# Mahi and Kings



## CrabbyChas (Oct 13, 2016)

Finally had a nice flat day to do some fishing so I went out to the reef off inlet beach this morning. I normally go with my buddy from work but his brother was in town and he'd never been yak fishing so I went with his brother instead. Now, I'd never been to this reef before, it's about two miles out so I wasn't too sure on how long it would take to get there, ended up taking a bit over half an hour and damn were my legs tired. So we get to the spot where the reef is according to my GPS and start dropping bottom rigs with squid. Caught a few sand perch and had one big bite when I was using a bigger piece of squid but it just took the squid and not the hook. We we're getting pushed out to sea by the current so we we're constantly repositioning. Definitely need to invest in an anchor. And then it happened. I hear a splash, look around, and see some fish about 20' behind Ben, so I yell at him to turn around and cast to them. First cast, hooks a mahi. I wasn't sure how big they were so I pedaled over with the gaff but it threw the hook as it came alongside the boat. We stayed for a bit and saw the mahi still swimming around us but they weren't liking what we had to offer so we headed back inshore. Now, the whole time I've been trolling or drifting a duster rig that, as Teddy puts it, looks like a damn Fourth of July celebration. Hadn't had so much as a nibble on it yet, but I knew with the 2 miles back to shore there was always a possibility. So we start heading back and see more Mahi chasing flying fish. One actually smacked into the side of my yak. I tried casting to them with a Hopkins lure but they weren't impressed so I just kept going until... Zing there goes the drag, fish on! Turn around, tighten it up, start reeling. Puts up a fight at first but then just cruises along and comes up to the yak easy. It got the main hook so when I pulled it up it started thrashing and I didn't feel like getting a treble stuck in me so it got off. Threw another cigar minnow on, kept trolling, bam, another. This one threw the hook pretty quick so I retrieved it and rebaited. Not 30 seconds later get a third bite, finally got this bad boy landed. Not a big one but still put up a decent fight. Threw him in the yak, put on another minnow and kept at it. A minute or two later I hear the drag going again. I'm used to it by now. But as I tighten the drag down the fish just keeps pulling and pulling... This ain't the mahi I've been catching. Things dragging my yak out to sea sideways. I have my drag tightened almost all the way down because I need to get to work and don't have time to mess around. So I start reeling this bad boy in. Finally I see the leader come out of the water. I have my setup with 30lb braid and about 15' of 80lb mono leader, so I know it's close. It starts swimming under the boat so as I'm trying to get my pole over my other one that's in the way I look down and see a big ole king. Next thing I know, snap, lines gone and so is the fish. I unfortunately was high sticking it to get over my other rod so when the fish pulled there was no give. Oh well, tomorrow's supposed to be calm so maybe I'll get him then.


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## YakAttack (Oct 8, 2007)

Sounds like a fun trip.
Glad you got one of the mahi in the boat. it would have been pretty frustrating to have them bumping into your yak and come back empty handed.


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## jjreddig (Jul 13, 2011)

I have done real well on both mahi and kings the last two mornings myself. Most bites being just past the color change on live cigs. Have actually got a few good bull mahi. Cleaned 2 king, 2 mahi, and 1 Spanish this morning. The water and weather have been great. Fishing out of seagrove.


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## Salt Lines (Apr 4, 2013)

Oh this really motivates me to get out there. Its been so windy lately I haven't gone into the gulf yet this year. 
Its surprising the mahi wouldn't hit that hopkins lure, they often aren't too picky. This post will have 20 yakkers at inlet beach this saturday. 
What time of day did the bite turn on?


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## CrabbyChas (Oct 13, 2016)

Around 8 o'clock, right after the water actually starts getting illuminated. I actually caught another mahi and got a king yesterday, will post the report soon. There were a whole mess of mahi out chasing the flying fish, hooked mine on a bucktail. Unfortunately my other rig had a big cigar on it and none of the mahi were big/brave enough to go for it.


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## jjreddig (Jul 13, 2011)

Monday and Tuesday the bite was from first light through 10 or so. Here are some of the keepers from seagrove. Live cigs, no dusters no weight crisscrossing the color change. Bait was plentiful.


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## CrabbyChas (Oct 13, 2016)

I had the same experience, bite stopped around 10. However I didn't see much bait on Monday, Tuesday though there were probably at least 10 bait schools swimming around. How were you getting the live cigs? Sabiki rig?


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## jjreddig (Jul 13, 2011)

Yes, sabiki rig caught em and I just keep em in a little PVC bait tube I pull by my kayak. All of my fish hit the live bait rigs. I did catch a couple kings on frozen ones while I was trying to make bait. Some of the mahi were on the line for a while before I noticed. They took off and started showing out when I pulled the line tight though.


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