Article by Capt. Lance Smith
The past two weekends, we have failed to put a tuna in the boat. When I think of all the time and money that we have spent fixing every little thing on the boat this year, from painting the bow and flybridge floor, re-doing the teak, getting new canvas, organizing tackle and re-rigging everything, I get pretty darned mad. I pulled out every trick in the book, light leaders, dredges, downriggers, birds, bars, cedar plugs, you name it and I trolled it. My mother’s back surgery put us behind this year so these two trips have been our only ones this season. My good friend, Ian, who fishes with me regularly was on our first trip when we got skunked. The following weekend he fished aboard another boat in the Tuna Tournament and they got skunked both days as well! You would think that my friend would be totally discouraged and ready to save his money and give up. When I called him to go the following weekend though, he was as ready as ever.
Knowing that the yellowfin bite was slow, we started trolling in about 20-fathoms with three way-way-back lines hoping for a bluefin or two. After a few hours with no bites, I turned the boat east and trolled toward the Sausages. With no luck on my lucky lump, I headed south for deeper water. The forecasted 2 to 3-foot seas had turned into tight 5-footers, but I kept my eyes open none the less, searching for that one thing that could salvage our day. And then I saw it, a bright orange lobster float with a flag pole attached that had no business being in 26 fathoms of water. It must have broken loose and drifted in from the canyons, but had somehow managed to snag bottom and stayed in one spot throughout the day.
Not knowing whether or not there was any rope trailing the floats (the last thing you want in your props offshore), I cautiously approached, but stayed far enough off to avoid any potential hazard. The first pass yielded no fish, but I could see that there was no rope trailing. I also didn't see the tell tale brilliant colors of any dolphin (mahi-mahi) either. My friend was about to put out the dredge when I told him to hold off while I made one more pass. This time I was sure to drag some skirted ballyhoo within a few feet of the bright orange ball. As we passed, I watched the spread behind the boat, concentrating on the baits nearest the buoy. In a flash of irridescent green and blue, there was a dolphin behind one of the baits. The rod bent and the drag screamed and a five pound mahi was quickly in the fish box. I shouted down the order to wind in all the baits and stash the rods in holders as far forward as possible. My crew must not have realized what I was intending to do because they really didn't respond. I woke my father from his sleep, pointed out the lobster gear, and told him to make circles a hundred yards away from it while I went down into the cockpit. I finally got the guys to start bringing in the heavy trolling gear and I ran into the front bathroom to get the flounder rods that I always bring along. I left bucktails on two of the rods and rigged the other two with #80 leader and smallish live bait hooks, while cutting a bunch of ballyhoo and boxed squid into chunks. When I finally had everything ready, my father slowly approached the buoy and put the engines in neutral. I tossed two handfulls of the bait I had cut toward the buoy and cast a bucktail out. Line immediately ripped from my small baitcaster and I knew that our luck had changed. My two fellow anglers also hooked up immediately and it was game on. The fish I hooked stayed deep and fought harder than any small mahi I had ever caught. I finally saw the grey/brown silhouette of what I thought was a triggerfish as I gained line. The fish turned out to be what I can only surmise to be "lesser amberjack" and in the box they went. Then the mahi showed.
Whether you are offshore on your own boat, a friend's boat or a charter, it is always wise to keep your eyes constantly searching the ocean surface for any floating debris, or flotsam as it is commonly called. Anything, and I mean anything, floating on the open ocean can attract and hold vast schools of fish. Small pieces of lumber, buckets, weeds, logs, refrigerators, cable spools, literally anything can attract fish out there. I once found a school of a hundred or more large dolphin schooled up under a single floating glove in the fall. Not only will dolphin hold under flotsam, triggerfish, various jacks and sometimes even wahoo and yellowfin tuna will search out the baitfish that hide in the shade of such objects. This is by far one of my favorite fishing opportunities, as no fish can match the mahi for light tackle action and insane acrobatic leaps into the air. It is often possible to put anywhere from 20 to 50 of these tasty pelagics in the box from under a single object.
When you spot some flotsam, either alert the captain to its presence, or if you are driving, change your course so that you will pass by. You don 't need to run the object over, but get close enough so that the baits in your riggers are withing 10 yards or so. If I spot the object far enough off, and have time, I like to add a Rattle Trap to the center of the spread on a small baitcaster. I don't know why, but mahi just can't seem to resist these lures. If your first pass doesn't yield any fish, don't be discouraged. Make a few more passes before giving up.
Always keep an eye on any shotgun (way back lures) that you may have out so that the current or wind doesn't cause them to snag the flotsam. If the bite is really slow and I haven't seen a dolphin after a few passes, I will often give the order to bring all the trolling gear in anyway. Sometimes they are home but just don't want your trolled offerings. Bringing everything in also provides the crew with the opportunity to check all of the baits and and freshen them up if necessary.
Once all of the trolling rods are set out of the way, you have some chunks cut as free offerings and the small spinning/casting gear is rigged, approach the floating object slowly and toss out a few handfuls of ballyhoo and squid. Have your anglers toss their baited and weightless rigs out into the chunks with their reels in freespool. Sometimes mahi will appear from nowhere and begin devouring everything you throw out. Other times they may be a no show. If no mahi appear immediately, I will drop a heavy butterfly jig down a hundred feet or so and retrieve it as quickly as possible. Often times an entire school of dolphin that you didn't even know was there will follow this lure to the surface and ignite the action. Once dolphin are spotted behind the drifting boat, they will normally eat any bait you toss overboard. Sometimes though, they can be extremely finicky and won't touch a bait. This is when it is utterly important to allow your hooked baits to drift out of sight, away from the boat as naturally as possible with absolutely no drag on the line. I kept stressing this to my crew, but they were convinced that because the fish were only three feet away from the boat, they could just hold their bait in the current and the fish would bite. This most often is not the case. A stationary bait may attract mahi that will subsequently circle the hook and refuse to bite while your free handouts get inhaled. The fish want to see your bait drifting naturally and this is what it usually takes to load the fishbox.
If someone onboard continuously doles out free chunks, the dolphin will normally stay with the drifting boat even if you are a hundred yards away from the object they were originally under. The oldest trick in the book, and one that always works, is to leave one hooked fish in the water near the boat until another is hooked. This helps to keep the school nearby and once another fish is hooked the first can be brought onboard. Be careful with this technique though. Too many times I have seen a hooked dolphin beside the boat that has been there too long change colors to a pale white and the entire school disappears. I can only guess that this is some sort of distress signal to the fish's buddies that something is wrong. If you notice that your hooked "decoy" mahi begins to change color, try to quickly hook another fish or bring it onboard.
Many times, dolphin much larger than the peanuts you are catching, can be seen circling much deeper in the water column. These are the tricky ones to catch. Even if you don't see any big bull mahi swimming deep, they are usually there. There are a few tactics that can be used to coerce them to bite. Try a large bait, such as a whole ballyhoo that the smaller fish ignore. I like to carry live spot on offshore trips when I can catch them and they can be killer, big dolphin baits. A large strip of a smaller dolphin will work as well, as mahi are notoriously cannibalistic. Make sure that you allow these large baits to drift back in freespool at least 200-feet from the boat. Sometimes a 4 -ounce sinker rubberbanded 20 feet up from a large bait and fished down 50 to 100 feet will do the trick. I noticed that one of our mahi had a hake of some sort in its stomach when I cleaned it. I never really thought of dolphin as bottom feeders but apparently they make trips to the seafloor in shallow enough water. Heavy diamond or butterfly jigs, dropped deep and retrieved quickly and erraticly can also hook the biggest bull of the day. Remember, if the school disappears and you want to keep catching them, it may take a while for them to make their way back to the flotsam they were originally under. Don't expect to run right back to a board or float and the fish will be waiting. Our biggest bull mahi of the day actually came after we were done drifting, had reset the trolling gear and passed the buoy again.
Any medium weight spinning or casting rod rigged with at least 12 lb. test (I prefer 20 lb.) will do for dolphin fishing. Just make sure to check the reel's drag before ever tossing a hook over. A hooked and lost fish can turn the entire school off, so be sure to play these fish on a light drag and let them run and jump as they please. Typical flotsam mahi are often too small to gaff, so I like to use a few feet of 50 lb. or 80 lb. monofilament leader which can be grabbed to swing the fish into the fishbox. Be extra careful of mahi flopping around on the floor. Really large ones can break a leg and even little ones can toss a hook into your flesh. If the fish has swallowed your hook, it is much easier to cut the leader and quickly retie it to stay in the action. You can get your hooks back at the cleaning station. Also, if you have a transom mounted fishbox like we do, make sure to keep the lid closed. I have seen too many dolphin flop themselves back to freedom.
Most any charter boat in the Ocean City fleet will take advantage of a floating object if you make the captain aware that you are interested in giving it a try. If you specifically ask to give it a shot, your captain may even make a beeline for the lobster balls on the canyon edge first thing in the morning. Although mahi have a short life span and are prolific breeders, keep in mind that the liberal limits may leave you with far too many fillets to ever eat. This is truly one of the most exciting and easy ways to put some fish in the boat offshore, so remember to keep your eyes peeled all day long. Don't give up. That floating twelve-inch 2x6 might just save your day, and in case you were wondering, "lesser amberjack" are delicious!
Lance Smith is an outdoor writer and Captain of his family’s boat, the “Longfin”.
