east toward deeper water or is there any specific coordinate, etc, that is a better starting point than others? For example: is there any reason to head for a reef like Commanche or Y73, and troll over them (in the absence of obvious week mats), or is that not really important when going after mahi?
Thanks, much appreciate any help! Also might have an open spot on the boat if anyone is up for sharing some wisdom hands on.
Trolling weeds, temp breaks and color breaks beats worrying about bottom structure. In the absence of those, just drag a course out deeper to see what you can find.
Comanche depth might hold a peanut by late June, but anything that shallow right now (or almost anytime) would be a fluke. Ha. That depth is more king mackerel territory
Most folks start around “the ledge” where it drops from 150’ish to 180-200’ and that’s where the bottom fishing can be awesome too. I heard there is a 2 degree temp break a little ways past the ledge right now. That’s a 50 mile run past the rocks IIRC
If you go Wednesday, you won’t be alone anywhere you end up. Most people talk on their star linked cell phones instead of the radio now though, which takes away from the team spirit aspect unfortunately
It’s early, sometimes the dolphin are here first week of May and sometimes they are 10 days later. Go when the weather’s right!
Y73 and Comanche are too shallow for dolphin right now. Bwang is spot on. Head deep early and watch for a temp break. Troll the hot side of the break. If nothing, zig zag that temp line and see what happens.
Later in the summer as that water warms up, finding a temp break on the ledge can be very productive. Good luck
Appreciate it folks, we went yesterday and had a helluva time. Hooked 7, landed 5 — 4 gaffers and 1 a little smaller but still a keeper. We went pretty deep, just South of 226, and found them trolling through some scattered weeds. I didn’t find much of a temp break (other than one that felt too shallow, it was in ~130’ of water so we kept going) but it worked out. Conditions were perfect, hope others out there enjoyed!