# Mahi questions?



## southern yakker (Jun 25, 2012)

Luckily the stars alined and tomorrow both me and my kayaking buddy have off from work and its my birthday tomorroq. We're both looking for our first mahi. I picked up a couple duster rigs but have never used one before. How far back from the kayak do they need to be trolled and do I need to add weight to reach a certain depth where they are?

Is it better to use mono or braid for trolling?

How far past the 2nd sandbar are they typically?

Any certain type of day when they are more active?

Thinking about launching at chicken bone or portifino, any insight to which is better or are the about the same?

Sorry for all the questions, been trying to read up as much as I can but haven't found out everything I need yet. Hopefully gonna get a birthday mahi!


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## Zacvuittonet (Oct 11, 2014)

If dolphin is what your after your in luck! Live bait it the best for them. Dusters and frozen cigs work too! If you bought remade dusters then they are probably wore so braid wouldn't really effect it either way. Braid and mono will always be a controversial issue. They both best the other in different areas. I've heard a lot about portofino from buddies and they have been catching them. As far as time of day I imagine morning and evening bite is best but they hit all day. Especially as thick as they've been. And as to how far out you need to be we've had reports of people catching them from shore so anywhere from second sandbar and out will work. Your bigger ones will be tougher to find and harder to catch which is to be expected clear leaders fluorocarbon high pound works good but a ticked off king will breeze right through it. So you kinda have to make your choices. I hope it helped! I'm sure others will chime in with different stuff but this is what has worked for me. Other input from other people will help you just as much. I just want everyone to have good birthdays! And good luck!


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

Troll what ever you want to troll. When Im fishing for dolphin and sailfish though its live bait and circle hooks on fluro. 

Ive caught dolphin in 10ft of water and 700ft of water so just troll where the bait is. 

Mono all the way for trolling.


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## Zacvuittonet (Oct 11, 2014)

JD7.62 said:


> Troll what ever you want to troll. When Im fishing for dolphin and sailfish though its live bait and circle hooks on fluro.
> 
> Ive caught dolphin in 10ft of water and 700ft of water so just troll where the bait is.
> 
> Mono all the way for trolling.


Question. 
I have 300yds 40lb braid with about a 40yd drop shot of 50lb mono. (For bottom fishing) will this work for hiding line? In the case of braid over mono for trolling?


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## southern yakker (Jun 25, 2012)

JD7.62 said:


> Troll what ever you want to troll. When Im fishing for dolphin and sailfish though its live bait and circle hooks on fluro.
> 
> Ive caught dolphin in 10ft of water and 700ft of water so just troll where the bait is.
> 
> Mono all the way for trolling.


I'm planning on bringING some cigs or ballyhoo just in case but will also be bringing a sabiki to try for live bait but want to be prepared if I can't get any.

Are you trolling the live bait or pitching it into schools?

Thanks for the advice so far, never targeted mahi before so this is completely new to me.


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## bbarton13 (May 4, 2009)

Jd is talking using the mono for stretch. When a big fish hits such as a king the mono stretches and don't allow the hooks to pull as easy compared to no stretch of the braid. I still use braid but just loosen my drag up a little more and use a softer tip rod. I personally like the braid because i use the same setup for different applications. The SKA (tournament king guys) guys all swear by mono for kings.


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

Zacvuittonet said:


> Question.
> I have 300yds 40lb braid with about a 40yd drop shot of 50lb mono. (For bottom fishing) will this work for hiding line? In the case of braid over mono for trolling?


Will you catch fish? Sure. Is it ideal? No. I HATE multi use rods and reels, especially when you are trying to use the same combo for two COMPLETELY different applications. Not only are we talking about a line issue here but the rods are different as well. The reels can be the same though I prefer a high speed conventional reel for trolling. 

15-20lb mono for yak trolling with about 15ft of 40lb fluro. 50lb mono is way too heavy. I will use 50lb fluro as my leader but prefer 30-40 as I feel it allows the bait to swim more naturally when you are trolling slowly.


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

southern yakker said:


> I'm planning on bringING some cigs or ballyhoo just in case but will also be bringing a sabiki to try for live bait but want to be prepared if I can't get any.
> 
> Are you trolling the live bait or pitching it into schools?
> 
> Thanks for the advice so far, never targeted mahi before so this is completely new to me.


I mostly troll. If I get a good sized school of decent fish around me I will pitch a live bait at them. Or if they are busting in front of me.


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## bbarton13 (May 4, 2009)

The top shot of mono would help so you could get some stretch but i would still run a long leader of fluro.

Most guys are trolling live bait and hooking into a mahi and the school stays with the hooked fish. If u keep one mahi in the water on the line the school will stay under you and you and ur buddies can catch a bunch. You can also chum the to keep the under you. Sometimes you also just look down and end up seeing a school under you.


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## southern yakker (Jun 25, 2012)

JD7.62 said:


> Will you catch fish? Sure. Is it ideal? No. I HATE multi use rods and reels, especially when you are trying to use the same combo for two COMPLETELY different applications. Not only are we talking about a line issue here but the rods are different as well. The reels can be the same though I prefer a high speed conventional reel for trolling.
> 
> 15-20lb mono for yak trolling with about 15ft of 40lb fluro. 50lb mono is way too heavy. I will use 50lb fluro as my leader but prefer 30-40 as I feel it allows the bait to swim more naturally when you are trolling slowly.


I was planning on using higher end spinning gear in the 2500 to 4000 size with 300 yards of 10-15 pound braid since I'm only planning on chicken dolphins. The only reels I have with mono are a stradic fh 4000, 302s, 704s, penn 10ld, senator 4/0- 9/0, and battle 4000 and all don't seem ideal for trolling but I'm far from an expert. The only high speed conventional reel I have is a torium 50 loaded with braid. Any idea which would be the best set up for trolling?


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## Zacvuittonet (Oct 11, 2014)

bbarton13 said:


> The top shot of mono would help so you could get some stretch but i would still run a long leader of fluro.
> 
> Most guys are trolling live bait and hooking into a mahi and the school stays with the hooked fish. If u keep one mahi in the water on the line the school will stay under you and you and ur buddies can catch a bunch. You can also chum the to keep the under you. Sometimes you also just look down and end up seeing a school under you.


I know the quote has nothing to do with h this question but I see trolling with circle hooks and understand the concept of how it would hook the fish but is the reasoning to keep the Kings from eating your leader? Because my double hook setup on fluoro gets breezed through by an angry king with low drag set and 50 lb fluoro. This will be a large live bait for a sail.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

^^^ the circle is to prevent gut hooking or foul hooking (eyes especially) on the sailfish. It does lead to a solid hookup on Mahi and Kings as well and very rarely a pulled hook. I've caught a pile of Kings on circles rigged on fluoro due to the corner hook set. I'm also fishing single hooks though.


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## Zacvuittonet (Oct 11, 2014)

Awesome. Thanks for the reply! I'll make sure I keep that in mind. These owners hooks are pricey for some king to breeze by and take away..


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Zacvuittonet said:


> Awesome. Thanks for the reply! I'll make sure I keep that in mind. These owners hooks are pricey for some king to breeze by and take away..


Look at the Mustad 39944BLN. They're perfect hooks for this application. Sharp, wide gap, very corrosion-resistant and a good bit cheaper than the Owners.


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## Ocean Master (May 20, 2008)

An inshore captain was in the shop today and he has been catching plenty of Dolphin using the little "spec" jigs tipped with a leg from a squid.

Right at the second sand bar and a little deeper.


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## Zacvuittonet (Oct 11, 2014)

Chris V said:


> Zacvuittonet said:
> 
> 
> > Awesome. Thanks for the reply! I'll make sure I keep that in mind. These owners hooks are pricey for some king to breeze by and take away..
> ...


Damn I looked. Someone buy this guy a beer!


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## Salt Lines (Apr 4, 2013)

The key thing about circle hooks is to not set the hook (if you are holding the rod). They are designed to slide to the corner of a fishes mouth, the tip catches, then the hook shifts and digs in to set itself. To see how it works take a circle hook on some line, grab the line between thumb and pointer finger like your hand is a fishes mouth, and (slowly) pull on the line. The hook ends up in the crease between at the base of your thumb and you can see/feel how its shape causes it to set itself. This also sets the hook in a nice boney area for a solid connection. I have doubts that it would work appropriately at high trolling speeds, but from a yak it seems to work fine.


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